| 2nd Avenue Deli | |
|---|---|
 | |
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  Location in Manhattan, New York City | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1954 (1954) |
| Owner | Jeremy Lebewohl |
| Food type | KosherJewish delicatessen |
| Location | 162 East33rd Street (betweenLexington andThird Avenues), inKips Bay,Manhattan,New York,NY,New York County, 10016, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°43′46″N73°59′12″W / 40.72954°N 73.98674°W /40.72954; -73.98674 |
| Other locations | 1442First Avenue (at East 75th Street), inUpper East Side, Manhattan, NY 10021 |
| Other information |
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| Website | 2ndavedeli.com |
The2nd Ave Deli is a certified-kosherJewish delicatessen inManhattan,New York City. It was located in theEast Village until December 2007, when it relocated to 162 East33rd Street (betweenLexington Avenue andThird Avenue) inKips Bay.[1][2] In August 2011, it opened a second branch at 1442 First Avenue (East 75th Street) on theUpper East Side. In November 2017, it opened a cocktail lounge called 2nd Floor above its Upper East Side branch.[3]
In 1998, the deli won anAmerica’s Classic Award by theJames Beard Foundation.
The delicatessen originally opened in 1954 on the southeast corner ofSecond Avenue and East10th Street (the address of which is156 Second Avenue) in theYiddish Theater District in theEast Village neighborhood of Manhattan.[4] This location currently houses aChase Manhattan Bank branch. By that time, most of the Yiddish theaters of the prior half-century had disappeared.[5][6] The sidewalk at the original location has plaques with the names of about fiftyYiddish theatre stars embedded into the sidewalk, similar to theHollywood Walk of Fame, and is known as the Yiddish Walk of Fame.[7][8]Some of the honored stars areMolly Picon, actorMenasha Skulnik, singer and actorBoris Thomashevsky (grandfather of conductor, pianist, and composerMichael Tilson Thomas), andFyvush Finkel (born Philip Finkel).[5][9]
The delicatessen closed briefly following the murder of its founderAbe Lebewohl, a survivor ofThe Holocaust, during a robbery on March 4, 1996. The crime remains unsolved.
On January 1, 2006, new owner Jack Lebewohl closed the delicatessen at its original location in the East Village after a rent increase and a dispute over back rent.[10] On July 31, 2007, Lebewohl announced that the delicatessen would reopen at a new location in the fall of 2007. It reopened on December 17, 2007, in Murray Hill with Jeremy Lebewohl, the nephew of its founder, as its new proprietor.[11]
The delicatessen's specialties includematzoh-ball soup,corned beef,pastrami,knishes,gefilte fish,cholent and other notables ofJewish cuisine. Despite the deli being underkosher supervision,[12] most Orthodox Jews will not eat there because the restaurant is open onShabbat. The restaurant is certified by the International Kosher Council and all meat is kosher but not all isglatt kosher.Pareve items are prepared on meat equipment.[13]
The original restaurant had a separate room decorated withmemorabilia ofYiddish theatre actressMolly Picon, including posters, song sheets, photographs, etc. The new location has pictures of her on the walls for approximately one half of the dining area.[7][8] The deli's original iconic neon sign is now installed in theCity Reliquary inWilliamsburg,Brooklyn.
The deli is one of the few Jewish restaurants in the United States that still servesp'tcha (jellied calves' feet). Given the small and dwindling customer base, p'tcha is made to order upon request.[14]
In 2013,Zagat gave it a food rating of 23, and ranked it the 9th-best deli in New York City.[15] It is rated 3 in the top 5 delis in New York.[16]
In 2021, theFinancial Times ranked it as one of the “50 greatest food stores in the world.”[17]