You’ve probably seen it in You’ve Got Mail. Or heard Jerry Seinfeld joke about meeting a matador there. But if you think Zabar’s Broadway New York NY is just a tourist trap or a fancy grocery store for the 1%, you’re dead wrong. It’s a chaotic, smelling-of-smoked-fish, 20,000-square-foot institution that somehow survives in a city that eats its history for breakfast.
Honestly, it shouldn't work. The aisles are narrow. The weekend crowds are basically a contact sport. The "Zabster Zalad" incident of 2011—where they got caught selling crawfish as lobster—should have been a PR nightmare. Instead, they just renamed the salad and kept going. That’s the Upper West Side for you.
The Real Deal on the Lox Counter
The heart of the operation is the fish counter. This isn't your local supermarket's "pre-packaged" section. This is a stage. The slicers here are like surgeons, or maybe master violinists. They hand-slice Nova salmon so thin you could practically read the New York Times through it.
People get intimidated. Don't. Take a number. Wait. When they call you, know what you want.
Louis Zabar, the guy who started this whole thing in 1934, used to tour Brooklyn smokehouses and reject more fish than he kept. That perfectionism is still there, even after Saul Zabar passed away recently in late 2025 at the age of 97. His brother Stanley is still in the mix, and the family is currently locked in a pretty public legal fight with their business partners, the Friedlands, over the future of the building at 2231 Broadway.
The Friedlands want a high-rise. The Zabars want to keep the history. It’s the ultimate NYC drama playing out over a stack of bagels.
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What to Actually Buy (and What to Skip)
If it’s your first time at Zabar’s Broadway New York NY, you’ll want to grab the hits, but there’s a strategy to it.
- The Coffee: They sell 400,000 pounds a year for a reason. It’s cheap, strong, and they roast it themselves. Grab the Zabar’s Special Blend.
- The Cheese: Go to the back. There are hundreds of varieties. They were the ones who basically introduced New Yorkers to Brie back in the 60s.
- The Babka: Specifically the chocolate one. It’s dense, heavy, and better than whatever you’re thinking of right now.
- The Mezzanine: A lot of people miss the second floor. It’s a hoarders-paradise of kitchen gadgets. You want a professional-grade espresso machine or a weirdly specific grapefruit spoon? They have it.
Skip the stuff you can get at a regular bodega. You're here for the "Appetizing"—a specific Jewish food term for things eaten with bagels, usually fish and cream cheese.
A Neighborhood Under Pressure
It’s not all rugelach and sunshine. The Upper West Side is changing fast. Just this week, rumors started swirling about Broadway Farm closing down only a few blocks away. The neighborhood is losing its anchors.
Zabar’s feels like a fortress. But even fortresses have cracks. The legal dispute over their real estate isn't just about money; it’s about whether a three-story building can survive in a city of glass towers. Currently, their mail-order business—which is massive—operates out of a small adjacent building that is at the center of the court case. If that goes, the whole operation might have to change.
Survival Tips for the Weekend
If you go on a Sunday morning, God help you.
It is packed. You will be bumped by grandmothers who have lived on 81st Street since 1950 and don't care about your personal space.
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- The Cafe vs. The Store: The cafe is on the corner. It’s separate. If you just want a bagel and a schmear, go there. Don't wait in the main store line for a quick snack.
- The Number System: It’s not just for fish. Use it.
- The Validation: If you’re crazy enough to drive in Manhattan, they have a deal with the garage on 80th Street. Get your ticket validated or pay through the nose.
Why It Still Matters in 2026
In a world of Amazon Fresh and DoorDash, Zabar’s Broadway New York NY is an anomaly. It's a place where you can still smell the woodsmoke from the salmon and the acidity of the pickles. It represents an immigrant success story that actually stayed in the family.
Louis and Lillian Zabar fled Ukraine in the 1920s. They started with a single counter in a market. Now, they own the block. Or most of it.
The complexity of the store—the way it handles 35,000 customers a week while still hand-roasting coffee—is a feat of old-school logistics. It’s noisy. It’s expensive. It’s quintessentially New York.
Your Action Plan for Visiting
Don't just walk in and wander aimlessly.
Start at the bread bins for a bag of bagels (everything or sesame, don't overthink it). Head to the dairy for the scallion cream cheese. Then, brave the fish counter for a quarter-pound of Nova.
If you're feeling adventurous, try the "Zabster Zalad." It’s basically a local meme at this point, but it's actually pretty good. Once you've got your haul, walk two blocks west to Riverside Park or east to Central Park. Eating a Zabar’s bagel on a park bench is the only way to truly experience the Upper West Side.
Check their hours before you go: they're open 365 days a year, but the mezzanine closes earlier than the main floor. If you're coming from out of town, the 1 train to 79th Street drops you right there. Just look for the orange and white sign. You can't miss it.
To get the full experience, you should visit the second-floor housewares section first to see the sheer volume of "stuff," then work your way down to the food so you aren't carrying heavy bags of groceries up the stairs.