Best Paella in NYC

Socarrat at Paella Bar at 259 W. 19th St

This elegant little cubby hole of a restaurant, in Chelsea, has been designed to replicate a genial, sometimes raucous Sunday dinner in Valencia, complete with a small, twenty-seat communal table and great, piping-hot salvers of paella de carne and seafood-rich arroz negro. There are five traditional paellas on the menu, each one fresher and more authentic than you’ll find anywhere in this paella-starved town. If you have to choose one, try the paella de carne, made with chunks of pork, duck, chicken, and chorizo mingled in piles of crackling rice, which gets crisper and more crackly as you excavate with your spoon. The little joint takes no reservations, so get there early, or you’ll find yourself milling around on the sidewalk, with the rest of the paella loons.