A French-named Italian slice shop on a Williamsburg sidewalk that has quietly become one of the most recommended pizza spots in NYC. The internet loves the fig bacon jam slice, but our fans say the prosciutto burrata slice is even better. They have a bigger location in the West Village, a few blocks up from the pizza legend they may be chasing, John’s of Bleecker. We asked what your favorite pizza spots in the city were, and none were mentioned more than this. Coming from New Yorkers, that’s high praise.

Fans recommend: Prosciutto burrata slice. Spicy salami slice. Fig jam bacon slice.

A golden-ceilinged slice shop on Broadway in the Upper West Side — with a West Village location as well — that walks the line between New York and Detroit-style pizza. Our fans talked about the thick, audacious crust and the creativity of the rotating toppings — poached pear with hot honey, fried chicken, spicy salami are all recent stars. The vibe is immaculate as well: patterned ceilings and floors, wooden counters, no chairs, which means you eat standing up, the best way to eat pizza in New York. This is a place you’re very likely to find Roger Bennett if you happen to go.

Fans recommend: Angry Nonna slice. Poached pear with hot honey. Spicy salami.

A wood-fired restaurant pizzeria in downtown Jersey City that has been making an argument for NJ pizza supremacy since 2012. Local ingredients combined with an Italian background in pizza making has earned this spot three stars from the New York Times and a 50 Top Pizza “Best in North America” nod. Our fans say you can’t quite call it Neapolitan style, but it’s some awesome thing close to it. Sit down and enjoy a Jersey City gem, your most recommended Jersey pizza.

Fans recommend: Margherita. Yellow Margherita.

The delicatessen on the Lower East Side that has been feeding New York since 1888, when the neighborhood was still the beating heart of Jewish immigrant America. It’s a classic New York spot in a classic New York neighborhood that’s worth exploring.  You love it for the iconic, massive pastrami on rye, with spicy mustard and pickles on the side — quite possibly the greatest sandwich in America’s greatest city — but the brisket, corned beef, and knishes aren’t  far behind. It’s crowded and fun inside, but don’t get distracted — the pros behind the counter make the preparation into a kind of theater.  And don’t worry about the line — this is a place where the build up is part of the experience, and they know how to keep it moving.

Fans recommend: Pastrami on rye with spicy mustard. Corned beef. Knishes.

A tiny slider joint on River Street in Hackensack that started as a diner exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Now it’s a Jersey burger institution and one our most recommended places to eat. The sliders are small — order at least three. They’re made from fresh beef that’s delivered daily, cooked with thinly sliced onions on the griddle, and served on a Martin's potato roll. Perfection. There’s a good reason both Anthony Bourdain and Guy Fieri have featured this place. And it’s only 20 minutes from the stadium.

Fans recommend: Sliders with onions and cheese.

A true hole-in-the-wall Tibetan restaurant tucked behind a cell phone store in a Jackson Heights shopping corridor. It’s got creamsicle-orange walls, laminated menus, framed photos on the wall and some of the best momos in New York City. Chef-owner Sang Jien Ben is from Tibet and has been making beef-and-chive dumplings and hand-pulled noodle soups here for years. Jackson Heights is one of the most diverse neighborhoods on Earth, and this place is a perfect reason to get on the 7 train and go exploring.

Fans recommend: Boiled beef-andchive momos.

A bagel institution on Third Avenue in Midtown that has been hand-rolling, kettle-boiling, and baking since 1976 and is still considered a gold standard for the New York bagel. They have two other shops in the city — the original reimagined in the East Village and another near Penn Station are both excellent. We asked you about two things in New York: pizza and bagels. This was your top choice for the latter. Ess-a-Bagel is the place to find out why New York claims the best bagels in the world.

Fans recommend: Everything bagel. Lox and scallion cream cheese.

And now your NJ bagel king. A takeout-only bagel shop on River Road in Fair Lawn that has been hand-rolling and baking since 1988. About 12 miles from both Midtown Manhattan and MetLife Stadium, this is our fans’ most recommended Jersey bagel. Opens at 6am, closes at 3pm, moves fast. The everything bagel seems to be the play, but the French-toast bagel got a few nods from the faithful. New Jersey has a legit claim in the bagels debate, and this place is a big reason why.

Fans recommend: Everything bagel. Taylor ham egg and cheese.

A diner tucked underneath the Manhattan Bridge in the Two Bridges neighborhood, where Chinatown meets the Lower East Side. It takes the classic American diner format and runs it through the flavor traditions of the surrounding neighborhood. Golden pancakes are the star, but they’re also known for a great chicken-katsu club and matzo-ball soup. Our fans love it as a way to start your day in Lower Manhattan.

