Grub Guides

Where to Eat and Drink in New York on the Fourth of July

Funnel cake at the Dutch!
Funnel cake at the Dutch!

There’s no better place to celebrate the Fourth — at least restaurant-wise — than New York City: There are plenty of cookout-themed menus, unlimited cocktails, and barbecues (and you’ll save yourself from horrible Hamptons traffic). You can even eat lobster rolls and fried chicken while participating in a ping-pong tournament. Here are 26 restaurants with patriotic specials. Bring on the fancy corndogs.

The Dutch
When: All day, 11:30 a.m. to midnight
What: There’s a special, cookout-themed menu in honor of the holiday: extra-fancy corn dogs, Texas-style smoked brisket, and funnel cake with caramel and corn pudding.
Price: à la carte

Fornino
When: 7 to 11 p.m.
What: The Brooklyn Bridge Park restaurant is hosting a feast with antipasto, wood-fired pizzas, and a cash-only bar. There’s also fireworks viewing on its rooftop terrace, where you can see both the Brooklyn Bridge and East River.
Price: $75

Delicatessen
When: Open 7:30 to 1:30 a.m.; special dessert available 10:30 a.m. to close
What: In addition to its new summer menu, with dishes like cheeseburger spring rolls, the Soho restaurant will celebrate Independence Day with a special dessert: the Bomb Pop Sundae, with cherry and lemon sorbets, blue raspberry granite, and fresh berries.
Price: à la carte

The Fourth
When: All day, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
What: The aptly named Union Square restaurant is open all day for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. There are holiday specials like lobster rolls, chilled corn soup, and surf and turf, and to drink, there’s mint lemonade, watermelon mojitos, and a $5 beer special, too.
Price: à la carte

Arlington Club
When: All day, July 4 to 6
What: The usual Sunday-nights-only barbecue offerings are available for dine-in and takeout all weekend long. Enjoy classics like fried chicken or hickory-smoked baby back ribs.
Price: à la carte

The Gander
When: 12 to 8 p.m.
What: The Flatiron restaurant is throwing an all-day party with live music, karaoke, a ping-pong tournament, and, of course, food. Jesse Schenker’s special menu includes oyster shooters, lobster rolls, fried chicken, and barbecue ribs. Plus: a sundae bar and kegs of local craft brews.
Price: $60 to 100; tickets available here

Recette
When: 3 p.m. to close
What: Head to Schenker’s other restaurant in the West Village for a more intimate celebration. A prix fixe, three-course menu offers creative spins on all-American dishes, like potato salad with pickled ramps and a hot dog of bratwurst, puff pastry, and mustard sauce.
Price: $28, reservations recommended

Red Rooster Harlem
When: 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
What: Marcus Samuelsson’s special, celebratory menu includes Rio chicken wings with hot sauce and pickles, a Copa Dog with shrimp salad, and a burger with Jarlsberg cheese and bacon.
Price: à la carte

Sotto 13
When: Pig Roast, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; brunch, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., July 4-6
What: The West Village Italian restaurant is going HAM for Independence Day with a holiday pig roast and dishes like slow-roasted porchetta. Its Boozy Brunch, with unlimited cocktails, will be available all weekend long, too.
Price: $29 per person for unlimited brunch cocktails, plus a selection of wood-fired pizzas, small plates, and sides; pig roast dishes are a $5 supplement

Sons of Essex
When: Noon until the food runs out
What: At its second annual Independence Day Beer and Bacon Block Party, the Lower East Side hub has Pat LaFrieda pork and all-you-can-drink beer from Brooklyn Brewery. There are tiki torches and beach balls to set the celebratory scene as well.
Price: $48

Sweet Chick
When: 11 to 4 a.m.
What: Enjoy some fried chicken and a special Fourth of July cocktail: the Red, White, and Blue Bramble made with white rum, berries, elderflower, and lime. As an added bonus, both locations are playing Jay Z all day in honor of the anniversary of his album Magna Carta Holy Grail.
Price: The cocktail is $12; à la carte menu

Riverpark
When: 12 to 7 p.m.
What: You’ll find a family-style barbecue menu with cookout classics (and some twists, like heirloom-tomato panzanella), plus a view of the East River.
Price: $65; $35 for children under 12

