If you’re following our favorite NYC meme account @nolitadirtbag, then you’re fully aware the city has been infiltrated with clout-chasers rocking sunglasses that look like they’re straight out of Star Trek. You didn’t ask for this, but it’s New York Fashion Week and we’re stuck here for now. Rather than braving the storm and waiting for a table next to a group talking about how they rubbed shoulders with Doja Cat at the SSENSE party, tuck into these spots where you can enjoy an 8it-Worthy dish while watching the madness from an arms-length distance away. This too shall pass.

This article is just a small taste of the 🔥 dishes on 8it. Hit the green button at the bottom of this article to explore all NYC’s top dish recos, new dish drops and food pop-ups on the 8it app.

Malaysian Beef Jerky
Ling Kee // Lower East Side

If you’re in for fashion week people watching, but out on repetitively overhearing dubious name dropping, put on your headphones, pick up some jerky at Ling Kee and hit the streets. While you munch and wonder why you ever put a Jack Link’s product in your body, watch the fashion crowd “slay” some of our favorite spots like Cervo’s, Kiki’s and Le Dive right before your eyes. By the time you’ve finished your lap around Dimes Square, you’ll be ready to pick up another flavor and do it all over again.

This dish is recommended by: 8it NY

Bibimbap Bowl
Sobak // Lower East Side

You gotta be quick to secure the perfect people watching perch at one of the two seats overlooking Canal Street inside Sobak, but it’s worth the hustle. While you nurture yourself with a food pyramid-friendly power lunch your mom would be proud of, watch street-chic socialites stumble out of Swan Room in six-inch heels. While they decide which door list they need to get on for tonight, you’ll get the nourishment to activate yourself for the rest of the day.

This dish is recommended by: 8it NY

Moules Dijonnaise
LES Enfants de Bohème // Lower East Side

LES Enfants is a Dimes Square-adjacent eatery that miraculously flies under the radar. Walk in, grab a table here during fashion week and reclaim your territory over a bowl of mussels with broth you’ll want to slurp up like cereal milk. Here, you can eat in peace instead of witnessing wannabe models argue over whose aura is stronger using astrology and their healing crystal collections as evidence. Say hi to Mehdi behind the bar for a special surprise. Tell him 8it sent ya.

This dish is recommended by: 8it NY

Pakora
Punjabi Deli // Lower East Side

Ubiquitous and busy as ever, even Houston Street isn’t safe from the NYFW invasion. While out-of-towners eager to recreate the scene from When Harry Met Sally with an Instagram post line up across the street outside of Katz’s Deli, you can hide underground, literally, away from the crowd at Punjabi Deli. Their pakoras are irresistibly comforting salty, crunchy veggie snacks fried in chickpea batter.

This dish is recommended by: Gothamist

Ton Toro Pork Ramen
Nakamura // Lower East Side

Sure, the fashion crowd has taken over the Lower East Side, but they’re not going under the Williamsburg Bridge. No one goes under the bridge. But the brave ones who do get rewarded with some of the best ramen in NYC. Nakamura, a ramen refuge imported from Japan by one of the four “Ramen Gods” Chef Shigetoshi Nakamura, has flown under the radar since its opening with its no-frills interior and an exterior with somehow even fewer frills. Their Ton Toro Pork Ramen is so rich and smooth that you’ll want a second.

This dish is recommended by: 8it NY

Bacon & Shrimp Dim Sum
Golden Unicorn // Chinatown

Ah, what a luxury to observe photo shoots in the street from five floors above. Golden Unicorn is a Chinatown dim sum spot hidden up an elevator on East Broadway. It might not be nouveau, but it might just be your niche. Inside this hideout, you will find dim sum carts full of dumplings, tripe, sesame buns and peking duck. But the one you absolutely can’t miss is the deep-fried bacon wrapped shrimp. Escaping the fashion week chaos for this will taste like victory.

This dish is recommended by: Eater

Chicken Cutlet
Di Palo’s Fine Foods // Little Italy

While Little Italy gears up for The Feast of San Gennaro, the fashion week crowd is leaking in too, making Mulberry street and the surrounding area a multi-course tasting menu of people watching. Warm yourself up with a portable appetizer like the chicken cutlets from Di Palo’s, which are best-consumed by hand, room temp, while walking the streets of Little Italy, brandishing them like the latest fashion accessory. You might just carve out a spot in someone’s Fall lookbook.

This dish is recommended by: 8it NY

Fried Calamari
Daddies // West Village

Although these words leave a sour taste, the fashion crowd has infiltrated Lil’ Frankie’s too. Thankfully, a plate of Frank Prisinzano’s perfect calamari is still not so far away. The West Village outpost of Prisinzano’s empire, Daddies, has the same calamari on their menu. So while the wannabe models are busy accessorizing plates of spaghetti limone at Lil’ Frankie’s, you can enjoy the calamari AND the same spaghetti limone here too.

This dish is recommended by: 8it NY

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