Where to Eat Near the World Trade Center
Italian sandwiches the size of a forearm, Brookfield Place by the river, a 60th-floor dining room and a whisky library in Tribeca: where to eat after the memorial or the Oculus, by budget.
The best places to eat near the World Trade Center are Eataly Downtown in 4 World Trade Center (2 minutes from the memorial), Pisillo Italian Panini on Nassau Street for a huge, cheap sandwich (7 minutes), Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place for a food court with a river view (7 minutes), and Manhatta on the 60th floor of 28 Liberty for a dinner with the whole harbor below you (7 minutes).
A visit to the memorial and museum is heavy, and the area around it is mostly glass, offices and chains. The good news is that four very different neighborhoods meet here: Brookfield Place and Battery Park City by the river to the west, Tribeca to the north, and the old Financial District to the east. Our Financial District guide covers the deep FiDi bench (Crown Shy, Delmonico's, Stone Street); this page sticks to what is close to the plaza, sorted by how much time and money you have. One change this year: Jean-Georges's Tin Building food hall at the Seaport closed for good in February 2026.
Walking times below are measured on a pedestrian route map from the 9/11 Memorial plaza beside the Oculus, and hours and prices were checked against each place's own site in September 2026. The memorial plaza is open 8am to 8pm daily and free; the museum is usually closed Tuesdays.
At a glance.
- 01Eataly DowntownThe easiest decent lunch, with views of the memorial plaza
- 02Pisillo Italian PaniniEnormous sandwiches that can feed two people for under $20
- 06ManhattaA 60th-floor dining room with the best view in Lower Manhattan
- 15OverstoryA top cocktail bar on a 64th-floor wraparound terrace
- Where
- Covers Brookfield Place, Battery Park City, Tribeca and FiDi
- Hours
- The 9/11 Memorial plaza is open 8am to 8pm daily
- When
- The 9/11 Museum is usually closed on Tuesdays
The quick answer
- Fastest good food: Eataly Downtown, 2 minutes.
- Best cheap lunch: Pisillo Italian Panini, 7 minutes.
- Best sit-down: Manhatta, 7 minutes (or its walk-in bar).
- Best drink: Overstory, 10 minutes.
If you have 30 minutes
The downtown Eataly sits right over the memorial, with a market open 7am to 11pm and three sit-down counters (La Pizza & La Pasta, La Piazza for mozzarella and aperitivo, and Bar Firenze) serving 11:30am to 9:30pm. It is the easiest decent lunch after the museum, and the windows look out on the plaza.
Go for: a Neapolitan pizza at La Pizza & La Pasta. Know before you go: weekend brunch at La Piazza runs 11:30am to 3:30pm.
The sandwiches here are enormous: whole loaves of crusty bread stuffed with Italian cold cuts and fresh mozzarella. The Palermo (soppressata, fresh mozzarella, hot peppers, arugula) and the Positano (prosciutto cotto, bufala, tomato) are both $17.90 on the current menu, and either one feeds two.
Go for: the Palermo, split. Know before you go: it closes at 8pm weekdays and 6pm on weekends. For more, see the best sandwiches in NYC.
Brookfield Place's upstairs food court has floor-to-ceiling windows over the Hudson and a lineup that includes All'Antico Vinaio sandwiches, Black Seed Bagels, Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar, Daily Provisions, Dos Toros, Mighty Quinn's Barbeque, Parm and Sixpoint Brewery. Grab food and eat it by the window or out on the esplanade.
Go for: an All'Antico Vinaio sandwich or a Daily Provisions cruller. Know before you go: it is packed with office workers from noon to 1:30pm on weekdays.
A French market hall on Brookfield Place's ground floor, with a café, a crêperie and pâtisserie, a bakery and a sit-down bar and bistro. The daily happy hour from 4 to 6pm has $6 beers, $10 wines and $14 cocktails, which suits a late-afternoon break after the museum.
Go for: a crêpe, or happy hour at the bistro bar. Know before you go: the crêperie and bakery counters close at 5pm.
The downtown branch of the Carmine Street slice shop, a few blocks east of the Oculus. It is a plain, perfect New York slice and the cheapest real meal near the plaza.
Go for: a plain slice. Know before you go: it is counter service with limited seating.
Sit-down
Danny Meyer's restaurant on the 60th floor has the best view of any dining room in Lower Manhattan. Dinner is a three-course prix fixe at $120 or four courses at $148; weekend lunch is $65 for two courses. The bar takes walk-ins, pours $22 cocktails like the Pad Thai daiquiri, and has an à la carte menu, which is the smart way in.
Go for: a cocktail and a snack at the bar at sunset. Know before you go: book the dining room well ahead.
Inside the Perelman Performing Arts Center, the marble cube on the plaza, Marcus Samuelsson's restaurant has a dining room, a bar and a terrace designed by David Rockwell. It serves dinner Tuesday to Saturday from 5 to 10pm, lunch Tuesday to Thursday, and happy hour from 5 to 7pm, and it opens extra hours on show nights.
Go for: happy hour on the terrace. Know before you go: closed Sunday and Monday unless PAC NYC has a performance; ticket holders get first access to reservations.
The downtown Nobu fills the lobby of a landmark office building on Broadway, a dramatic room for the signatures: black cod miso, yellowtail jalapeño, rock shrimp tempura. The weekday lunch prix fixe is $45 for three courses, and Tanoshi Hour at the bar, Sunday to Friday 5 to 6:30pm, has special pricing on a few classics.
Go for: the $45 lunch. Know before you go: book on OpenTable.
