Tao Downtown New York City

Tao Downtown sits on West 16th Street, a ten-minute walk from the Whitney Museum of American Art. The subterranean dining room serves an Asian, Japanese, and sushi-focused menu.

The room runs smart and elegant, but the house, hip-hop, and dance tracks define the experience. While the nearby Meatpacking District relies on frantic turnover, Tao builds its reputation on a deliberate, sustained intensity. You choose this for the theatrical scale rather than a quiet bite, making it a different prospect than the nearby Chelsea Market storefronts if your night demands volume.