The Standard Guide to the Meatpacking District

Of all the many beautiful things about The Standard, High Line (see: the epic views, our street level Biergarten, al fresco dining and skating, the Top of The Standard), arguably the most beautiful thing is its ideal location. Set out from our iconic revolving yellow door in any direction, and the dining, shopping, strolling, art-going, and nightlife options are virtually endless. Right under our nose, you’ve got the High Line Park, the Whitney Museum, and the West Side Greenway. Head a few blocks north to Chelsea and you’ve got meccas of shopping and galleries. Head south and you’ve got cozy West village restaurants and boutiques. The Meatpacking District essentially triangulates three of the most culturally dense neighborhoods anywhere the world. The possibilities can be overwhelming, so we’ve whittled down the options to some of our favorite must-hit restaurants, shops, markets, bars, galleries, and museums. 

The Spotted Pig

Manhattan’s OG modern gastropub (which counts Jay-Z and Mario Batali as co-owners) still serves up nightly evidence of why the world’s crazy for April Bloomfield’s cooking. The dark, cozy space that’s always bustling is the perfect spot to tuck into for an intimate dinner, or to go late-night after hitting the area’s many great bars. They don’t take reservations, so put your name in early if you’re going for dinner.

RedFarm

Joe Ng and Ed Schoenfeld’s bright West Village temple to American-style Chinese food is a menu stacked with hits and no filler (especially where the dim sum choices are concerned). Also check out Decoy, the downstairs restaurant strictly devoted to a prix fixe Peking duck menu. 

The Wild Son

This Meatpacking pick-me-up spot shrouded in greenery with a decent view of the Hudson is a great space to take in their health-centric breakfast plates, sandwiches, and juice bar first thing in the morning.

Corner Bistro

Widely known as the perfect West Village hole-in-the-wall with a legendary burger, the charming, old, and unfussy Boho haunt has been there since the early 20th Century and isn’t going anywhere. The jukebox has changed with the times, but the currency policy hasn’t: Cash only.

The Standard Grill

If we can be so bold, we think the best brasserie in the neighborhood sits right on our doorstep. The all-day operation turns out some of the city’s smartest American bistro cooking. Dreams of the Standard Burger and fries keep us awake at night.

The Whitney Museum of American Art

The Standard’s next-door neighbor, The Whitney, has been around New York in one form or another since 1931, but only moved around the corner to their new digs in 2015, when they opened in their stunner of a building with some of the city’s best views and one of the greatest collections of modern and contemporary art you’re going to find in the world. Don’t forget drop into their café (a two-star Danny Meyer joint) or their museum shop that puts other gift shops to shame.

Hauser & Wirth

The downtown New York City outpost of contemporary art’s Swiss powerhouses Iwan and Manuela Wirth and Ursula Hauser (there’s also one uptown) is the former site of epic New York City disco The Roxy, but don’t mourn it too long. Their shows are always the talk of the town. 

Anton Kern

As the son of German painter Georg Baselitz, Anton Kern could’ve done a lot less than launch a gallery with two decades of staying power in New York City, but it's good thing he chose not to. The former auto garage reliably delivers a gamut of great art.

Jack Shainman

While Shainman represents his fair share of North American artists, look to do a little more globetrotting than the rest of the Chelsea galleries here, where you’re more likely to find art from further reaches such as East Asia and Africa.

David Zwirner

Dealing art is in this German mega-gallerist’s blood, and it shows. Rarely is there not a powerhouse modernist show to look at between his two Chelsea galleries, both of which are beautiful (but especially the five-story 20th Street space, a marvel that landed it on the cover of Architectural Record upon opening in 2013). 

Marlborough Chelsea

The west-side outpost of global contemporary art trendsetters doesn’t just line its walls with star-making art, but has a boldfaced name among its staffers, too. Indie film darling actor Leo Fitzpatrick was named a director here in 2015. 

Matthew Marks

If the names Ellsworth Kelley, Jasper Johns, Barbara Gladstone, and Nan Goldin mean anything to you, then it’s probably worth stopping into the Chelsea outpost of their gallerist, modern art maestro Matthew Marks. If they don’t, it’s probably worth looking them up (like, right now). 

Kobrick Coffee Co. 

The Kobrick family’s been pushing their beans in New York City since the 1920s. They’ve moved the roasting plant to New Jersey, but the original spot hosts one of the best brew bars in the city, and has cocktail and food menus that are far from afterthoughts.

