The Top Food Pop-ups in Manhattan

At 8it we are all about eating the BEST food. We don’t care if the meal has 3 Michelin stars or if it comes from 1 guy in a truck (with Michelin tires) - if it tastes good we want to eat it and to share it with you. Pop-ups are the way to expose yourself to up-and-coming chefs who are breaking all the traditional culinary rules, making delicious creations that you can’t, and won’t, find anywhere else. The new-new restaurant trends that everyone will be lining up for next year are being forged at the pop-ups of today. Get ahead of the curve and treat your taste buds by checking out this list we’ve compiled of every food pop-up you should know about in Manhattan. We’ve tried to be comprehensive but as you know pop-ups are a moving target, if we missed your favorite pop-up submit it here and we will make sure to add you to the list!

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.

Arroces

This paella pop-up by Chef Ed Cuenca could transform a Sunday afternoon in even the staunchest of neighborhoods to a full-blown fiesta. House music is always bumping while Cuenca slings paella saturated with fresh seafood from 60-inch pans and dishes reminiscent of Spanish tapas like cantaloupe with jamón serrano, gazpacho and tortilla española. He’s cultivating one of the most vibey dining experiences in NYC using imported rice from Spain, his grandmother’s sofrito recipe and fresh seafood, one bowl with a lobster tail hanging out of it at a time.

Bad for Business

Helmed by Essex Pearl’s Sous Chef Francis Maling, Bad for Business transports you to the streets of the Philippines with an assortment of skewers. From marinated meats to barbecue pork sausages and chicken intestines, he has a penchant for putting delicious things on a stick. Each skewer is grilled on grates over binchotan making it the ideal protein-forward street pop-up. Keep an eye out for sit-down Bad for Business pop-ups as well where Chef Francis tends to break out pan-Asian classics like seafood noodles and shaken beef.

Bagel Bunny

A bagel pop-up nearly fifty years in the making, Bagel Bunny uses a vegetable yeast created by a Japanese Buddhist monk in 1974 for all their bagels. Feeding on rice, apples, carrots and Japanese yam, the yeast continues to thrive. After the yeast is mixed into dough, the bagels are rolled, boiled and baked. At pop-ups they’re topped with an array of rotating toppings from yellowtail with ginger and jalapeño ponzu, cream cheese and pickled veg, lobster with yuzukosho butter, uni cream and more.

Banh By Lauren

After leaving her post as a pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern during the pandemic, Lauren Tran began her own hustle making Vietnamese desserts and pastries. Since then, her business, Bánh by Lauren, has garnered a bicoastal cult following with treats like pandan chiffon cakes with coconut mousse, thai tea chiffon cakes with condensed milk mousse, sesame rice balls filled with sweet mung bean, and more, routinely selling out in New York and Seattle. They’re currently set to open a brick-and-mortar in the Spring of 2024 on Market Street in Chinatown.

Beaucoup

Chef Nancy Nguyen of Eleven Madison Park runs Beaucoup, where she channels her skills and heritage into cooking some of the city’s most outstanding Vietnamese food. With a full-time position at one of the world’s highest-regarded restaurants, Beaucoup pop-ups can be elusive, but are more than worth setting aside time for. After all, it’s the only place in the city (and maybe the world) where you can get a shrimp banh mi hot dog.

The Boiis Co.

A Filipino-owned mobile bakery, The Boiis Co. is known for their mochi-laced desserts, most notably cookies known as ‘mooks’ that come in flavors of ube, matcha, salted caramel, as well as a seasonal flavor drop every month. They also offer one of the most unique pastries in the city- butter mochi squares. Pull-apart mochi pastries that resemble brownies but a bit sexier.

