My
spouse and I dined at the Second Avenue Deli for brunch on a Monday morning in
late January 2017. The deli is open daily from morning until late. The Second
Avenue Deli offers two locations (neither of which is actually on Second
Avenue): Midtown East (on East 33rd Street between Lexington and
Third Avenues) and the Upper East Side (on First Avenue at East 75th
Street). The deli also delivers and ships some food items and souvenirs if you
can’t get there in person. The restaurant does not accept reservations.
Original owner Abe Lebewohl arrived in the United
States as a non-English-speaker and accepted a job at a Coney Island deli, where
he worked his way from soda jerk to counterman while he learned the secrets to
making Jewish delicacies. In 1954, he opened a 10-seat luncheonette counter on
Second Avenue at East 10th Street, where he worked every job in
order to make his restaurant a success. Today, Abe’s relatives continue his dream
and mission. Previously
located on Second Avenue, the deli retained the name despite its move in 2007.
Whereas the former
location featured a separate room decorated with memorabilia from Yiddish
theatre actress Molly Picon (including posters, song sheets, and photographs),
the new location displays pictures of her on only a few walls of the dining
area. Other décor includes intricately patterned tiled floors, and room
dividers and wall mirrors that feature the restaurant’s name in eye-catching
Hebrew-looking letters (which match the font/print on their outdoor signs). The
deli's original iconic neon sign is now displayed in Brooklyn’s City Reliquary,
replaced by a blue canopy with their name printed in white. The front half of
the restaurant space contains a deli counter, where a glass case is filled with
tempting offerings to order for dining in or to take away. Seating at wooden
booths and tables is available in two areas behind the deli case.
The Second Avenue
Deli serves kosher Jewish cuisine. The deli's specialties include matzo-ball soup, corned beef, pastrami,
knishes, gefilte fish, and cholent (stew). We ordered two of their amazing
pastrami on rye bread sandwiches, accompanied by cole slaw and pickles. Its meat and poultry are “kashrut”, meaning
that they are purveyed and prepared under Orthodox rabbinical
supervision. Milk and dairy products not used or allowed on premises. Despite
these religious adherences, the restaurant does not close on Shabbat (the
Saturday Sabbath day). Reportedly, the restaurant is permitted to open on the Sabbath by employing
a legal provision known as “shtar mechira”, in which a Jewish-owned business is
technically sold to a non-Jew for the day and then sold back.
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