Russ & Daughters
A bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon over a take-a-number counter that the same family has worked since 1914, four generations of Russes on East Houston.
Why go
This is the original shop and it is an appetizing store, which means smoked fish, caviar, bagels, bialys, babka and no seats.1 Ruth Rogers' reason for sending people here is worth quoting exactly, because it is about scarcity rather than quality: her test for a truly New York breakfast is eating something you could not have anywhere else. The baking now happens across the river at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where the bakery runs behind a glass window and the shipping goes out.
Order this / avoid
- Order: Ruth Rogers' own:
a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Sometimes I'll go for lunch and have pastrami as well.
3 The pastrami half of that is a Cafe order, two blocks away at 127 Orchard. - Avoid: planning to sit down here. There is no dining room at this address. The Cafe opened in 2014 for exactly that reason, takes no reservations, and will text you when a table opens.
What locals & experts say
- Ruth Rogers (The River Café, London), 2026-05:
if I'm thinking about a breakfast that is truly New York, then it has to be Russ & Daughters.
3 - MICHELIN Guide New York: a Bib Gourmand, ten years running by the business's own count, and the guide awards it to Russ & Daughters Cafe at 127 Orchard Street. It does not belong to this counter.1
Good to know
- Timing: open every day, 8am to 4pm. The business publishes a closure for Yom Kippur on September 21 and normal hours for Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah.
- Booking: walk in and take a number, or call 212-475-4880 to order ahead for pickup, courier or nationwide shipping.
- The other doors: the Cafe at 127 Orchard Street, Brooklyn at 141 Flushing Avenue in the Navy Yard, and 502 W 34th Street.
Verdict
should-visit — An appetizing store the same family has run since 1914, four generations in, and Ruth Rogers' answer to what a truly New York breakfast is. The counter is smoked fish and caviar and you take a number for it, which is the point: her stated reason is eating something you could not have anywhere else. It closes at 4pm and there is nowhere to sit, so it is a morning, not an evening.