Chef Raph

Culinary trendsetter, Chef Raph Khutorsky of Short Stories and Something Good Hospitality, is a master of the pop-up, always curating a vibe to match the food. His take on the hot chicken sandwich could make you forget about Nashville’s version, but that’s just the basics. Earlier this year, Raph hybridized the Jamaican beef patty and a chopped cheese for the best crossover creation since that Drake and 21 Savage collab. A master of making food that looks as good as it tastes, he recently entered the pizza game with his latest project, blossom pies, serving pizzas with edible flowers and toppings that should be illegal like porchetta.

Cicada

Cicada is a pop-up channeling Mid-Atlantic flavors by chefs Grace Model and Fred Taylor. In September, their pop-up at Dame featured a menu of crab served cold with a saltine pizzelle, crab served hot with a brown butter espuma, old bay jerk chicken with garlic honey, rock fish with black mint vinaigrette, and a cherry curd tart.

Clubhouse Sandos & Suds

Clubhouse Sandos & Suds has taken over the front space of the original Scarr’s pizza location. The pop-up features absolutely stacked sandwiches including a nuanced take on the chopped cheese with gochujang brisket (pictured), one with roasted chicken livers, mustard, pickled shallots and cucumbers, and a bacon egg and cheese with creme fraiche and harissa.

Dragon Fest

This Chinese food and culture festival splashed into the NYC pop-up scene this year, generating massive waves of far east flavor. With a lineup featuring Pecking House, Mala Project, Lady Wong, Nom Wah and more, attendants experienced some of NYC’s top Chinese food.

Fun Flower Pizza

Pizza loving vegetarian? Say less. Fun Flower Pizza has you covered with all vegetarian pizzas topped with edible flowers. L’Industrie alum Celine Eid is working towards opening her own place, but in the meantime, she pops up at Craft + Carry in the Upper West Side every Thursday slinging plant-based pies with toppings like honeynut squash, mushrooms and figs.

Gothamburger Social Club

One of NYC’s best burgers comes from a pop-up. Financial advisor-turned chef, Mike Puma, started Gotham Burger Social Club as an Instagram page devoted to burger reviews and after years of research, he developed his own burger formula that maximizes flavor with flawless execution. The burger, which is served at Gotham Smash Burger pop-ups, has earned a cult following to say the least. Its soft but toasty bun hoists crisply seared patties smashed with razor thin onions, topped with American cheese, and stacked with all the fixings. Its first brick-and-mortar location is coming soon to the Lower East Side.

Grand Bazaar

Grand Bazaar is NYC’s longest running curated market, occurring every Sunday in the Upper West Side. Each week’s market has a different theme from artisanal sweet treats to brunch to specific holidays. A vast array of vendors including Vayalo! Cocina, Mystikk Masala, Empanada Papa, Empire BBQ and more make up their diverse food offerings, giving something new for you to try every time you visit.

Japan Fes

One of the biggest Japanese food festivals in the world, Japan Fes brings a typical Japanese street food scene to NYC. You can find ramen, takoyaki, yakisoba, okonomiyaki and more Japanese specialties in their finest forms at this street feast that runs recurringly over the warm months. It’s not only NYC chefs, pop-ups and restaurants participating, Japan Fes has brought in names including Onisoba Fujiya and Ramen Nishiki straight from the motherland.

KARLSBALLS

You may have had these octopus fritters as an appetizer at a Japanese restaurant before, but most of the takoyaki served in America is summoned from a freezer before being dunked into the deep fryer, making for an inauthentic experience. KARLSBALLS by Karl Palma is the real deal. Palma massages hundreds of pounds of octopus himself each week to tenderize before mixing it into batter that he and his team spin with chopsticks at ninja speed on takoyaki pans until they become doughy pillows dressed with kewpie mayo, takoyaki sauce and bonito flakes.

The Laksa Shop

This curry noodle soup pop-up was born out of Mama Lam’s, a mother-daughter duo bringing Malaysian flavors to NYC in the form of curry pastes and hot sauces. The daughter, founder Cassandra Lam, teamed up with former Chopped contestant Chef Lizzy Singh-Brar to make the popular southeast Asian dish that’s ignited by her curry paste. They are currently in residence at Pearl River Mart in Chelsea Market Friday through Tuesday every week and at the Bryant Park Winter Village every day through January 2.

