Penny
Forrest Florsheim stuffs squid with tuna and sends it out under a smoky harissa at Penny, the raw bar Chase Sinzer and Joshua Pinsky opened above their own Claud in 2024.
Why go
Matthew Schneier's running list for New York magazine gives the room a headline rather than a paragraph: Penny Sits Above Every Other Raw Bar in Town.
4 The ice box platters are where the shopping shows, stocked with razor clams and live scallops rather than the usual six kinds of oyster. Ligaya Mishan put it in the Times' hundred for 2026 and set out the method in one line: Take the best of the Northeastern seaboard's catch, treat it with respect, assign a few scrupulous ornaments.
3 North America's 50 Best Restaurants placed it 19th in 2026, and the James Beard Foundation made it a Best New Restaurant nominee in 2025.
Order this / avoid
- Order: oysters shucked to order, then the lobster. Schneier went back for it on his birthday and calls it a
butter-bomb bowl.
4 If you want something with more weight behind it, the inspector's pick is the Dover sole:Dover sole set in an excellent bordelaise would satisfy a meatier appetite.
1 - Avoid: planning the evening around a table.
A small number of reservations are available, but most seats are reserved for walk-ins, so arrive early just before doors open.
1
What locals & experts say
- The MICHELIN Guide New York inspector, on the room:
Two cool marble counters stretch the length of the bar and kitchen and run parallel to mounds of ice stacked with bottles of Champagne and crisp white wines.
1 - The same inspector, on the sourcing: the cooking celebrates
mostly pristine seafood expertly sourced and astutely dressed and seasoned
, with wax beans dusted in katsuobushi and razor clams under giardiniera.1 - Ligaya Mishan, The New York Times, 11 May 2026: three stars at the paper's last review, and a note that the counter is not the only way to eat here.
Although you'd be just as happy eating standing at the windowsill watching the East Village strut by.
3
Good to know
- Timing: dinner only, and get there early.
- Booking: a few reservations exist. Most people walk in.
- The other room: Claud is downstairs at the same address, under the same two owners, and it is a wine bar with food rather than a seafood counter.4
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Seafood bar from Claud owners. Walkin friendly, although pricey"
Verdict
should-visit — Matthew Schneier calls this the best raw bar in town, and the shopping is why: the ice box runs to razor clams and live scallops. The Times gave it three stars at its last review and has it in the 2026 hundred. Most seats go to walk-ins, so turn up before the doors open, and Jeff's own note says it is pricey.