The Resy Guide to Jewish Food in New York

The legendary delicatessen, known in particular for its luscious, housemade pastrami and corned beef, is not only a New York staple, it’s New York’s oldest deli, period. Opened in 1888, it’s one of the few tourist destinations in New York where you can actually get a phenomenal meal of classic Jewish deli staples. This includes the aforementioned smoked meats, as well as matzo ball soup, potato latkes, and more. If you’ve never been, the pastrami or corned beef are a must; if you have, the knoblewurst, a thick, juicy garlic sausage, is a non-negotiable.

Walk-ins only.


The famed appetizing counter, opened on the Lower East Side in 1914, began a cafe counterpart in 2014, 100 years after establishing its legacy on East Houston Street. Serving only breakfast and lunch, it features Russ and Daughters’ legendary smoked fish as well as a host of contemporary Jewish and Jewish-inspired classics. A petite Pastrami Russ, for example, uses pastrami salmon in their take on a reuben, complete with muenster and sauerkraut, on a pretzel bagel. Sip on an egg cream, indulge in caviar, or a challah eggs benedict to feel the blend of New York’s Jewish culture past and present.

From its beginnings in 1908, Barney Greengrass, known as “The Sturgeon King,” became a beloved restaurant and appetizing store. (“Appetizing” refers to a place where fish and dairy are sold together without meat, and interestingly, it’s a term rarely used outside of New York.) Come here for all the smoked fish you could ever want, including, of course, sturgeon, nova, and lox, as well as other breakfast additions like omelets, blintzes (sweet cheese wrapped in light crêpes), or matzo brei (matzo and eggs scrambled and fried).

Walk-ins only, cash only.

After a career in distinguished restaurants like Prune and Via Carota, chef Jeremy Salamon struck out on his own with Agi’s Counter in Crown Heights. The cuisine is inspired by a breadth of classic Jewish and Eastern European dishes with an eye toward the future. Salamon’s vision, at once innovative and timeless, lives in offerings like the outrageous spanakopita babka (order a slice heated up), palacsinta (warm Hungarian crêpes) made with strawberry black pepper jam, and even a confit tuna melt oozing with alpine cheddar on griddled potato pullman bread. Pro tip: Don’t sleep on the New York-style cheesecake that’s dressed in olive oil.

When the Lower East Side was a haven for Eastern European Jewish emigres, Yonah Schimmel emerged on East Houston Street in 1910. It’s been there ever since, now an iconic “knishery” and landmark of Jewish American culture. Pop in for a knish, which features all kinds of ingredients in either a round or square pastry. Classics include potato and kasha (buckwheat), but you can also try your hand at sweet options like cherry cheese or apple strudel, or veggie-forward options like sweet potato or mushroom.

Walk-ins only

Inspired by the old-school restaurants from Tel Aviv, 12 Chairs, in both Soho and Williamsburg, offers a host of Israeli and Middle Eastern specialties in a vibrant, warm setting. It’s a great place to share their famous hummus in addition to a host of other meze. Their dreamy Baladi eggplant with tahini and pine nuts, lamb kebabs, and pita sabich are also not to be missed. Don’t sleep on the hamin, a traditional Jewish meat stew, when it’s in season in the winter.

This East Village lunch counter has been a downtown staple of Jewish American cooking since it opened in 1938. As noted by its name, it’s a dairy restaurant, so no meat is served; it’s only fish and vegetarian dishes. Lunch counter aside, the restaurant is open until 11 p.m. most nights (until 10:30 p.m. on Saturdays), so you can drop in anytime for sandwiches on their fabulous homemade challah, a cup of borscht (hot in the winter, cold in the summer), kasha varnishkes, stuffed cabbage, and more. It’s all wallet-friendly, too: a large bowl of borscht will only set you back $6.50.

Walk-ins only.

Nestled in a corner of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood since its 2013 opening, Shalom Japan blends the cultures of husband-and-wife chefs Aaron Israel and Sawako Okochi. Together, they’ve created a unique and now-beloved cuisine combination with standout signature dishes, like their famed matzo ball ramen, a lox bowl stylized like a poke bowl, a sake kasu challah, a pastrami and sauerkraut okonomiyaki, and so much more.

Opened in its first incarnation in 1954, the 2nd Ave Deli has been a purveyor of Jewish American and Eastern European dishes ever since. And yes, you can get the requisite (and delicious) smoked meat sandwiches here — the tongue is excellent — but it’s also one of the few places in the city to try dishes like cholent, a long-simmered stew of beef, potatoes, and beans; or kishke, a.k.a. stuffed derma, a sausage made with meat and matzo meal.

Walk-ins only at both locations in Midtown East and the Upper East Side.

