The best restaurants at every hour of the day

24 time-friendly recs

The walk from PARK at KIMS to Cueva is a manageable 1.3 miles on most days. But in Thursday’s delirious New York heat wave, I broke up my trip with a stop at the SoHo McNally Jackson and then, steps away from the best shop in the West Village to pick up some sale-price cigar slippers, I realized I was crossing Grove just as the clock hit 3pm. So I took a detour.

There’s no better time to dine at Via Carota, and no better place to eat at this time of day. I mean, look at this:

One of the city’s toughest tables becomes a fairly easy bar seat slide in this window, especially if you’re hiding from work on a weekday. Daylight splashes in through the big windows. The whites and woods of the restaurant pop. Order one vegetable — probably whatever is on special — one seafood main, and one dessert. The olive oil panna cotta is portioned just right for one. The music hums at a soothing volume. Get a drink. Bring a book or flirt with other solo diners. Turn your phone off.

I’ve done Via Carota at every hour. It’s good at 10am and good at 8pm. But this afternoon indulgence can’t be matched. Restaurants are ever-changing organisms, morphing with the seasons, the crowds and the hangover level of the cooks. The best ones maintain consistency in chaos. Like Klay Thompson in Game 6 or Jalen Brunson with a French alien in his way, they also transcend in specific peaks.

Here are my favorite restaurants for every hour of the day. The only places I want to eat as the clock ticks, and the best times to enjoy their charms.

• 1am | Northern Thai Food Club | Los Angeles: Thai is my favorite late night food, and Los Angeles is my favorite city for Thai food. As the night wears on, I’m convinced the pad see ew here gets a little saucier and bolder.

• 2am | The Commodore | New York: Fried food and frozens in a booth. What’s not to love?

• 3am | Joe’s Pizza | New York: The only good decision you can make at this hour.

• 4am | Magnolia Cafe | Austin: Unfortunately, the Lake Austin Boulevard location was a pandemic casualty. But if you want a good, post-bad-decision diner, doing one with Tex-Mex staples is the move.

• 5am | JuiceLand | Austin: Objectively the worst time to consume food of any kind. Heal yourself with a smoothie.

• 6am | Tacodeli | Austin: I have a strict no prepared food at airports rule that only gets broken for the occasional Tacodeli counter pickup if I’m about to board a long-ass flight out of Texas. They’re pros.

• 7am | Courage Bagels | Los Angeles: I most regularly arrive at Courage when I happen to wake up at 6:40 with a craving. This is the only time of day when the folks in line have considered what they want to order before reaching the window.

• 8am | Republique | Los Angeles: LA’s best breakfast, and perhaps the best breakfast in the country. Before 10am, there’s a peacefulness running through this high-ceilinged palace that’s more restorative than any yoga class within a 10-mile radius.

• 9am | Raf’s | New York: New York’s best breakfast meeting location. (Don’t ruin this for me, please).

• 10am | Palace Diner | Maine: At 10am, you reasonably can order any combination of pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, tuna melts or burgers without worrying about what meal you’re technically eating.

• 11am | Gjusta | Los Angeles: A dumb time to eat, frankly. Gjusta solves this with its medley of California-infused deli cases. Load up and lounge out in the sun.

• Noon | Rochelle Canteen | London: Noon is best for simplicity, vegetables and sun before getting on with your day.

• 1pm | Mariscos Jalisco | Los Angeles: My single favorite bite of food in the world. Good at any time, but this is my pick.

• 2pm | The Shop | Maine: Get drunk on wine and loaded on oysters, then go nap before rallying for dinner.

• 3pm | Via Carota | New York: After teasing this concept on IG yesterday, a friend messaged me, “Like why are the vegetables so good there on a hot day lol.”

• 4pm | Clark’s | Austin: There’s a high-top bar in the center of this seafood spot built for a happy hour featuring a crudo plate, shrimp cocktail, shoestring fries and steak tartare.

• 5pm | Birdie’s | Austin: No one cooks bright food like the team at Birdie’s. Acid and vinegars, soups and herbs, zest everywhere, soft serve. It’s ideal for an early dinner.

• 6pm | St. John | London: This gives you enough time to enjoy the atrium bar before taking the stairs up to a meal that extends into the rest of your evening.

• 7pm | Estela | New York: This is, like, the quintessential dinner time. So go to the quintessential dinner spot. Bonus points for Estela being regularly bookable during this hour with a small amount of planning ahead.

• 8pm | Bridges | New York: The most romantic time to eat, so you need a big banquet, a hot crowd and a nice pace of creative wonders.

• 9pm | The Grill | New York: This is one of my go-to post Film at Lincoln Center moves, when The Grill populates with sugar daddy dates that give it a particular kind of New York haughtiness.

• 10pm | Torrisi | New York: After a Feed Me party dancing at Jean’s, five of us slid into a back booth at Torrisi having not eaten much all day, drunk and ecstatic. This is really how to Torrisi.

• 11pm | Stars | New York: For cellar pours and bar snacks.

• Midnight | Lobby Bar at The Chelsea | New York: My favorite food is fries and aioli and they’re best consumed in a beautiful hotel space. Here it is.