(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — For comfort food, Kylie Unell, a philosophy student and comedy-show producer, heads to Izzy’s BBQ Smokehouse. The Crown Heights restaurant “is not distinctly Jewish, but it is kosher BBQ that rivals the Kansas City BBQ I grew up eating,” she says.
Meanwhile, Rachel Figurasmith, the executive director of Repair the World NYC, heads to Lee Lee’s Baked Goods in Harlem, a decades-old rugelach joint operated by Alvin Lee Smalls, an octogenarian Black man originally from South Carolina whose first encounter with the buttery Jewish pastry came while working as a chef in a hospital kitchen.
Kelly Whitehead, a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College, makes frequent visits to the Brooklyn Museum, especially, she said, to see “The Dinner Party,” a room-sized art installation by the feminist Jewish artist Judy Chicago.
And while Rabbi Ben Goldberg lives near the synagogue in Westchester County where he works, he heads to B&H Dairy in the East Village whenever he can. “For me, this place is heaven on earth,” said Goldberg.
Those are just some of the places that this year’s New York Jewish Week “36 Under 36” suggested when we asked them about their favorite places to eat Jewish food in the city and to take out-of-town guests.
Use the map below the explore the full set of suggestions. Be sure to click on each pin on the map to see comments from the 36er who recommended it.
Here is the full list of recommendations:
Manhattan
Restaurants
- 12 Chairs Cafe (Ari Axelrod and Adam Basciano)
- 2nd Ave Deli (Ethan Marcus and Alyssa Greengrass)
- Absolute Bagels (Liam Elkind)
- B&H Dairy (Noa Baron and Ben Goldberg)
- Bagels & Co (Rachel Figurasmith)
- Ben’s Kosher Delicatessen Restaurant & Caterers (Ethan Felder)
- Cafe Mogador (Jordan Frazes)
- Fairway Market 74th Street (Kylie Unell)
- Hummus Place (Uriel Dison)
- Jack’s Wife Freda (Jordan Frazes)
- Katz’s Delicatessen (Jake Cohen)
- Lee Lee’s Baked Goods (Rachel Figurasmith)
- Lox Cafe (David Bashevkin)
- Miznon (Adam Basciano and Jake Cohen)
- Noi Due Cafe (Keshet Starr)
- Russ & Daughters Cafe (Amy Spitalnick, Ari Axelrod, Emily Cohen, Arielle Angel, Mateo Levin, Jake Cohen, and Jordan Frazes)
- Sage Kitchen (Rachel Kunstadt)
- Taïm (Malachi Kanfer)
- Tsion Cafe (Adam Basciano)
- West Side Wok (Jeremy Novich)
Attractions
- Birdland Jazz Club (Ari Axelrod)
- Bryant Park (Keshet Starr)
- Central Park (Malachi Kanfer, Jake Cohen, and Justin Spiro)
- The Central Park Lake (Liam Elkind)
- The Frick Collection (Dammara Kovnats Rose Hall)
- The Great Lawn (Adam Basciano)
- The High Line (Ethan Felder, Dubbs Weinblatt, and Liam Elkind)
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir (Alyssa Greengrass)
- Lower East Side (Mateo Levin)
- Mendel Gottesman Library at Yeshiva University (David Bashevkin)
- The Met Cloisters (Gabe Kretzmer Seed)
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Avigayil Halpern and Maayan Zik.)
- West Harlem Piers (Dvir Cahana)
- West Village (Kylie Unell)
Brooklyn
Support the New York Jewish Week
Our nonprofit newsroom depends on readers like you. Make a donation now to support independent Jewish journalism in New York.
Restaurants
- Asia Glatt Kosher (Rozeeta Mavashev)
- Gottlieb’s Restaurant (Gabe Kretzmer Seed)
- Izzy’s BBQ Smokehouse (Kylie Unell)
- Mozzarella (Maayan Zik)
- Shelsky’s Brooklyn Bagels (Ariel Scheer Stein)
- Think Sweet Cafe (Eddie Esses)
- Zion Kosher Market (Dvir Cahana)
Attractions
- Brooklyn Bridge Park (Ethan Marcus and Ariel Scheer Stein)
- Brooklyn Museum (Kelly Whitehead)
- Chabad House WLCC Visitors Center (Mordechai Lightstone)
- Coney Island (Rachel Figurasmith)
- Hammock Grove (Uriel Dison)
- Prospect Park (Emily Cohen and Rozeeta Mavashev)
Queens
Restaurants
- Marani (Gabe Kretzmer Seed)
- New York City Bagel & Coffee House (Kelly Whitehead)
Attractions
- Jackson Heights (Arielle Korman)
Westchester
Attractions
- Rye Town Park (Ben Goldberg)
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