Since opening in 2019, Gertie has come to define part of modern Williamsburg, living in the present while saluting the past. Open only until 4 p.m., the restaurant and bakery is a spin on diners, with Jewish roots at its core: It’s named for founder Nate Adler’s grandmother. There are classics like a whitefish melt, alongside a turkey pastrami club given a zetz (Yiddish for ‘punch’) with pickled peppers and jalapeño schmear. And don’t forget their updates on the rainbow cookies and chocolate babka your grandmother used to make (or buy from her bakery). It’s fun and fresh, with a nod to the Jewish eateries of yore.

Frankel’s, opened in 2016, is among the new generation of restaurants embracing Jewish American fare with a modern twist. The corner deli, which provides both smoked meat and fish in the same venue, caters to a breakfast and lunch crowd. Their bagels are hand-rolled (their bacon, tomato, and scallion cream cheese bagel sandwich is a staff favorite), but all of their sandwiches are nothing short of fabulous. In particular, the pastrami, egg, and cheese on their unique challah roll is a salty, creamy, melty, glorious way to start your day, but they’re also famed for their pastrami, brisket, and matzo ball soup.

Walk-ins only.


Gertrude’s is Gertie’s sister restaurant, and it’s helmed by Nate Adler and Rebecca Jackson, also of Gertie, with the addition of chef Eli Sussman, also of Samesa and formerly of Mile End. It just opened this year for dinner and drinks (brunch is forthcoming). It’s inspired by classic New York and European dining spots of yore, all with inflections of Jewish culture. The menu, like Gertie, features flavors from the Jewish diaspora: latkes with celery crème fraîche and trout roe, crispy beef tongue with a persillade sauce, challah rolls with duck butter, root vegetable and blood orange tzimmes, and more.

Owned by Jewish American restaurateur Elyssa Heller, Edith’s began in 2020 as a pop-up in Brooklyn and, after lines around the block, has since blossomed into a thriving space of its own. Its Williamsburg sandwich counter is open for breakfast and lunch, and Edith’s also operate out of Tiny’s in Tribeca, too. Meant to bring attention to the women involved in Jewish cooking, the restaurant is named after Heller’s great aunt. The menu at Edith’s combines nods to Jewish backgrounds of all kinds, be they Ashkenazi, Sephardic, or even Jewish American. You’ll find everything from hand-twisted bagels to a chicken schnitzel sandwich breaded with za’atar to a pastrami cheesesteak, blending a multitude of Jewish American culinary experiences all at once.

Walk-ins only.

Balaboosta, the consistently beloved restaurant helmed by chef Einat Admony, takes its name from the Yiddish word originally meaning “the perfect homemaker.” For Admony it also means “the fearless emotional center of her family, who makes sure her table is not only full of gorgeous food, but also full of friends, love, laughter. ” At Balaboosta, Admony’s Israeli, Persian, and Yemenite background shines. Creamy hummus with tahini and s’chug, cauliflower with lemon and Bamba, their famous brick chicken with muhammara, and more all keep Admony’s spirit of home alive.

This “shipudiya” or “skewer house” from chef Michael Solomonov is named after the character Lazar Wolf, a butcher in the iconic musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” about Jewish life in pre-imperialist Russia. Structured around its charcoal grill, the restaurant’s skewer-focused, prix-fixe menu starts with their hummus and pita and a host of vegetable salatim, or side dishes. Then prepare for their famed skewers with meat and vegetables. Finish it off with their brown sugar soft serve. Come for the food, stay for the sights: on top of the Hoxton Williamsburg, there’s nothing quite like its views of the city.

Since 2014, Tsion Café has been a destination for diners seeking out a unique and vibrant blend of flavors from Ethiopia and Israel: Think sambusa and malawach, along with shakshuka and doro wat. Chef and co-owner Beejhy Barhany is an Ethiopian Jew whose family left East Africa to settle in Israel, eventually making their way to America, and Tsion represents her journey from Ethiopia and Israel to the U.S. If you come for brunch, don’t overlook either the Addis eggs (spicy scrambled eggs with onions and jalapeños) or the Tsion eggs (eggs scrambled with smoked salmon) in which the eggs are enveloped by injera.

Call (212) 234-2070 to make a reservation.

Mile End, whose founders hail from Montreal, describes itself as “the ultimate combination between Bubby’s comforting recipes and Montreal-style cuisine” and it shows. The menu lives at the intersection of the traditional New York and Montreal Jewish delis, with Montreal-style smoked meat as the star of the menu. There’s a salty and succulent Bubbies poutine with braised brisket, cheese curds, and brisket jus atop French fries, as well as the classic Wilensky, a nod to the famous Montreal Jewish deli of the same name; it’s an ode to their signature sandwich of seared beef salami and mustard on an onion roll.

At Miss Ada, Israeli and Jewish chef Tomer Blechman’s Mediterranean menu lives for seasonal, local ingredients. It’s also about modern takes on classic dishes. The sweet potato hummus, for example, features crème fraîche, paprika oil, and almonds, and salmon belly skewers glisten with charmoula. Chicken shawarma, falafel, and shakshuka are also favorites. It’s a smart treat nestled in Fort Greene, and definitely not to be missed.