Russ & Daughters Cafe

Russ & Daughters is one of New York's great food dynasties. Joel Russ began by selling herring from a pushcart in the early twentieth century and went on to open the appetizing shop on East Houston Street that still bears the family name. Appetizing is the Jewish food tradition of smoked and cured fish, cream cheeses and salads eaten with bagels, and for the shop's centenary in 2014 the family opened this café around the corner on Orchard Street, so customers could finally sit down to eat it.

The café looks like a mid-century diner, with white tiles, a long counter and booths, and it carries a Michelin Bib Gourmand. The menu is built around the shop's smoked salmon, sturgeon, sable, whitefish and herring, served on boards to share or on bagels and bialys, with caviar for a treat. Latkes, chopped salads, eggs and soups round it out, and drinks include egg creams, the New York soda-fountain classic, as well as cocktails from the bar. A board for the table with a few different fish is the best way to try the range.

The café takes no reservations; it is walk-in only, so expect to wait at weekends, when brunch queues can be long. It is also sit-down only, with no takeaway. For that, head to the original shop on Houston Street or the newer locations at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and on West 34th Street near Hudson Yards, which include bakeries and counters. Private buyouts of the café can be arranged for up to 68 guests.

The café opens at 8:30am every day. The last seating is at 2:30pm from Monday to Thursday and at 3:30pm from Friday to Sunday, so this is a breakfast and lunch place rather than a dinner stop. Arriving soon after opening on a weekday is the easiest way to get a table. The café suits families, couples and anyone curious about the food of the Lower East Side.

The address is 127 Orchard Street, between Delancey and Rivington Streets, a short walk from Delancey Street–Essex Street station on the F, J, M and Z lines. The Tenement Museum is a block away, and Katz's Delicatessen is about five minutes' walk north on Houston Street.