Restaurant in New York City, United States
Order widely. Worth the trip downtown.
886 is Chef Eric Sze's Taiwanese kitchen on St. Marks Place, recognized by Opinionated About Dining every year since 2023 and climbing to #501 in 2025. It is one of the more serious Taiwanese restaurants in New York City and easier to book than its recognition level suggests. Book a week ahead for dinner; walk-ins work for weekday lunch.
The most common misreading of 886 is that it operates like a casual drop-in spot on St. Marks Place. It does not. Chef Eric Sze's Taiwanese kitchen on the East Village's most reliably chaotic block is a serious cooking operation with Opinionated About Dining recognition every year since 2023, including a jump from #696 in 2024 to #501 in 2025 in the Casual North America rankings. That upward trajectory matters: this is a restaurant getting stronger, not coasting. If you are the kind of diner who tracks where a cuisine is being done with genuine technical intent, 886 deserves your attention.
886 runs a Taiwanese menu in a format that rewards ordering widely rather than cautiously. The flavor register here is built around the kind of savory depth and clean acidity that defines good Taiwanese cooking: fermented elements, precise seasoning, and dishes that are composed rather than assembled. This is not a steam-table approximation of the cuisine. Because the database does not confirm specific dishes currently on the menu, defer to the server for guidance on what is running that week, particularly if this is your first visit. That approach will serve you better here than arriving with a fixed list.
Lunch runs daily from noon to 4 pm. Dinner service begins at 5 pm across the week, with the kitchen staying open until 10 pm Sunday through Thursday, 11 pm on Thursday, and midnight on Friday and Saturday. The extended weekend hours make 886 a viable late-night option on the Lower East Village stretch, which is relevant if you are building an evening around St. Marks and want to eat after 10 pm without compromising on quality.
The editorial angle worth addressing directly: does 886 travel well? Taiwanese food in this register, built around layered sauces, textural contrast, and precisely balanced seasoning, is always better eaten where it is cooked. Dishes that rely on temperature contrast or structural crunch will lose something in transit. That said, 886's cooking is grounded enough in bold, defined flavors that takeout is not a total loss if your alternative is skipping it entirely. If you are ordering off-premise, prioritize braised or sauced preparations over anything that depends on crispness or freshness of plating. For the full picture of what the kitchen is doing, eat in.
The Google rating sits at 4.2 across 838 reviews, which for a restaurant of this ambition and price positioning in New York City is a solid floor, not a ceiling. The OAD ranking movement from recommended to top-700 to top-500 in three consecutive years is a more useful signal than the aggregate score alone.
Booking at 886 is relatively direct by New York City standards. Classified as easy difficulty, this is not a venue where you need to set a 10 am alarm two months out. A week's notice is a reasonable buffer for most evenings; weekend dinner slots during busy periods may warrant booking a few days further ahead, but there is no indication of the months-long waits that characterize the city's harder reservations. Walk-ins during lunch, especially on weekdays, are plausible. The address is 26 St. Marks Place in the East Village, a neighborhood well served by subway and direct to reach from most of Manhattan.
No dress code is confirmed in the available data, and the East Village setting and casual-list OAD placement both suggest that smart casual or even relaxed dress will be entirely appropriate. This is not a white-tablecloth environment.
For groups, the absence of confirmed seating capacity or a dedicated private dining room in the database means you should contact the restaurant directly before assuming large-format bookings are available. The East Village footprint of most restaurants in this category tends to be compact. Groups of four to six are generally manageable; larger parties should verify in advance.
For more Taiwanese in New York City, Ho Foods and Taiwanese Gourmet offer different points of entry into the cuisine, and Wenwen brings a Brooklyn perspective worth considering. If you want to benchmark against Taiwanese cooking at the source, Fujin Tree in Taipei and Golden Formosa in Taipei provide useful reference points. Elsewhere in the US, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Smyth in Chicago, and Providence in Los Angeles represent the kind of chef-driven serious cooking that sits in a comparable ambition bracket, even across different cuisines. For the full picture of eating, sleeping, and drinking in New York, see our full New York City restaurants guide, our hotel guide, our bars guide, our wineries guide, and our experiences guide.
Dinner is the stronger choice if you want the full range of what the kitchen is doing. The longer service window, the later hours on weekends, and the energy of the East Village at night all work in dinner's favor. That said, lunch from noon to 4 pm daily is a practical option if you want to avoid weekend dinner competition for tables and eat at a more relaxed pace. If your goal is to eat well without planning much in advance, a weekday lunch is the lowest-friction entry point.
Specific menu items are not confirmed in our data, so a fixed order list risks being out of date. What is confirmed is that the kitchen operates with enough technique and intent to earn three consecutive years of Opinionated About Dining recognition, moving up the rankings each year. Ask the server what is freshest and what the kitchen is most confident in that week. For Taiwanese food in this register, that question will get you further than any static recommendation.
A week out is sufficient for most visits. This is not a hard-to-book restaurant by New York City standards. Weekend dinner slots may fill faster, so if you have a specific Friday or Saturday in mind, book five to seven days ahead. Weekday lunch is the easiest window to secure, and walk-ins are plausible during that service. Compare this to the months-long waits at Atomix or the planning required for Le Bernardin, and 886 is among the more accessible serious restaurants in the city.
No formal dress code is confirmed, and none is expected. The OAD casual-list placement and East Village location both point to a relaxed environment. Smart casual is more than sufficient; jeans and a clean leading will be entirely appropriate. This is not a jacket-required room.
Small groups of four to six are likely manageable, but the East Village footprint and lack of confirmed private dining capacity in our data mean you should contact the restaurant directly before booking a larger party. Do not assume a large group can be accommodated without checking first. For a group dinner where private room availability is confirmed in advance, you will have more certainty booking venues that publish that information explicitly.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 886 | — | |
| Le Bernardin | $$$$ | — |
| Atomix | $$$$ | — |
| Per Se | $$$$ | — |
| Masa | $$$$ | — |
| Eleven Madison Park | $$$$ | — |
A quick look at how 886 measures up.
Dinner is the stronger call, particularly Thursday through Saturday when the kitchen runs until 11 pm or midnight. The later hours and fuller-service window give you more time to order across the menu, which is how 886 rewards you. Lunch is a reasonable option if your evening schedule is tight, but the full experience skews toward dinner.
Order widely rather than sticking to one or two safe choices — the menu is built for that approach. 886 has held an Opinionated About Dining Casual North America ranking since 2023, which reflects consistent kitchen output rather than a single standout dish. Let the server guide you on what's current; the flavor profile runs savory and textured, not mild.
Booking difficulty is classified as easy by New York City standards, so you do not need to plan weeks out. A few days to a week ahead is generally sufficient, though Friday and Saturday evenings fill faster. This is not a same-day scramble situation the way it is at harder-to-book NYC restaurants.
886 is on St. Marks Place in the East Village and carries the register of a serious but unpretentious neighborhood spot. Come as you are — no dress code applies here. The focus is on the food, not the room's formality.
Groups can dine at 886, and the wide-ordering format actually suits a larger table well — more people means more dishes. For parties of four or more, booking ahead is advisable given the venue's size and the later weekend hours when demand picks up. check the venue's official channels to confirm capacity for larger groups.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
