Restaurant in New York City, United States

Nobu 57

Name: Nobu 57
Address: 40 W 57th St, New York, NY 10019, New York City, US
Telephone: (212) 757-3000

165Pearl Points

Reliable Midtown Japanese, not a destination meal.

About Nobu 57

Nobu 57 earns its <em>Opinionated About Dining</em> North America ranking with consistent Japanese-Peruvian cooking in a Midtown space that handles groups and business dinners well. Booking is easy — a few days out is usually enough. For focused counter sushi, look elsewhere; for a reliable, broadly accessible Japanese meal on 57th Street, this delivers.

Verdict: A reliable Midtown anchor for Japanese-inspired dining, but know what you're booking

Nobu 57 holds a 4.4 rating across 2,510 Google reviews and earned an Opinionated About Dining Leading Restaurants in North America ranking in 2024 (listed at #353), with a Recommended citation the year prior. For a global brand with locations from London to Los Angeles, that consistency matters. If you've eaten here once and are deciding whether to return, the answer is yes — with the right expectations. This is not where you go for the quiet, focused precision of an omakase counter. It's where you go for a well-executed Japanese-Peruvian menu in a space that handles groups, business dinners, and solo lunches with equal competence.

The Space and What It Tells You

Nobu 57 occupies a full-floor space on West 57th Street — a Midtown address that signals who this restaurant is built for. The room is large enough to absorb a crowd without feeling chaotic, with seating configurations that work for two-tops through larger tables. This is not an intimate counter experience. The spatial logic here favours circulation and volume over whisper-quiet focus, which makes it well-suited to the pre-theatre crowd, the business lunch, and the group dinner, but less suited to the kind of meal where the room's silence becomes part of the experience. If you are returning and want something quieter, consider requesting a table away from the bar area.

Sourcing and the Menu Logic

The Nobu brand, which executive chef Matt Hoyle represents at this location, built its reputation on a specific fusion of Japanese technique and Peruvian ingredients. That sourcing approach , incorporating ingredients like amarillo chilis and yuzu into a sushi and hot-dishes framework , is not a marketing overlay. It defines the menu architecture in a way that separates Nobu from direct Japanese restaurants. The price you pay at Nobu 57 is partly for that sourcing depth: premium fish handled with Japanese cutting standards, combined with South American ingredients that require their own supply chain and culinary knowledge. For a returning diner, this means the hot dishes section of the menu is worth more attention than a first visit might suggest. The cold preparations are where the sourcing shows most clearly, but the cooked plates are where the kitchen's range is tested.

For the current season, the kitchen runs across a full lunch and dinner service seven days a week. Hours run from 11:45 am through 10:15 pm Sunday to Thursday, extending to 11:15 pm on Friday and Saturday. Lunch is a practical entry point if cost is a factor , Midtown Japanese at midday typically comes in at a lower per-head spend than dinner, and Nobu 57 follows that pattern across most of its daypart pricing.

Booking and Logistics

Booking difficulty is low. Nobu 57 does not require weeks of advance planning in the way that Masa or a reservation-scarce tasting menu restaurant does. A few days out is generally sufficient for most party sizes, though Friday and Saturday evenings will book tighter. Walk-ins are possible at the bar. For a group of four or more, booking in advance is still the sensible move. The address at 40 West 57th Street is central and walkable from most Midtown hotels , useful context if you are pairing dinner with a stay in the area. For broader planning in the city, see our full New York City restaurants guide, our full New York City hotels guide, and our full New York City bars guide.

Peer Context

Nobu 57 is not the only Japanese option in New York worth considering. 15 East and 1 or 8 offer more focused, counter-driven Japanese experiences if precision sushi is your priority. The Nobu brand itself runs a London location worth benchmarking against , Nobu London , and for Japanese-influenced dining in other US cities, Uchi in Austin is the strongest regional comparison for ingredient-forward Japanese-American cooking. If you are travelling beyond New York, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Smyth in Chicago, and Providence in Los Angeles represent different but comparable levels of kitchen ambition. For destination dining at the highest tier, The French Laundry in Napa and Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg both benchmark ingredient sourcing in ways that give useful context for what a sourcing-led kitchen can achieve. Emeril's in New Orleans offers a comparable study in how a named-chef brand maintains consistency across time and scale.

Also worth noting for planning purposes: our full New York City wineries guide and our full New York City experiences guide if you are building a broader itinerary around your visit.

Quick reference: 40 W 57th St, New York, NY 10019. Open daily from 11:45 am; closes 10:15 pm Sun–Thu, 11:15 pm Fri–Sat. Booking difficulty: easy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Nobu 57 handle dietary restrictions?

