TikTok Tour of NYC: How to eat around the city like an influencer
Move over, Yelp.
The most delicious way to find some of New York City’s best and buzziest food to munch is no longer by going to dusty rankings like Zagats. It’s by scrolling through TikTok, where a vibrant community of viral food influencers has been boosting local businesses across the city as effectively as any government program.
“Having an item on a menu go viral can be life-changing,” Rachel Brotman, who is behind the viral account @Carboholic, told The Post. Her videos have helped launch multiple eats into online fame. “TikTok can transform a sleepy business.”
Now, sink your teeth into a tour of the Big Apple’s buzziest bites.
1. Fedoroff’s Roast Pork, Williamsburg
Boasting juicy cheesesteaks and massive roast pork sandwiches, Fedoroff’s stands as an oasis of Philadelphia grub in the middle of Williamsburg. It’s also a TikTok favorite, with 44.5 million video views since its 2016 opening.
Early fans included Gregg Remmy and Rebecca Leigh West-Remmey, the Brooklyn couple behind the popular TikTok foodie account @DevourPower, which counts nearly 4 million followers.
“We love featuring very over-the-top, decadent, interesting places and Fedoroffs is a great example of that,” Remmy told The Post.
“(Owners) Dave and Stella Fedoroff were born and bred in South Philly, and they stick to their roots,” he explains. “It takes great food to make great content.”
178 N 10th St., Williamsburg; www.fedoroffs.com
2. Adel’s Famous Halal Food, Midtown
If you ever walked down Sixth Avenue and wondered about a snaking line to a seemingly ordinary halal cart, odds are it was probably for Adel’s. Boasting massive platters of cart classics, its eye-popping trays have turned Adel’s into an unlikely viral sensation.
“They do one thing and they do it really well,” says Clement Leung, better known as @insta.noodls. Based in Toronto, he visited Adel’s while on a trip to New York and filmed his experience waiting in a rain-soaked line for an hour.
“Soft juicy tender cuts of lamb and beef, well-seasoned rice and a delicious mix of sauces — it’s an incredible combo.” Still, he concedes, “popularity breeds popularity. When people see a line, more and more people want to go.”
1221 6th Ave.; (917) 497-2317, AdelsFamousHalalFood.com
3. Ess-a-Bagel, Multiple Locations
Moving onto the most classic of Big Apple bites, TikTok seems to have a constant craving for Ess-a-Bagel, the poppy-seeded sensation which has inspired a plethora of food influencers to highlight the quintessential New York treat.
Aside from copious amounts of schmear, another hallmark of the shops is long lines every morning. But if you’re curious about the hubbub, the shop’s so popular there are even videos on how to hack those pesky lines.
Multiple locations, www.ess-a-bagel.com
4. Pasta de Pasta, East Village
Mangia!
Pasta de Pasta’s East Village locale regularly hosts hordes of stomach-growling foodies who have been lured by posts about its creamy cheese wheel pasta, which sells for a measly nine bucks.
“Homemade pasta is typically an expensive product which can only be purchased for at-home cooking, or at a sit-down restaurant,” Brotman told The Post.
She posted a video chronicling her own Pasta de Pasta visit, which promptly went viral. “This concept is fun, simple, and efficient.”
192 1st Ave.; (973) 988-3347, pastadepastany.com
5. Ceremonia Bakeshop, Williamsburg
Bedford Avenue’s tiny Ceremonia Bakeshop has what some call the best breakfast burrito — one jam-packed with chorizo and potatoes — in New York.
Run by a husband-wife team, Ceremonia boasts gourmet goods drawing on his and her respective Dominican and Vietnamese heritage.
But it’s their gargantuan burrito that won the hearts of TikTok, including @cookiesncreameats. “Maybe if Lebron ate it, he would have had a few more rings,” they mused.
743 Driggs Ave., Williamsburg; (347) 384-2212, www.instagram.com/ceremoniabakeshop
6. Fellini Coffee, Soho, West Village and Chelsea
Named after the iconic Italian auteur behind movies like “8½” and “La Strada,” Fellini Coffee’s multiple locations have turned into New York’s coolest coffee shops, with an outsized TikTok presence.
“It’s incredible how these platforms connect us with a broader community and let us share what we’re passionate about,” said owner Franco Noriega, a Peruvian former athlete and model who was formerly behind the West Village’s Baby Brasa.
He points to innovative drinks like the tiramisu latte and protein-ccino as a reason for their success.
“The posts and stories are a big part of the buzz.”
Multiple locations, www.fellinicoffee.com
7. L’Industrie, Williamsburg and West Village
It’s not enough that the saucy slices at L’Industrie were voted some of the best in the world by esteemed global ranking 50 Top Pizza; it’s also a TikTok obsession.
“People are traveling from everywhere in the world to come to try the pizza,” owner Massimo Laveglia told The Post.
Laveglia, who marvels that he doesn’t even have a social media team (“I’d rather spend the money on the ingredients”) first noticed an uptick after temporarily closing his Williamsburg location for renovations in 2021.
“When we re-opened, there was a line out the door,” he recalls. “I was like, this is crazy. We closed the pizzeria when we were doing okay, and now people are obsessed with us?”
Still, virality doesn’t mean smooth sailing. “To have to pump out food for a thousand people a day with our kitchen is not so easy.”
Multiple locations, www.lindustriebk.com
8. Ariston Coffee Bar, Union Square
“It’s drop-dead gorgeous in there,” says TikToker Kari Dowiak of Union Square’s plant-filled Ariston Coffee Bar. It’s a picture-perfect cafe and flower shop overflowing with blooms and flowing with java.
“It’s an impressive experience and a great place to catch up with friends or have a coffee date,” says Dowiak, who runs a popular influencer account in addition to her eyewear brand, Memori.
While first posting her video, which went on to earn 100,000 likes and over 600,000 views, Dowiak noticed that few TikTokers had highlighted it before her.
“It made me even more excited to post about it because I thought it deserved more attention than that.”
78 5th Ave.; (212) 929-4226, aristonflowers.com
9. Thisbowl, Noho
What the fork?
“I never thought I’d see the day where New Yorkers would wait in hourslong lines for a salad bowl,” Carboholic’s Brotman noted in her video of Noho fast casual spot Thisbowl. “But here we are, and honestly I kind of get it.”
With over 45 locations across its native Australia as Fish Bowl, the outfit recently opened its first New York locale to viral fame, including being featured on Carboholic.
Fans drool over its healthy menu, which flaunts fresh produce and heavy protein.
65 Bleecker St.; thisbowl.com
10. Lil Sweet Treat, West Village
Hey, sweetie.
Open for less than a month, the colorful Swedish confections of Lil Sweet Treat have already turned it into a TikTok favorite.
Perhaps the subsequent online fandom should come at no surprise: The lip-smacking shop is run by Elly Ross, the TikTok food-fluencer otherwise known as @EllyBellyEats.
Ella Kahan, behind the account @ChewYorkCity, was one of the first to post about its sugary delights, to the tune of 125,000 likes.
“I think between the trendiness of Swedish candy paired with the prime West Village location and the cute branding, they hit the trifecta,” Kahan mused to The Post of the shop’s path to virality.
184 7th Ave S.