Fans recommend: Honey-butter pancakes.

A Trinidadian restaurant on South Elliott Place in Fort Greene, opened in 2022 with the stated mission of serving non-gentrified Caribbean food that makes you feel like you're at home. Our fans love it for the corn soup and the Bake and Shark Bites. The vibe runs from casual dinner to DJ nights depending on when you show up. Spike Lee's studio is next door, and one your favorite soccer bars — Fancy Free — is across the street. Between the jerk chicken and the football, you could lose an entire afternoon here.

Fans recommend: Corn Soup. Bake and Shark Bites.

An Oaxacan restaurant in Weehawken, right on the Hudson River Palisades with a panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline. Our fans love the authentic Mexican food as much as the amazing view. Filiberto and Genoveva Arias came from Putla, Oaxaca, and built this place from scratch in 1992, and it’s become a New Jersey hidden gem. Get the flautas. Get the enchiladas Oaxaqueñas. If you’re in Manhattan, it’s just a quick hop on the ferry away.

Fans recommend: Tableside guacamole.

We’re throwing in an extra to the XI - an option outside the cities and close to the stadium for the match-goers. A family-owned Italian deli in East Rutherford that makes its own mozzarella and gets fresh bread delivered from Brooklyn every day. Open 9am to 4pm. Our fans mentioned the sandwiches here more than any other place in Jersey. And the proximity to MetLife makes it an ideal spot to hit before or after a game.

Fans recommend: Roast pork with provolone on semolina.

A German-American biergarten a short drive from MetLife that has been the Meadowlands' go-to pregame destination since 2002. Long communal tables, over 35 screens, an outdoor patio, and a park-and-ride shuttle straight to the stadium. The original in Carlstadt was founded by fans, for fans — which we obviously love —  as the ideal place to go before a game. The concept worked so well that they’ve expanded to stadium-accessible locations in Newark and New Brunswick. This will be a main hub during the tournament…get there early and be at one of the Jersey tournament epicenters.

Fans recommend: The park-and-ride shuttle to MetLife.

An Irish pub on Park Avenue in East Rutherford that fans told us is another pregame go-to for MetLife. A mile and a half from the gates, it's close enough to walk if you're feeling ambitious, and the atmosphere — live music, a full food menu, a proper pour — rewards the detour. A great place to head to after the game and let the crowds die down.

Fans recommend: Fish and chips. Shepherd’s pie.

The oldest family-run bar in New York City, holding down the corner of 19th and 7th in Chelsea since 1916. While the rest of Chelsea has transformed around it, McManus’s has stayed the same: torn booth seats, Christmas lights, a jukebox stocked with soul, and some of the cheapest drinks in the neighborhood. It’s one of the under-the-radar Manhattan icons that our fans recommended most.

Fans recommend: The stout. The burger. The jukebox.

A narrow, boxing-mad, legendary dive bar wedged between the Broadway theaters on West 44th Street in the heart of Times Square. Founded in 1971 by Jimmy Glenn — a former trainer and cutman who once worked with Muhammad Ali — two blocks away at the Times Square Boxing Club. The walls are floor-to-ceiling signed photos, gloves, and fight posters that Glenn collected over a lifetime in the sport. Robert De Niro filmed the final scenes of “Raging Bull” here. Our fans say it’s a must-stop if you find yourself in the center of the city.

Fans recommend: The jukebox. The cheap drinks.

What locals call Shark Bar - for the taxidermied sharks hanging inside - has lived on the corner of Spring and Mulberry since the 1920s, when it operated as a speakeasy during Prohibition. Why is it one of our fan’s favorites? Probably because it’s one of the few bars in the city that opens at 8am and doesn't close until 4am. It attracts a cross-section of Nolita and SoHo that no other bar in those neighborhoods can claim, and it’s surrounded by some of the best restaurants and shopping in the entire city. Bop over here from Katz’s or Russ & Daughters and call it a day.

Fans recommend: The early hours.

Paul Dawson moved to the US from Dublin in 1990 and spent a decade watching soccer get overlooked by American bars. On July 4th, 2000, he opened his own spot on First Street in Hoboken. Twenty-five years later, Mulligan’s is the standout soccer bar in an area with more bars per capita than almost anywhere in the country. Three rooms, 20 TVs, Irish breakfast served all day, and a mural on the outside wall showing the greatest players to ever play the game. What more do you need? Best of all, it’s just a quick PATH train ride from Manhattan.

Fans recommend: The Irish breakfast. The wings.

