Updated on November 11th, 2022
As bitcoin becomes more popular, more businesses are choosing to accept it as a form of payment. While many people are familiar with the digital currency, there are still some who are not sure what it is or how it works.
Read on to meet six NY restaurants that accept bitcoin, along with a quick overview of bitcoin and how you can use it to make purchases.
What is bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a digital or virtual currency that uses peer-to-peer technology to facilitate instant payments. Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin was invented by an unknown person or group of people under the name Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.
Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services.
How to use bitcoin in restaurants
Bitcoin can be used to purchase goods and services online and offline. You can buy bitcoin via an exchange like Coinbase, CEX.io, or Paybis. You also need a Bitcoin wallet that stores your crypto. There are many different types of wallets, but the most popular ones are web wallets, desktop wallets, and mobile wallets.
To make a crypto purchase, you will need the recipient’s bitcoin address. This is a string of numbers and letters that uniquely identifies a bitcoin wallet. Once you have the recipient’s bitcoin address, you can enter it into your wallet and the amount of bitcoin you want to send. The transaction will then be broadcast to the network and will be confirmed in a matter of minutes.
NY restaurants that accept bitcoin
Now that we know a little bit about bitcoin, let’s introduce six NY restaurants that accept bitcoin as a form of payment.
- El Patio Truck
- La Sirene
- La Sirene-UWS
- Olivier Bistro
- South Street Fish & Ramen
- Taureau
El Patio
159 Gramatan Avenue, Mount Vernon, New York
El Patio earned a loyal customer base serving up Dominican specialties from its food truck. Fortunately for Dominican food lovers across New York, the El Patio team has opened a storefront location on Gramatan Avenue. Pick up empanada tacos, tostones, chicharron, and more.
La Sirene
558 Broome Street, New York
La Sirene specializes in modern French cuisine, earning OpenTable diners’ choice awards in 2022 and 2023. The menu changes weekly, but some dishes you might see include escargot bourguignone, foie gras, braised rabbit, seared hanger steak, and steak tartare.
La Sirene-AWS
416 Amsterdam Avenue, New York
This is a second La Sirene location. The weekly menu can differ from the Broome Street restaurant — so while this restaurant shares the La Sirene name, it’s not the same experience. Look for homemade pate, goat cheese tart, seared pork tenderloin, and marinated mussels on the menu.
Olivier Bistro
469 4th Avenue, Brooklyn
You can probably guess this by the name but Olivier Bistro is a French destination. The venue serves up French brunch and dinner. The brunch menu includes classics like the croque monsieur plus surprises like vegan vegetable curry.
Visit Olivier Bistro for dinner and choose from red beets salad, legume risotto, seared duck breast, coq au vin, and prime rib eye.
South Street Fish & Ramen
36 Newark Street, Hoboken, New Jersey
South Street Fish & Ramen is a neighborhood venue featuring ramen, sushi bowls, poke bowls, and sushi burritos. To find the menu, navigate to the restaurant’s Facebook page. You’ll find a selection that includes Tokyo soy ramen, miso ramen with braised pork plus customizable poke bowls and sushi burritos featuring ahi tuna, spicy tuna, salmon, shrimp tempura, braised pork, tofu, eggplant tempura, and so much more.
Taureau
558 Broome Street, New York
Taureau is another French restaurant, with a twist. Taureau has an entree menu featuring dishes such as roasted cornish hen, gnocchi with truffles, and roasted quail. Or, you can go with a prix fixe menu that features cheese, meat, and chocolate fondues.
As you can see, there are still NY restaurants that accept bitcoin — despite the crypto currency downturn. Now that the downturn appears to be reversing, I’d guess this list may get longer soon. Let us know if your favorite NY restaurant should be on this list!
