Critics’ choice

Best food-to-elbow-room ratio
El Quinto Pino
Typically, restaurant success begets expansion, but after Tia Pol’s owners hit the mark with their pint-size tapas joint in West Chelsea, they followed up with a spot that feels half the size. El Quinto Pino is striking, both for its curved, white-marble-topped bar under a chandeliered ceiling and for the astounding number of people packed inside the tiny space. But once you order the flawless, soupy rendition of shrimp with garlic or the instant-classic panino filled with molten, mustard-oil–spiked sea urchin, you’ll be compelled to squeeze in again and again.

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