Jack’s Stir Brew

As one of New York City’s premium, locally born-and-bred coffee chains, Jack’s Stir Brew makes a mean, dark, bold cup of coffee. The cozy respite of Jack’s 10th Ave location is the original, and is where owner Jack Mazzola invented his (now-patented) stir brew technique. 

Blue Bottle

A brew with a view. The San Francisco-based chain—which only makes their coffee via pour-over or espresso machine—has an outpost on top of the High Line right in the center of the 16th Street corridor.

The Rusty Knot

This charming nautical dive on the West Side Highway is worth the hike. The minds behind The Spotted Pig and Freeman’s bring you kitschy tiki drinks, solid food options, and a jukebox soundtrack. 

The Standard Biergarten

The Standard’s take on the classic German beer garden. Think carefully curated Euro bier, first-rate sausages and pretzels to nibble on, ping-pong, and room for over 200, all year 'round. 

Little Branch

If mixology’s your thing, Little Branch should be, too. This intimate, low-ceilinged speakeasy is nearly always packed, and with good reason. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better drink, made with fresher ingredients, by more skilled bartenders, anywhere in the neighborhood (if not most of Downtown Manhattan).

Calliope

The couple behind this beautifully curated space of homewares has managed to bring together furniture by some of the biggest “makers” of the moment, paired itwith individually-curated wares from their travels around the world. They blend them together for one of the city’s best home decor stops.

Jeffrey

A one-stop boutique for both sexes, featuring every designer of the moment you want to look at, and none of the ones you don’t, collected in a tidy space that’s been meticulously curated to the nth degree. 

Marni

The first American outpost to showcase the Castiglioni family’s trademark high-end offerings, the space is a funhouse for aficionados of an ever-relevant Italian design house.

Maison Martin Margiela

You already know the name, but you haven’t really shopped the Paris-based perennial's collections until you’ve done it here, a temple to minimalism that feels like you’ve stepped into the middle of a glossy September shoot. The staff even wears white lab coats to reinforce the theme. 

Chelsea Market

A collective of shops running from 9th to 10th Ave in an industrial-chic building that’s less mall, more bazaar, the main draw here are the food options. Among them: some of the best tacos in the city (Los Tacos No. 7), a seafood shop where you can score some of the city’s freshest oysters (The Lobster Place), killer coffee (Ninth Street Espresso), and Mediterranean master Michael Solomonov’s sole New York City outpost of his hummus spot, Dizengoff. As far as coping with the hordes of tourists that shuffle about Chelsea Market: go get a beer at The Filling Station to take off the edge. 

Gansevoort Market

Another all-under-one-roof situation in the Meatpacking District. It helps to know which spots to hit, which include the now-legendary soft-serve purveyor Big Gay Ice Cream (where you can avoid the massive lines of their two brick-and-mortar locations), small-batch made-to-order donut slingers The Donut Project, and Peruvian grab-and-go spot Mission Ceviche.

Le Bain

Take in the electric top-floor views and dance yourself clean to the sounds of world-class DJs at The Standard, High Line's penthouse discotheque. Also check out the astroturf’d outdoor balcony, replete with a crepe stand, as well as the mischief-inducing indoor jacuzzi (hence the club's name). 

The Jane Ballroom

An opulent throwback to the New York City ballrooms of yore, stuffed wall to wall with antique furnishings, but with plenty of room to dance. 

Flash Factory

This 10,000 square-foot mega-temple of dancing—inspired by its London, Berlin, and Ibiza contemporaries—is the newest entrance to New York nightlife’s big, bold statement spaces. Don’t worry about getting in, worry about having your legs under you when you’re done. Ladyfag’s Sunday night Battle Hymm parties are a must-hit. 

Printed Matter, Inc.

The legendary art book and poster nonprofit started by Sol LeWitt and friends has its two-story brick-and-mortar shop on the west side, and it's as worth checking out for the rare beauties of their collection as any of the Chelsea galleries around it. 

The High Line

Our city’s loud and proud elevated park is a former elevated railway with must-see public art and treats along the way. Check with Friends of the High Line for current happenings. 

Hudson River Park

Hudson River Park is the best way to take in a ground-level views of the Hudson River, with plenty to do while you’re on it, including running, biking, basketball, rollerblading, mini golf, tennis, trapeze, swimming, volleyball, and a whole lot more at Chelsea Piers (ice skating, bowling, golf, batting cages, etc). Or if all of that stresses you out, you can just not move and take in the sunset from a bench.