20 Must-Visit NYC Restaurants Embracing Zero Waste Practices
NYC’s food scene is taking a bold stance against waste! These restaurants are leading the charge with creative zero-waste practices that are as good for the planet as they are for your taste buds.
From composting to nose-to-tail cooking, these spots prove that sustainability and mouthwatering meals can go hand-in-hand. Let’s explore the delicious side of eco-conscious dining in the Big Apple!
1. Agi’s Counter, Crown Heights
This Eastern European-inspired café will make you rethink food scraps forever. Agi’s Counter transforms yesterday’s bread into today’s heavenly bread pudding, while vegetable trimmings become the backbone of rich, flavorful stocks.
The Crown Heights gem practices whole-ingredient cooking with religious fervor. Chef Jeremy Salamon honors his Hungarian grandmother’s waste-not philosophy by pickling, preserving, and repurposing absolutely everything.
Even their takeout containers are compostable, because saving the planet shouldn’t stop when you leave the restaurant.
2. Bangkok Supper Club, West Village
Where Thai flavors meet eco-consciousness in the heart of the West Village. Bangkok Supper Club’s kitchen wizards transform food scraps into flavor bombs, lemongrass stems become aromatic oils, while citrus peels get candied for cocktail garnishes.
Their commitment extends beyond the kitchen with biodegradable packaging and a robust composting program. The restaurant partners with local urban farms, creating a beautiful cycle where today’s food scraps fertilize tomorrow’s ingredients.
Bonus points for their water filtration system that eliminates the need for bottled water entirely.
3. Cafe Mado, Prospect Heights
Though unassuming from the outside, Cafe Mado harbors revolutionary waste-fighting secrets. The Prospect Heights neighborhood darling tracks and weighs every scrap that doesn’t make it to a plate, turning the data into actionable kitchen improvements.
Seasonal menus shift weekly based on what’s abundant, preventing excess ordering. Their coffee grounds feed community garden compost heaps, while eggshells become natural pest deterrents for local growers.
My favorite touch? The chalkboard wall displaying their monthly waste reduction stats, transparency that tastes as good as their food.
4. Confidant, Industry City
Are you ready for Brooklyn’s most unapologetically eco-forward dining experience? Confidant doesn’t just talk the sustainability talk, they’ve eliminated trash cans from their kitchen entirely. Every ingredient that enters must exit on a plate or in the compost.
The Industry City hotspot rocks a changing menu based on what local suppliers need to move, preventing food waste before it even reaches the restaurant. Their fermentation program turns potential waste into probiotic powerhouses.
Even their furniture tells a story. All reclaimed materials and second-hand treasures.
5. Corima, SoHo
When most restaurants toss fish bones, Corima transforms them into delicate crackers that snap with umami goodness. This SoHo seafood sanctuary approaches zero waste with artistic flair, vegetable tops become pestos while fruit rinds transform into complex syrups for their killer cocktail program.
The sleek, minimalist space reflects their waste philosophy: do more with less. Chef Maya Rodriguez’s “gill-to-fin” approach ensures nothing from their sustainably-caught seafood goes unused.
Fun fact: their monthly “Scraps Dinner” showcases a tasting menu made entirely from ingredients most restaurants would discard.
6. Greywind, Greenwich Village
However magical you think Greywind might be, it’s actually better. The Greenwich Village newcomer operates with closed-loop cooking systems that would make environmental scientists weep with joy.
Their hydroponic wall garden is fertilized by composted kitchen scraps, growing herbs you’ll find garnishing your plate minutes later.
Greywind’s innovative filtration system captures cooking water for reuse in their garden. Even their menus get a second life, printed on seed paper, you can plant them to grow wildflowers after your visit.
The bathroom soap? Made from repurposed cooking oils, naturally.
7. HAGS, East Village
Did you know a queer-owned fine dining spot in the East Village is revolutionizing how restaurants approach waste? HAGS doesn’t just compost, they’ve created a hyperlocal ecosystem where food scraps become soil for partner farms that grow their produce.