The Nobu menu format, with its broad Japanese-Peruvian fusion selection, gives the kitchen reasonable flexibility on dietary requests. Vegetarian and pescatarian diners are generally well-served given the menu's fish and vegetable focus. For severe allergies, call ahead — the restaurant runs a large-volume operation, so advance notice is more reliable than table-side improvisation.

What should I wear to Nobu 57?

Nobu 57 draws a Midtown business and pre-theatre crowd, so dress falls somewhere between polished casual and business casual. No formal dress code is in place, but the West 57th Street address and the room's scale mean you won't feel overdressed in a blazer. Jeans are fine; athleisure is out of step with the room.

How far ahead should I book Nobu 57?

A few days to a week is usually enough — Nobu 57 does not carry the booking scarcity of Masa or a counter-only tasting menu spot. Prime Friday and Saturday evening slots book out faster, so target midweek or lunch if you want more flexibility. Same-day availability is possible outside peak hours.

Is lunch or dinner better at Nobu 57?

Lunch opens at 11:45 am daily and is the lower-pressure option if you want the full Nobu format without the evening crowd. Dinner runs until 10:15 pm on weeknights and 11:15 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, making it the practical choice for pre- or post-theatre timing near Carnegie Hall. Neither sitting changes the menu fundamentally, so the decision is mostly about pace and occasion.

What should I order at Nobu 57?

The Nobu brand built its reputation on Japanese technique crossed with Peruvian-inflected sauces and preparations — that house style, represented here by executive chef Matt Hoyle, is what the kitchen does consistently well. Order from that axis rather than treating it as a conventional sushi bar. For a tighter, more focused sushi counter experience, 15 East or 1 or 8 will outperform Nobu 57 on precision.

Can I eat at the bar at Nobu 57?

Bar seating is available and a practical option for solo diners or pairs who want to avoid committing to a full table reservation. It also shortens the booking window considerably. The full menu is generally accessible from the bar, making it a reasonable way to sample the kitchen without the formality of a sit-down reservation.

Location

40 W 57th St, New York, NY 10019

New York City, United States

Compare Nobu 57

Comparing Nobu 57 to Alternatives

Venue	Cuisine	Price	Awards	Booking Difficulty
Nobu 57	Sushi - Japanese		Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #353 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Recommended (2023)	Easy
Le Bernardin	French, Seafood	$$$$	Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best	Unknown
Atomix	Modern Korean, Korean	$$$$	Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best	Unknown
Per Se	French, Contemporary	$$$$	Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best	Unknown
Masa	Sushi, Japanese	$$$$	Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best	Unknown
Eleven Madison Park	French, Vegan	$$$$	Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best	Unknown

A quick look at how Nobu 57 measures up.

Also Consider

Le Bernardin, French, Seafood, $$$$
Atomix, Modern Korean, Korean, $$$$
Per Se, French, Contemporary, $$$$
Masa, Sushi, Japanese, $$$$
Eleven Madison Park, French, Vegan, $$$$

How Nobu 57 Compares

Against the top tier of New York dining, Nobu 57 occupies a different tier by design. Le Bernardin and Eleven Madison Park are both harder to book and set a higher technical bar, but they are also more expensive and narrower in format. If your priority is a focused, occasion-driven meal with a single tasting progression, those two are stronger choices. Nobu 57 wins on flexibility: you can book short-notice, order à la carte, and accommodate a mixed group with varying appetites. That is a genuine advantage in Midtown, where the alternative luxury formats demand more commitment on every axis.

For Japanese food specifically, Atomix is the better choice if you want a serious tasting menu with Korean technique at a similar price ceiling, it is harder to book and more demanding as a dining experience, but the kitchen's precision is in a different category. Le Bernardin handles fish at a level that benchmarks against anyone in the city. For sushi specifically, Masa is the counterpoint: omakase-only, significantly more expensive, and far harder to book, but the depth of sourcing and cutting precision is in a class that Nobu 57 does not attempt to match. Nobu's value proposition has never been technical sushi excellence; it has been accessible Japanese-Peruvian cooking at volume, executed reliably.

Within that framework, Nobu 57 is probably the easiest booking of any recognisably serious Japanese restaurant in Manhattan. If you are bringing out-of-town guests who want something recognisably impressive without the booking anxiety of Per Se or the omakase commitment of Masa, Nobu 57 is the practical answer. If you want the highest kitchen ambition New York can offer, book Atomix or Eleven Madison Park instead and plan further ahead.