Lechonbae

Lechon Legend Chef Archie Cancio champions this crispy, juicy, Filipino whole pig pop-up that brings the flavors of Pampanga to the streets of NYC. The intoxicatingly succulent pork is served traditionally over rice as well as in a rotating menu of specials, including lechon sisig lumpia. An astonishingly bold combination of three legendary Filipino dishes consolidated into one.

Nazli & Co.

The treats at pop-up bakery Nazli & Co. are worthy of the ultimate compliment for Asian desserts- not too sweet and they’re pulling it off with innovative takes on the classics. Their chocolate chip cookies are as salty as they are sweet with subtle hints of ginger and cinnamon. They’re also running basque cheesecakes in yuzu and rose-cardamom flavors, a matcha-orange blossom olive oil cake with raspberry coulis and raspberry Swiss buttercream, plus so much more.

Philippines Fest

One of the biggest Filipino street food fairs in the country, Philippines Fest requires multiple visits. With NYC’s plethora of talented Filipino cooks, this is consistently one of the most stacked food events in the five boroughs. The Boiis Co, Patok by Rach, Lechonbae and Bad for Business are all regular contributors and you’re going to want to try each of their offerings. You might be drawn to the sizzle of sisig, the crackling skin of lechon, or fragrant skewers of meat exuding juiciness over an open flame, and you couldn’t possibly fit it all in one visit. Unless you pull up with the whole squad and share bites from each vendor.

Ramen by Ra

For Harlem native Rasheeda Purdie, ramen is a canvas for innovation. With her pop-up Ramen by Ra, she has effectively changed the way we see ramen forever. Her Rise + Dine brunch ramen series sold out every seating over a two month period with bowls of ramen that mimicked a classic American brunch. Masterfully crafted Bacon Egg N' Cheese, BLT, and Steak & Eggs Ramen featured on the menu and did each original dish justice. Get your chopsticks ready, because Ra is set to open a brick-and-mortar here in NYC.

Soul and Wheel

Chef Lay Alston’s Soul & Wheel, committed to making hospitality accessible, has taken NYC by storm with fish-focused dinners influenced by African, Asian and Caribbean flavors. A paraplegic victim of gun violence, Alston started Soul & Wheel as a vessel for her resilience and a way to express her cultural heritage.

Taiwan Fest

You probably didn’t yet realize that you need a whole barbecued squid in your life, but you do, and you can get it from Apou’s Taste at Taiwan Fest. This is a unique chance to experience the traditional foods of Taiwan in NYC, a cuisine that is known for mastering the balance of sweet and salty flavors. Other highlights include bao buns from Cbao, fried chicken skin from Chickalicious, boba tea from Xing Fu Tang, popcorn chicken from Bomcorn Chicken, Taiwanese sausage from Quick & EZ, wheel cakes from Catmint Wheel Cake and so much more.

Uptown Night Market

Name literally any type of cuisine. You can probably get it here. A monthly event from April through October, Uptown Night Market offers a chance to try some of the city’s best street food. One of the most multicultural food events you could ever imagine, regular vendors at the market include Sassy’s Fishcakes offering Barbadian bites, Filipino flavor from Patok by Rach, Mr. Chopped Cheese for some classic New York nourishment and so many more. Pretty much every corner of the globe is represented at Uptown Night Market.

Vegan Night Market

Night Markets are known for highlighting some of the city’s best street food vendors and an overwhelming majority of them serve meat-based dishes. Vegan Night Market is going against the grain, celebrating vegan vendors in just about the best possible setting- Central Park. It's a big step into the street eats game for vegan food and the vendors the market curates consistently wow us with their innovation using only plant-based ingredients.

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Every Food Pop-up You Should Know About in Manhattan