James
When: Open until 2 p.m.
What: The Brooklyn restaurant is closed for dinner, but offering takeaway picnics. Customers have up until 9 p.m., July 3, to make the pre-order deadline by calling 718-942-4255; the four-dish package includes Old Bay-spiced fried chicken, fingerling potato salad, a supreme kale salad with the likes of duck egg and ricotta salata, and grilled pound cake.
Price: $30

Maison Premiere
When: Noon to 4 a.m.
What: The Williamsburg hot spot is hosting its annual party from noon to 5 p.m., with oysters, drinks, a New Orleans jazz band, and, of course, holiday specials. There’s picnic fare like pork brisket with housemade pickles, grilled shrimp, and ice-cream sandwiches all afternoon. While its oyster happy hour (returning Saturday), is canceled for the day, the full dinner menu is available starting at 5 p.m.
Price: à la carte

Pies ‘n’ Thighs
When: 9 a.m. to midnight (but closed between 4 and 5 p.m.)
What: The Williamsburg shop is serving smoked St. Louis spare ribs boxes, which includes a side of macaroni and cheese, collards greens, or, for a little bit extra, holiday offerings of Mexican-style corn on the cob or watermelon salad. Of course, there’s also pie.
Price: à la carte

Mas (la grillade)
When: Noon to 6 p.m.
What: Head to the West Village for a special, fire-y Fourth of July menu. There’s a grilled romaine salad with housemade bacon and buttermilk-blue-cheese dressing, and grilled eggplant sandwiches with tomato confit. You’ll have plenty of time to catch the fireworks afterwards.
Price: à la carte

The Cleveland
When: 11 a.m. to close
What: What would Independence Day be without a hot dog? The Nolita restaurant is offering a special dog, topped with chili, mustard, onions, and housemade kimchee. It’s serving its full brunch menu, too.
Price: $9; brunch is à la carte

Paulaner
When: 11:30 a.m. to midnight
What: The newly opened brewery and Bavarian restaurant has a BeerBQ feast for the Fourth. The platter, which serves two, includes roast suckling pig, housemade pork sausages, potatoes, cabbage slaw and BeerBQ sauce, plus two half-liter pours of Hefeweizen or Lager brews.
Price: $42

Maya
When: 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
What: Start the day off with a bottomless margarita brunch at the Upper East Side modern Mexican restaurant. There are unlimited drinks and small plates, like Mexican French toast with cajeta and and chorizo-potato hash sliders.
Price: $39

Carmine’s
When: 11:30 a.m. to midnight, all weekend long
What: Continue celebrating at the Italian restaurant, which has a different specials every day. On the Fourth of July, though, there is Chicken Alla Romana, topped with mozzarella.
Price: à la carte

Distilled
When: All day
What: The Tribeca restaurant is offering its Patriot Package: a two-person feast that includes a whole fried chicken, biscuits, rum punch cocktails, and more.
Price: $60

Shake Shack
When: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., July 3 to 6
What: To celebrate America’s birthday, Shake Shack has two holiday items: the Shack Corn Dog served with sweet corn relish, and Blueberry Pie Oh My Concrete, made with a piece of blueberry pie.
Price: $4.50 to $6.50

Hill Country
When: Noon to 3 a.m. (Flatiron); 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. (Brooklyn)
What: At its downtown Brooklyn location, you can enjoy some barbecue along with an off-the-menu Porch Swing cocktail, made with gin, strawberry simple syrup, and lemon. For dessert, there’s special, festive blueberry lemon meringue bar (available at its Flatiron location, too).
Price: Cocktail, $7; dessert, $4.50

Boqueria
When: Noon to 11:30 p.m.
What: Head to the tapas bar for an “Independence Special” of a Black Angus burger, patatas bravas, and a glass of red sangria.
Price: $17.76

Hearth
When: 6 to 11 p.m.
What: There’s a family-style fried chicken extravaganza here: market vegetable salads, corn on the cob, fried chicken (of course), potato salad, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Since it’s a holiday, treat yourself to bottomless drinks, like riesling and Americana Rum Punch with pineapple.
Price: $48; $24 extra for bottomless beverages

Maialino
When: July 7, 5:30 p.m. to close
What: For some post-Independence Day celebrating, you can feast on housemade mortadella hot dogs, tater tots, and burgers. The dinner is part of Maialino’s Industry Night series, taking place on the first Monday of every month.
Price: à la carte

Where to Eat and Drink in New York on the Fourth of July