An Italian restaurant that makes its pastas and sauces in house, a short walk east of the memorial. Trofie with pesto, string beans and pine nuts and a smoked-pancetta carbonara are on the dinner menu. It is the quieter, more personal choice for a sit-down meal after a long day.
Go for: a house pasta. Know before you go: call ahead to book.
A Greek taverna in Battery Park City, a block from the river, open for weekday lunch, dinner nightly from 3:30pm and weekend brunch. It is a calm, roomy alternative to the crowded spots by the Oculus, good for a family.
Go for: Greek spreads and grilled dishes for the table. Know before you go: dinner starts early, at 3:30pm, which works after the museum.
A Tribeca steakhouse with a 20 oz pastrami ribeye ($88) and smoked old fashioneds as its signatures. The nightly bar happy hour from 5 to 7pm has a $26 burger-and-drink deal it calls the NYC Meal. Our Tribeca guide has more around it.
Go for: the pastrami ribeye. Know before you go: dinner only, closed Sunday and Monday.
After
A big, friendly bar and kitchen open until 2am every night, with wings, nachos, a long draft list and an "Adult Happy Meal" of a smash burger plus a drink at the bar from 11am to 6pm. It is the easy group dinner.
Go for: wings and a beer. Know before you go: weekend brunch runs 10am to 3:30pm.
A burger joint just south of the plaza with the Bill's Burger at $16.99 and a weekday happy hour from 4 to 7pm with $6 drafts and $6 shakes. It is open until 10pm weeknights and 11pm Fridays and Saturdays.
Go for: the Fat Cat burger on an English muffin. Know before you go: it is family friendly and fast.
The Shake Shack by the river is open until midnight Sunday to Thursday and 1am on weekends, which makes it the late answer when everything else has closed. Take it to the Hudson River esplanade.
Go for: a ShackBurger and fries. Know before you go: it is close to the ferry terminal, useful if you are heading across the river.
Drinks
On the 64th floor of an Art Deco tower, Overstory is one of the best cocktail bars in the city, a small room (about two dozen seats) with a wraparound terrace and the island spread out below. Walk-ins are welcome when there is room; reservations carry a $100 per person minimum. More in our cocktail bar guide.
Go for: a cocktail on the terrace. Know before you go: no tank tops, flip-flops or athletic wear; groups over six cannot walk in.
The award-winning Irish bar near the water, with a ground-floor taproom open until 2am (3am Fridays and Saturdays) and the upstairs Parlor for cocktails. The Irish coffee is the house signature and the Guinness is poured properly.
Go for: an Irish coffee in the taproom. Know before you go: the Parlor is closed Mondays. See the best Irish pubs in NYC for more.
A coffee hall by day and cocktail hall by night in a restored Art Deco bank, with a Golden Hour from 5:30 to 7pm, Monday to Saturday, offering $2 oysters and $12 martinis. It is the most handsome room for a drink in this part of downtown.
Go for: a martini and oysters at Golden Hour. Know before you go: cocktail tables book on Resy; daytime is first come, first served.
A dim, leather-and-wood Tribeca lounge with floor-to-ceiling shelves of bottles and a spirits list that changes daily. It is the quiet nightcap after a heavy day downtown, open until midnight early in the week and 2am Thursday to Saturday.
Go for: a whisky the bartender picks for you. Know before you go: closed Sundays; books parties up to six on Tock.
More pre-show guides
This page is part of our where-to-eat-near series. See also where to eat near the Met, near Bryant Park, before a Broadway show, near Madison Square Garden, near Lincoln Center, near Carnegie Hall and near Barclays Center. If you are taking the ferry next, see our NYC Ferry guide.
The Shout NY take
The memorial deserves quiet, and the blocks right around it do not offer much. Walk seven minutes in any direction and it changes: a Pisillo sandwich on a bench by the river, a drink at Manhatta's bar as the harbor goes gold, or Overstory's terrace sixty-four floors up. Eat by the water, drink up high, and give the Oculus food court a pass.
Questions, answered.
- Where should I eat near the 9/11 Memorial?
- Eataly Downtown in 4 World Trade Center is a 2 minute walk from the memorial pools. Pisillo Italian Panini on Nassau Street (7 minutes) is the best cheap lunch, and Brookfield Place's Hudson Eats (7 minutes) has more than a dozen counters with river views.
- Is there a restaurant at the Perelman Performing Arts Center?
- Yes. Metropolis by Marcus Samuelsson is inside PAC NYC at 251 Fulton Street, serving dinner Tuesday to Saturday and lunch Tuesday to Thursday, with happy hour from 5 to 7pm.
- What is a cheap place to eat near the World Trade Center?
- Joe's Pizza at 124 Fulton Street and Shake Shack in Battery Park City are the cheapest quick meals within 7 minutes. Pisillo's huge sandwiches are $17.90 and easily feed two.
- What is the 9/11 Memorial Museum schedule?
- The memorial plaza is open daily from 8am to 8pm and is free. The museum is usually open Wednesday to Monday from 9am to 7pm, with last entry at 5:30pm, and is generally closed Tuesdays.
- Where can I get a drink with a view near the World Trade Center?
- Overstory, on the 64th floor of 70 Pine Street, is a 10 minute walk and one of the best cocktail bars in the city. The bar at Manhatta, on the 60th floor of 28 Liberty, takes walk-ins.
Next up
The Best Happy Hours in NYCFifteen happy hours worth leaving work early for, from $1.50 oysters in the West Village to $10 negronis on MacDougal and half-price wings in Williamsburg, with the days and hours for each.Read it Get the Shout Sheet.
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