2nd Ave Deli (Murray Hill)
This kitchen keeps kosher, so nothing in the building has dairy in it. No cheese on the pastrami. No cream in the soup. What is left has to carry itself.
Why go
Start with the name, because it is a street this deli left in 2007. It ran on Second Avenue in the East Village for decades and now trades on East 33rd Street.
The kosher rule is the argument for coming here at all. The soup is chicken broth and one matzo ball. The pastrami goes on rye, sliced thin. The franks come rolled in pastry. The Infatuation files the room in its guide to the best kosher restaurants in the city, and points from it to Katz's and to Pastrami Queen on the Upper East Side.
Kenny Yang reviewed it for The Infatuation in December 2022, and his warning is worth more than his score. Order fast, because the servers carry more tables than they should. Do not ask anyone to toast your bread.
East 33rd Street is this door, by the 6 train. The other deli is 1442 First Avenue at 75th, and a bar called the 2nd Floor sits above it on its own East 75th Street entrance.
Order this / avoid
- Order: pastrami on rye, a bowl of matzo ball soup and an order of franks in blankets. The pickles and vinegary slaw land before you order anything.
- Avoid: the evening. The kitchen stops taking orders early, so make it a late lunch.
What locals & experts say
- Kenny Yang, The Infatuation, 13 December 2022, at 8.1:
You might think that this kosher spot that's been around for 70 years can't possibly be as good as ever, but you'd be wrong.
1 - The same review, on the room:
The no-frills dining room looks like a hundred other diners, but 2nd Ave Deli, now in Kips Bay after moving from the East Village in 2007, stands out because it's still one of the best delis in NYC.
1
Good to know
- Getting in: walk in. Neither door takes a booking, and the business says so itself.
- Jeff put this on the list himself, 3 September 2026.
Jeff's take (his words)
Not on Jeff's saved list. He named the place on 3 September 2026, in the paragraph he wrote on what New York is to him, and asked for it.
Verdict
should-visit — Drive if you want to. The deli publishes an arrangement with the Wynne Parking garage on the same block, two hours for twenty dollars with validation, credit card only. It also runs dine-in, delivery, pickup and takeout off the same kitchen, so the other way to eat this food is to not go at all.