Across from the Empire State Building on 33rd Street, the Football Factory occupies the basement of Legends to make for what our fans say is the best soccer bar in NYC. It’s home to over 30 supporter clubs, has the largest collection of football memorabilia in the US, and shows more than 100 live matches every week across 20 big screens. If you can get here for your game early enough, this is the haven.

Named after an old Dublin market that housed the Jameson Distillery, Smithfield Hall was founded in 2012 and has grown into one of the great soccer bars of NYC. It reps supporter clubs for Man U, West Ham, Bayern, Barca, Forest, and more. The 70-foot bar is made from reclaimed wood salvaged from an old Chelsea warehouse and is lined with screens in front of every seat. Our fans were also keen to mention the great service and food. It’s a high-functioning, sports-watching pub machine.

Fans recommend: Giant pretzel. The craft beer selection.

The soccer bar that Brooklyn built, founded in 2009 by a group of passionate fans on Havemeyer Street in Williamsburg. It opens early for prem games on weekends and has the brunch to go with it. The copper bar, brass chandelier, and 24 taps create what you guys said was the best soccer vibe in Brooklyn. Last World Cup, they offered beers from 28 different countries.You can trust they’ll be ready to go this summer.

Fans recommend: The bacon egg and cheese pie.

On East 27th Street in Flatiron, just east of Madison Square Park, sits the official home of NYC Evertonians. No surprise it was one of our fans’ most recommended places to watch a game. The bar is owned by Evertonians, run by Evertonians, and decorated accordingly: dark wood, leather booths, walls lined with blue memorabilia built up over more than two decades of Saturday mornings. Everton won’t be playing this summer, but if you want somewhere that will make you feel like it (Rog Note: if that’s a good thing!), Turnmill is the place.

Fans recommend: Jazz nights on Wednesdays.

Fifteen minutes from MetLife and largely unknown to the outside world sits the town that built American soccer…Kearny, New Jersey. In the 1870s, the Clark Thread Company of Scotland opened their mills along the Passaic River and brought thousands of Scottish immigrants — and their football — with them. By 1885, Kearny was hosting the first international match outside Britain: US v. Canada. The field they played on is now a parking lot for Tops Diner, where locals told us you should start your game-day festivities. The banners on Kearny Ave still read “Soccertown USA” and the pints at Scots American Club are still poured like they were when John Harkes, Tony Meola, and Tab Ramos grew up there. The birthplace of American soccer, five miles from where the World Cup is being played — what more do you need to hear?

Fans recommend: The Scots American Club, Tops Diner. Clark’s Thread Mill.

Opened in 1927 for $300 by the Lithuanian immigrant Benjamin Brass, the Strand on Fourth Avenue was part of Book Row, a six-block stretch of Greenwich Village that housed 48 bookstores. All of those other stores are now gone, but the Strand remains, now at Broadway and 12th. It’s still family-owned across three generations, and now carries over 2.5 million new, used, or rare books across 18 miles of shelves. It is the largest independent bookstore in NYC and the cultural institution our fans recommended the most.

Fans recommend: The rare and antique book section. The dollar book carts outside.

A soccer and clothing shop on Crosby Street in SoHo, Saturdays is equal parts vintage jersey archive, community living room, and general soccer hang. Walls of kits spanning every era from the 1970s to today, two leather couches, a giant screen playing matches old and new…and a foosball table, of course. Half of the inventory is heirloom — they have one of the largest collections of vintage football jerseys in the country — and half is Saturdays' own streetwear line. In a city with a lot of vintage shops and plenty of old soccer jerseys floating around, this was our fans’ most recommended place to peruse.

Open since 1996 on East 6th Street in the East Village, A-1 is one of the great surviving record shops in a neighborhood that has lost many of its musical institutions.  Their specialty is dance music — jazz, funk, soul, hip hop, disco, house, techno — curated with precision by the experts who run the place. It’s been featured as one of the world's best record shops, and our fans agree that it’s one of New York's finest vinyl destinations. A lot of record shops hit our recommendations, but none was mentioned more than A-1. Check out some music with your football this summer.

The Ironbound — four square miles of Newark bounded by railroad tracks — has been a landing place for immigrants (Portuguese, Spanish, Brazilian, Ecuadorian) since the 1800s, and Ferry Street is its spine, featuring over 170 restaurants, bakeries, and bars. Our fans say to start at Teixeira's Bakery for a pastel de nata, then walk and eat. The World Cup Corner — a massive three-wall mural by the Newark artist and MiB fan Unicorn151 — celebrates the 2026 World Cup through the Ironbound's Afro-Latino soccer culture. Then walk across the Jackson Street Bridge into the towns of Harrison and Kearny.

Fans recommend: Brasilia Grill. Pegasus Sports. Casa d'Paco.