"In terms of outdoor dining, Wayla outshines nearly every other restaurant in the neighborhood. This Lower East Side spot has a beautiful back garden filled with plants, wicker furniture, and twinkling string lights. The next time you want to make it seem as if you know about cool things, bring a group here and share a bunch of Thai food. Order the crispy fried chunks of branzino, the slightly sweet noodles spilling out of a lobster’s head, and the crunchy noodle-wrapped meatballs." - neha talreja, bryan kim, nikko duren, molly fitzpatrick