The intimate space serves a tasting menu that changes based on what ingredients need using up. Their “ugly produce program” rescues aesthetically challenged fruits and vegetables from certain doom, transforming them into gorgeous plates.
Absolutely everything gets a second chance here, including the wine bottles repurposed as water carafes and candle holders.
8. Le Crocodile, Williamsburg
Though draped in French bistro elegance, Le Crocodile’s zero-waste game runs deep and dirty. The Williamsburg brasserie practices whole-animal butchery that would make your grandparents proud, utilizing every scrap in their famous charcuterie program.
Behind the scenes, they’ve installed a biodigester that transforms food waste into water, dramatically reducing their landfill contribution. Even wine corks find new life as compost material for their rooftop herb garden.
Bread ends become breadcrumbs, which become the coating for their to-die-for croquettes. Nothing, and I mean nothing, goes to waste.
9. Loring Place, Greenwich Village
You might come for Chef Dan Kluger’s vegetable wizardry, but stay for Loring Place’s impressive behind-the-scenes sustainability efforts. The Greenwich Village establishment transformed their waste audit into actionable changes, reducing landfill contributions by a staggering 85% last year.
Their signature wood-fired grill operates on reclaimed wood from fallen NYC trees. The kitchen’s “stem-to-root” philosophy means carrot tops become pesto, beet greens transform into side dishes, and vegetable scraps feed their robust fermentation program.
10. Blue Hill, Greenwich Village
Blue Hill, nestled in Greenwich Village, offers an exceptional dining experience grounded in sustainability. The restaurant sources its ingredients from its own farm, ensuring freshness and reducing transportation emissions.
Blue Hill’s menu reflects the seasons, highlighting the best produce available at any given time. The elegant setting and meticulous attention to detail make it a favorite among eco-conscious diners.
Trivia: Blue Hill’s focus on sustainability also extends to its wine list, featuring organic and biodynamic selections that complement the farm-to-table philosophy.
11. Bar Blondeau, Brooklyn
Perched atop the Wythe Hotel, Bar Blondeau’s waste-fighting efforts are as impressive as its Manhattan skyline views. The French-inspired bar transforms wine bottles into water carafes, champagne corks into cocktail stirrers, and citrus peels into housemade bitters and garnishes.
Their kitchen collaborates with sister restaurant Le Crocodile to ensure whole-animal usage. What one kitchen can’t use, the other will transform into something delectable.
The bar’s signature move? Their “Rescue Cocktail” program featuring perfectly good ingredients that would otherwise go unused, changing daily based on kitchen surplus.
12. Rhodora, Fort Greene
When they say zero waste, Rhodora means ZERO waste. This Fort Greene wine bar made history as NYC’s first certified zero-waste restaurant, sending absolutely nothing to landfill. Everything that enters must either leave as compost, recycling, or in customers’ bellies.
Their streamlined menu of conservas (tinned fish) and local cheeses eliminates food waste while supporting sustainable producers. Even their power comes from renewable sources.
What I love most? Staff training includes home composting workshops so employees bring sustainable practices into their own lives. That’s commitment beyond the kitchen.
13. West~bourne, SoHo
This SoHo vegetable-forward café doesn’t just practice zero waste, and they’re teaching others how to do it too. West~bourne’s revolutionary approach includes monthly sustainability workshops for both staff and curious customers, spreading eco-conscious practices beyond their four walls.
The kitchen’s closed-loop system ensures vegetable scraps become broths, coffee grounds transform into exfoliating soap, and herb stems infuse their house-made vinegars. Their packaging is not just compostable but actually regenerative, embedded with seeds that will grow when planted.
West~bourne proves sustainability can be contagious in the best possible way.
14. Mangia, Multiple Locations
Whoever said chain restaurants can’t lead in sustainability hasn’t visited Mangia. This beloved NYC institution with multiple locations has implemented a comprehensive waste reduction program that would make environmentalists swoon.
