Russ & Daughters Cafe

Tony Nguyen★★★★★★★★★★4.02 weeks ago

A bagel is a bagel, but a bagel nosh with some caviar and friends? Well that sounds like Russ & Daughters Cafe. This is my go to place when I want to impress upon a neophyte to the city what an upscale deli experience can be. The bagels are great. The cured fish are absolutely delightful. Want a little champagne to go with your open faced bagel sandwich situation? You’ve got it. Sometimes, I don’t want a BECSPK as my first meal when I land in the city. This is when the Cafe shines for me. I like being one of the first people waiting outside with a coffee, patiently waiting to snag a counter seat and enjoy some lox and pickles and a cup of coffee, each savory bite pulling my soul back to where I need to be.

Vinolin Naidoo★★★★★★★★★★4.0a month ago

We visited Russ & Daughters Cafe for lunch while exploring the area around Orchard Street, having heard a lot about the brand and its reputation across New York. Thankfully there was no queue when we arrived, so we were seated quite quickly. The atmosphere was one of the standout parts of the experience — relaxed yet refined, with a soft Mediterranean-inspired aesthetic. The cream and light blue tones gave the space a calm, slightly luxurious feel without being overly formal. Service throughout was friendly and efficient. We started with the potato latkes with cream cheese and salmon roe, which were excellent. The texture reminded me somewhat of a very elevated hash brown — crisp on the outside, soft inside, with a rich potato and onion flavour. The cream cheese added richness, while the salmon roe brought bursts of saltiness that balanced the dish really well. I also ordered the spinach eggs Benedict, which unfortunately was more average. The hollandaise sauce was light, but the overall dish lacked the richness and boldness you’d expect from a great eggs Benedict. The eggs themselves also felt fairly standard in quality, especially compared to versions I’ve had in London and Australia. The drinks, however, were genuinely memorable. The pickled carrot juice was fantastic — sharp, slightly vinegary, refreshing, and surprisingly addictive. The classic egg cream was also very enjoyable, almost like a light chocolate milkshake with a soda-like texture. Overall, it was a very enjoyable lunch with some unique dishes and drinks that lived up to the hype, even if not every element was exceptional.

Vivian Lau★★★★★★★★★★2.05 months ago

Save your time and money and don’t eat here. The wait wasn’t bad on New Year’s Day, they said a half hour and it was about 20 minutes total. We were excited for the food given the Anthony Bourdain endorsement, but it was incredibly disappointing. The kreplach was the only saving factor, it was delicious but the bagels and the Pastrami Russ were under mediocre. The gluten free bagel should not be called a bagel. I’m an advocate for if you can’t do it well, don’t do it at all. The gluten free bagel was crumbly, dense, dry, and flavorless. From the first bite I was disappointed. (On the left in the overhead photo, in the front in the other photo) The pastrami salmon was not particularly interesting in flavor and there was hardly any of it. The bites largely tasted of sauerkraut. The pickle was actually bad, I couldn’t eat it. My partner said the pretzel bagel was just fine, absolutely nothing special. Neither of us finished our food. For $25 a bagel, it was incredibly disappointing. Overpriced and overhyped, I wouldn’t send anyone here.

Foodie wonderer★★★★★★★★★★5.02 months ago

Bright, friendly, and with an excellent menu. The prices are a little on the high side but the menu is extensive and you get beautiful atmosphere and excellent service. We ordered latkes and a bagel with lox, and both were excellent. And you can’t beat house sparkling water that’s free of charge. I could live in this place.

Kevin Joyce★★★★★★★★★★5.03 months ago

Russ and Daughters has been feeding the Lower East Side since 1914 and the cafe on Orchard Street is the sit-down extension of everything that made the original appetizing shop legendary. The smoked salmon and cream cheese on a fresh bagel is perfection in its simplest form. The fish is silky the cream cheese is hand-whipped and the bagel has that perfect New York density that you cannot find anywhere else on earth. I have eaten bagels in a hundred cities and nothing comes close to what Russ and Daughters puts on the plate. The matzo ball soup is the benchmark warming golden with a matzo ball that is fluffy and dense at the same time which should be impossible but here we are. The egg cream is a New York institution and they make it the old-fashioned way. The room is simple and bright with tiles and a counter that pays respect to the original shop without trying to be a museum. This is living history. Four generations of the Russ family have kept this standard and the fact that the line is still out the door more than a century later tells you everything about quality and commitment. New York food culture starts here. Not at the trendy spots that open and close every year. Here at the place that has been doing one thing better than anyone else for over a hundred years. That is the standard. That is Russ and Daughters.