How to Eat Like Neil Patrick Harris: A Guide to His Favorite Restaurants (According to Instagram)

Actor, singer, award-show host, amateur magician…Neil Patrick Harris is a multi-hyphenate of the highest variety. But people rarely talk about his other passion—hunting down the tastiest restaurants and documenting his feats of yum on Instagram to provide inspiration to growling stomachs across the land. Go inside the ‘gram for a look at NPH’s favorite spots to hoist a fork (or chopsticks, as the case may be).

New York City’s Cosme has a bit of a track record for attracting big names who are looking for big Mexican flavors (that don’t involve nachos of any kind). And Harris is clearly no exception, going all in on a series of dishes that apparently dazzled the palate just as much as they dazzled the eye. Doogie Wow-ser, indeed! (We wish we were sorry for that…)

NPH calls NYC home now, which means he needs to make his meals in LA truly count when he’s there. Luckily, Sugarfish was happy to deliver plucked-from-the-ocean fresh sushi that turns even a humble lunch into a full-on occasion. Of course, someone might want to give the Tony winner a heads-up that he can get his fish fix a bit closer to home now—if he can handle the controversy.

It’s a family affair for the Harris/Burtka clan at Eataly. Seriously, they can’t get enough of the seafood offerings at New York City’s branches of the mega-sized Italian marketplace—literally the largest in world. And it’s no surprise that Neil and the gang are frequent visitors, since the food hall houses multiple restaurants, beverage stations, a bakery, retail options, and even a cooking school. What more could you need (other than maybe a post-grub nap)?

NPH's always-suited-up alter ego Barney Stinson obviously knows legendary when he sees it, and it sounds like a meal at Wolf in the Fog in Tofino, British Columbia (yep, that’s Canada) gets pretty close. Come for the insanely cool wooden wolf sculpture, stay for the local, foraged, and seasonable ingredients turned into gorgeous dishes fully worth howling about.

Proving he’s far from cuckoo, NPH clearly knows how to hone in on NYC’s best eats—as evidenced by his glowing review of Le Coucou, which snagged the James Beard award for Best New Restaurant this year. With elegance to spare, the Soho hotspot turns out modern takes on classic French dishes (tongue and all).

In case you haven’t heard, Harris' twins are unofficially the world’s youngest/cutest foodies. So a thumbs-up from them is a big deal—and surely helps make for a happy dad. The modern American dishes served up at Georgie at the Montage Beverly Hills got the culinary stamp of approval from the whole gang, proving that the family that slurps oysters together is the family that stays together.

Like so many others, the former Hedwig is obviously an unabashed Changhead (David Chang, to be specific). New York City’s Nishi—which is part of the Momofuku mini-empire—serves up Italian cuisine prepared via Asian cooking techniques. Who’s up for some fun with fusion?

The New Mexico native knows that the proper answer to the ubiquitous “Red or green?” question at Tomasita’s in Santa Fe is always “both.” Debating between red or green chile sauces is basically a sport in that neck of the woods, and Harris is totally tapped in to where to score the best of both spicy worlds. And he would almost certainly agree that as a nation, we should really be stuffing more things (all the things!) into sopapillas and eating them.

A standing Christmas Eve dinner at a restaurant is about as serious a food commitment as you can make. And the Harris/Burtka posse has apparently made a pre-Santa-visit meal at Babbo in New York City a (wildly delicious) part of their holiday tradition. Whether it’s the Feast of the Seven Fishes or just pasta galore, this is one Italian meal that even the most dedicated reindeer would bail from the sleigh for.

NPH gets that when in paradise, one cannot live on staggeringly gorgeous views and endless tropical cocktails alone. So when in St. Bart’s, he takes a break from the sun to fuel up on Greek cuisine while overlooking the Caribbean (naturally) at Shellona. After all, shouldn’t the food also be damn good while you’re busy seeing and being seen?