Their “Full Circle” program tracks every ounce of food from purchase to plate to compost. Digital ordering reduces paper waste while their reusable container discount program has saved over 100,000 single-use containers from landfills last year alone.
Each location features a “waste education station” where customers learn to properly sort their leftovers. That’s customer service with a conscience!
15. Just Salad, Multiple Locations
Beyond their famous reusable bowl program (which saves a staggering 75,000+ pounds of plastic annually), Just Salad’s zero-waste initiatives deserve serious applause. The fast-casual chain meticulously measures carbon footprint for every menu item, clearly marking climate-friendly choices for eco-conscious diners.
Their “Waste Nothing” program transforms imperfect produce into delicious seasonal offerings. Even their uniforms are made from recycled plastic bottles.
Most innovative? Their Reusable Delivery Bowl program lets delivery customers participate in the plastic-saving mission, proving convenience and sustainability can coexist beautifully.
16. Lighthouse BK, Brooklyn
Waste sorting becomes an art form at Lighthouse BK, where separate bins for different types of compostables hint at their next-level commitment. The Williamsburg favorite diverts an astonishing 99% of waste from landfills through meticulous sorting and creative repurposing.
Their seasonal menu changes based on what local farms need to move quickly, preventing upstream food waste. Even their candles are made in-house from used cooking oil.
The restaurant’s transparent waste audit, published monthly on their website, keeps them accountable and inspires other restaurants to follow their lead.
17. Rezdôra, Flatiron District
Behind Rezdôra’s heavenly handmade pasta lies an equally impressive zero-waste philosophy. The Flatiron Italian hotspot practices “nose-to-tail” and “root-to-stem” cooking that would make Italian grandmothers proud, nothing edible ever meets the trash can.
Vegetable scraps become rich broths, cheese rinds flavor sauces, and bread ends transform into pangrattato for textural garnishes. Their pasta water recapture system saves thousands of gallons annually while providing starchy goodness for sauces.
Chef Stefano Secchi’s waste-fighting mantra: “If you wouldn’t throw it away at home, why would we throw it away here?”
18. The Musket Room, NoLiTa
What happens when fine dining meets fierce sustainability? The Musket Room’s elegant approach to zero waste proves luxury and environmental responsibility go hand in hand. The NoLiTa gem maintains their own rooftop garden, composting kitchen scraps to grow herbs and vegetables that return to your plate.
Their innovative preservation program transforms potential waste into gastronomic treasures, fermented garlic scapes, pickled watermelon rinds, and dehydrated tomato skins that pack intense flavor punches.
Even their wine program focuses on minimal-intervention producers who share their environmental ethics.
19. Kono, Chinatown
This omakase spot doesn’t just serve incredible food, it’s revolutionizing how sushi restaurants approach waste. Kono’s innovative “whole fish” program ensures every part of their sustainably-caught seafood finds purpose, from obvious filets to overlooked collars and bones.
Fish skin becomes crispy chips, bones transform into rich dashi, and even scales get repurposed as natural plateware garnishes. Their commitment extends to packaging, all takeout containers are backyard compostable, breaking down completely within weeks.
Most impressive is their water conservation system that reduces typical sushi restaurant usage by nearly 80%.
20. Olmsted, Brooklyn
Olmsted is a gem in Brooklyn, known for its innovative approach to sustainable dining. The restaurant features a backyard garden where much of the produce is grown, reducing the need for external suppliers. This farm-to-table approach not only ensures freshness but also minimizes carbon footprint.
The interior exudes a rustic charm, with reclaimed wood furnishings and energy-efficient lighting. Olmsted’s commitment to zero waste extends to composting food scraps and using biodegradable packaging. It’s a delightful spot for conscious diners who appreciate culinary creativity.
Did you know? Olmsted’s chef, Greg Baxtrom, has experience working in Michelin-starred kitchens, further elevating the dining experience with his expertise and commitment to sustainability.
