Where to Eat Near Lincoln Center: New Tables for Fall 2026

Since July, several new places to eat have opened between West 64th and West 72nd Streets. Most of them are on one side street, West 70th, and most of their hours fit the time before a show. You can get a croissant at 7 a.m., dim sum from a cart until 3 p.m., a counter seat at 5:30, or a slice standing at the window until 10. The main new option for after the curtain is Daniel Boulud's return to Broadway. It debuts Thursday, October 8, and its reservations were booked well into October within a day of going live.

So if you live nearby, the new openings change how you plan a Lincoln Center day more than they change where you go after the show. The calendar matters right now because the Met, City Ballet, the Philharmonic and the New York Film Festival all overlap this month.

West 70th Street Picked Up Three Openings in Two Months

West 70th Street has the biggest cluster. Croissant et Cafe opened July 2 at 154 West 70th, between Columbus Avenue and Broadway, in the former Café Mozart space. It's a micro-bakery and coffee bar focused on croissants and focaccia, and it also serves Persian ice cream. It's open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed Sundays.

Two doors down, at 150 West 70th, is CHIKARA, an upscale Japanese restaurant. The Lincoln Square BID reported it as recently opened on August 12. The owners have a local history. Co-owner Yumi Matsumura was a vice president at Sushi of Gari, which has a location on Columbus near West 77th Street. Chef Atsutaka Chikaraishi, who gives the restaurant its name, worked as a chef at all of the Sushi of Gari locations. The menu offers the Chikara Omakase at $185 per guest, plus individual nigiri, sashimi and rolls. Nigiri runs from $9 for akami to $20 for otoro.

Wu's Dynasty, a traditional Cantonese restaurant, is across Amsterdam at 208 West 70th, between Amsterdam and West End Avenues. Eater dated its debut to Thursday, September 3. Founder Derek Wu previously helped found and manage Wu's Wonton King. Eater lists daily hours of 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., with push-cart dim sum from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It also called out pan-fried chive and shrimp dumplings, cheong fun, custard lava buns, live seafood and Beijing duck. The Infatuation's review mentions a $16.99 lunch special and recommends ordering from the seafood tanks at dinner.

Two blocks north, Kine Musubi opened its first brick-and-mortar shop on Thursday, September 24, at 128 West 72nd Street near Amsterdam, in a former smoke shop. I Love the Upper West Side reported musubi priced from $6 to $8 and a five-piece mix-and-match box for $30. It named the Spam Lakika on fried-garlic rice as a favorite.

What Each Spot Covers on the Clock

Here is each opening against the times you'd plan around a performance. These hours come from early coverage and the restaurants' own pages, and new places often adjust them in the first months.

CHIKARA's hours need a check before you book. Its website lists Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 9:45 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday. The BID's August announcement listed Wednesday through Sunday. Either way, the last counter seating is 8:30. That makes CHIKARA a dinner for before a show or for a night without one.

Lucia Takes the Corner a Starbucks Left

Lucia Pizza opens Monday, October 5, at 11 a.m. at 159 Columbus Avenue, between West 67th and 68th Streets. It's the city's fifth Lucia, and the storefront used to be a Starbucks. There are no tables. Three standing bars hold about 12 people, and the slices are made from slow-fermented dough and finished with basil, Pecorino Romano and Sicilian olive oil. Co-owner Schwartz, who also co-owns the Upper East Side Lucia, told West Side Rag what he wants the small room to be:

"A little escape from the daily grind."

For a show night, the useful part is the hours. Lucia is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and opens an hour later on Sundays. For the first week, delivery orders go through the shop directly. Seamless and UberEats start after that, and delivery is whole pies only.

Brasserie Boulud Opens October 8, and Tables Are Scarce

Brasserie Boulud at 1900 Broadway, across from Lincoln Center, was first announced for September 17. Eater reported on October 2 that after months of delays it will debut Thursday, October 8. Reservations that went live on Resy that day were already booked well into October.

The restaurant combines Bar Boulud, Boulud Sud and Épicerie Boulud, which all closed in July 2025, into one Rockwell Group space. It covers more than 10,000 square feet across two floors. Eater's preview lists seafood towers, French onion soup, steak frites, lobster soufflé, boudin blanc, pâtés from Maison Vérot, and the return of the DB Burger. Pre- and post-theater menus are coming back, and a tucked-away speakeasy will serve cocktails well into the night. In the mornings it will serve coffee and croissants to eat in or take out. That puts it in competition with West 70th at breakfast as well as after the show.

Of this season's openings, Brasserie Boulud is the one designed for after a performance. The opening falls during the New York Film Festival, which runs through Monday, October 12. With October reservations already gone, the West 70th Street spots are the most realistic new dinner choices for the rest of this month.

Matching the Calendar to the Kitchens

The October schedule shows how the new hours line up with real curtains.

• Matinee Saturdays. The Met's La Bohème starts at 1:00 p.m. on October 10, and City Ballet's Eclectic NYCB I starts at 2:00 p.m. the same day. On October 17, the Met's Macbeth matinee starts at 1:00 p.m., and NYCB performs All Balanchine I at 2:00 p.m. The Wu's Dynasty carts run until 3, so they fit either matinee. Croissant et Cafe is open from 7 a.m. on Saturdays.
• Weeknight 7:30 curtains. Macbeth plays October 5, 8, 14 and 20 at 7:30 p.m. Così fan tutte plays October 6, 13 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. CHIKARA's website lists it as closed on Mondays, so it isn't an option for October 5. On the other nights, its 5:30 seating is its first slot of the evening. Wu's Dynasty serves dinner until 10 every night.
• Free nights at the Atrium. The David Rubenstein Atrium has free shows at 7:30 p.m.: Blossom & The Shrub-Tones on October 7, Elisapie on October 8, and Nicolás y Los Fumadores on October 9. Entry is free and no tickets are required. A $6 musubi or a standing slice at Lucia fits a free evening like these.
• The end of the ballet season. NYCB's fall season closes October 18 with the Adrian Danchig-Waring Farewell at 3:00 p.m. It's a Sunday, so Croissant et Cafe is closed. Lucia opens at noon and Wu's Dynasty at 10 a.m.
• Late October into November. The New York Philharmonic plays Get Out in Concert at David Geffen Hall October 28 through 31 at 7:30 p.m. Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs Liszt November 4, 5 and 7 at 7:30 p.m. These dates come after Boulud's October booking rush, so a post-theater table there may be easier to get.

The Met's $25 Toll Rush tickets are back for the 2026–27 season. A lottery opens two weeks before each performance, and some tickets are also sold first-come. A last-minute rush ticket plus a West 70th Street dinner is now an easy short-notice plan.

Two More Openings Expected

Joe Kidd Cantina, a bar and restaurant, has signage up at 250 West 72nd Street, between Broadway and West End Avenue. That's the former home of the Emerald Inn, which closed last December. The only timing reported so far is October, from a construction worker at the site, so treat the date as unconfirmed. Café Alon, a kosher coffee shop and bakery, is expected to open in November at 200 West End Avenue, between West 69th and 70th Streets. It plans to bake its own goods and serve burekas, sandwiches and salads. If Café Alon opens on schedule, it will join Croissant et Cafe on the West 70th Street morning strip.

Is your apartment within a few blocks of Lincoln Center? Proximity to Lincoln Square's dining and performance calendar is part of what a buyer is paying for. PS New York Real Estate can show you how recent sales near West 70th Street reflect it. Request a free home valuation, and we'll take you through the numbers calmly and clearly.