| Second Avenue Deli | |
|---|---|
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1954 |
| Food type | Kosher delicatessen |
| Street address |
162 East 33rd Street |
| City | New York City, New York |
| Country | United States |
| Other locations |
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| Website | 2ndavedeli.com |
The Second Avenue Deli (also known as 2nd Ave Deli) is a certified-kosher delicatessen in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.
It relocated to 162 East 33rd Street (between Lexington Avenue and Third Avenue) in December 2007. It is opening a second location, at 1442 First Avenue (at East 75th Street), in August 2011.
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The delicatessen originally opened in 1954 on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and East 10th Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan.
It closed briefly following the murder of its founder Abe Lebewohl, a survivor of The Holocaust, during a robbery on March 4, 1996. As of October 2009, 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 that the landlord had said was due.[1] (The East Village location later became a Chase Bank branch.) 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, at the Murray Hill location with Jeremy Lebewohl, the nephew of its founder, as its new proprietor.[2]
The sidewalk outside the old Second Avenue location is the home to what is known as the Yiddish Walk of Fame, where the names of about fifty stars of the old Yiddish-theatre era are embedded in plaques on the sidewalk, similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[3][4]
The delicatessen's specialties include matzoh-ball soup, corned beef, pastrami, knishes, gefilte fish, cholent and other notables of Jewish cuisine. Despite the deli being under kosher supervision,[5] some Orthodox Jews will not eat there because the restaurant is open on Shabbat.[6]
The original restaurant had a separate room decorated with memorabilia of Yiddish theatre actress Molly 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.[3][4]
An additional 70-seat location is scheduled to open on August 16, 2011, at 1442 First Avenue (at East 75th Street), in Manhattan's Upper East Side.[7] It will have the same menu as the 33rd Street location.[7]