Russ & Daughters Cafe

Wait for the Lox

4 of 5

The cafe on Orchard Street takes no reservations. Put your name down, stand on the sidewalk, and make peace with it. The wait is the cover charge for a sit-down version of a family appetizing shop that has been slicing fish on the Lower East Side for over a century.

The kitchen cooks the classics and does not apologize for them. Cured and smoked fish on a bagel, naturally. Latkes. Egg creams, that fizzy chocolate drink with no egg and no cream, which only makes sense once you have had one. Ordering a fish platter for the table is the smart move, because you get to compare the salmon cures and argue over the last slice. The place picked up a Michelin Bib Gourmand for 2025, which is the guide's polite way of agreeing with every New Yorker who has been saying this for decades.

It serves breakfast and lunch only. Last seating is 2:30 on weekdays and 3:30 from Friday to Sunday, so do not roll in at closing expecting mercy. Weekday mornings keep the line merely long instead of biblical. Come hungry and leave your schedule at home.

Order this: The smoked fish platter, A bagel with lox and cream cheese, Potato latkes, An egg cream
The damage: $$
Go: A weekday morning, before ten
Find it: 127 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002