Delis, pizza and steakhouses: the New York table, the back story

About Delis, pizza and steakhouses: the New York table, the back story

By the ULTIMATE New York Editorial Team

New York’s best-loved food was brought by the people who built the city: Jewish delis and appetizing shops on the Lower East Side, Italian pizzerias and red-sauce restaurants, and steakhouses that fed the city’s business districts.

Delis and appetizing

On East Houston Street, Katz’s Delicatessen still works the old way: take a ticket at the door, order at the counter and watch your pastrami being carved. A few doors along, Russ & Daughters has sold smoked fish and bagels since 1914, and the 2nd Ave Deli keeps the Jewish deli tradition going on East 33rd Street.

Pizza

Lombardi’s on Spring Street opened in 1905 and calls itself the first pizzeria in America (NYC Tourism). Joe’s Pizza on Carmine Street is the classic Greenwich Village slice, and under the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO, Juliana’s and Grimaldi’s bake coal-oven pies.

Grab a ticket at the door of Katz’s, and don’t lose it.

Steakhouses

Keens has served steaks on West 36th Street since about 1885, among its famous collection of clay pipes and Lincoln memorabilia. Gallaghers, near the theatres on West 52nd Street, was a speakeasy during Prohibition and shows off its meat-ageing room in the window.

The grand old dining rooms

Delmonico’s, in business since 1837, claims eggs Benedict, lobster Newberg and baked Alaska as its own (NYC Tourism). The Grand Central Oyster Bar fills the vaulted lower concourse of the terminal, and Tavern on the Green has welcomed diners inside Central Park for generations.

Our advice: queue for a slice at lunch, book the steakhouse for dinner, and save the deli for a late breakfast.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Delis, pizza and steakhouses: the New York table, the back story before you go.