Russ & Daughters

TLDR:
— Precious provisions and old school charm.
— Look for smoked salmon varietals, white fish, trout, and more.

Russ & Daughters is the real meaning of a BAGEL, I swear if you look it up in the dictionary you’ll see R&D’s bagels. I had Ess-​a-​bagel the first day then my second day of my trip I had R&D and boyyyy I was so amazed. We were happy we did it in his order and if we did essabagel second we woulda felt jipped. lol Essa doesn’t have anything on R&D!
There’s two benches outside and once you try to enter be aware to grab a number & a sandwich menu to the left of the entrance before looking! Then it’s the waiting game!
I ordered Daughters Delight, (mind you I’m not the biggest fan of lox bagels) but man this was breath taking, I finished this bagel within seconds, I wish I ordered a second sandwich! it’s wrapped super cute & I thought it was probably the best thing I had within my whole NY Trip.
THIS IS A MUST GO!

Absolutely charmed. A recommendation by a friend with great taste in food and ambiance — Russ & Daughters did not fail to deliver. I had the Shtetl as recommended by the lovely and attentive bartender (Megan) and could not have been more happy with the selection. The texture and flavor of the smoked sable was beautiful and one simply cannot go wrong with goat cream cheese when paired with one of their fresh pumpernickel bagels. Some might balk at an $ 18 price tag but I say shut up and take my money.
Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a brunch spot with the best cured fish in town, look no further.

My first lox bagel experience in NY — a clean simple bagel with fresh salmon lox and just the right amount of cream cheese. We heard that Russ and Daughters was an old new york institution so we had to go try it. We came for lunch take-​out during a weekday and there were a good number of people but barely any wait. The size of the bagel was kind of small for the price and it was quite a bit of bread in proportion to the lox, but they gave a decent amount of lox. The bagel itself was okay, nothing incredibly memorable but the lox was fresh and very good. It’s pricey but definitely quality eats and a new york experience so worth trying at least once.

I ordered the plain bagel with the Gaspe Nova lox and scallion cream cheese. They give a generous amount of lox and cream cheese spread. The lox is phenomenal and the cream cheese tastes freshly made. I have to say though that I wasn’t super impressed with the bagel itself as it was kind of on the tougher and denser side. Perhaps I came too late in the day, and they might taste fresher earlier in the morning? Regardless of that minor complaint, I would definitely come back here again as it’s still one of the best bagel sandwiches I’ve had and their lox and cream cheese is addicting. A bagel sandwich will cost you around $ 12. Wait times for your ticket to be called can get a bit long as they are quite popular.

I’ve been meaning to come here for a while… wanted to see what the fuss was all about. Unquestionably they have some of NYCs finest quality deli eclectics from every imaginable smoked fish including several varieties of Salmon (Belly Lox, Scottish Salmon, Nova Scotia Salmon, etc…) freshly made cream cheese blends, decadent chocolates displayed quite nicely. Key factor: everything smelled so fresh! I wish I could’ve bought more than I did.
My only concern is that it took over an hour to finally have my order taken. I realize that they work hard behind the counter and customer service is key, but the endless chit — chat with every customer could’ve saved 15 minutes.

I ordered:
Everything bagel
Scallion cream cheese
Nova Scotia smoked salmon
Capers and Onions
Came out to about 13 $ and change. Best bagel I’ve ever had in my life. I’m not just saying that. I couldn’t believe how fresh the salmon was and the man behind the counter was very pleasant. I had no issues with customer service, actually. Go on a weekday as it seems that this place might be full on the weekends. Next time I WILL order their chocolate grahams.

LOX-LOVER’s HAVEN!
The main attraction at Russ & Daughters are the Lox bagels– a variety of smoked salmon with a variety of cream cheeses. There were 8 different types of smoked salmon available to choose from, so this was tough!
I went with the KING smoked salmon with the CHIVE cream cheese. I ordered mine with an onion bagel and the «works» (tomato, onion, capers). You can opt to have it toasted or plain, but I hear NY natives never toast. I went without the toast, but I wish I had it toasted. The bagel was a bit cold and dense, and I prefer my bagel a bit softer/​chewier.
The fresh squeezed orange juice here is delicious, and they also have a few other fresh juices to choose from — beet juice and ‘green’ juice.
No other LOX BAGEL compares to Russ & Daughters!

I have to start off by saying that i believe this place is overhyped. As a point of reference, I got the loin cut salmon with scallion cream cheese on an everything bagel.
3 things:
1) The everything bagel that I got was hard, cold, and extremely chewy. I was visiting new york and heard amazing things about bagels in the city but the one I tried here was disappointing. :(
2) The bagels were Hella expensive. This goes back to the point that the bagels didn’t even taste good to warrant the price. My bagel was $ 15, to me, that was way overpriced and not value for money.
3) I have to end with one positive note by saying that the salmon was actually fresh and they were generous with their cream cheese portions.
All in all, I would say you might be better off going somewhere else for a good lox bagel… or it could be my luck that the bagels were off par today and I happened to have the misfortune of being at the right place at the wrong time.

The best effing thing ever.
I was prepared to wait. And I waited and waited. Stepped into the shop at 9:30 AM on Monday morning and the line was to the door. The place was packed! Took a number (400) and saw that the counter was only at 370… So obviously I spent the next hour eavesdropping on other people’s orders. Belatedly realized that the wait would normally be probably 30 mins since this was the holiday season and people were stocking up like crazy. And here was me, just picking up a nice little lox bagel sandwich.
My order: poppy bagel with scallion cream cheese, New Zealand salmon, tomatoes, and capers. Total: $ 15.25.
It was amazing and worth it and amazing. I would have this every day if I were in the neighborhood. But I’m not, so I’ll just say that it’s worth it for every time you’re in the city. Come here first in the morning, grab a bagel, hop over to the coffee shop, enjoy your breakfast, then hit up NoHo and SoHo when the shops are first opening.
The staff is so knowledgeable and so friendly! Definitely spend some time looking around the store while you’re waiting and when it’s finally you’re turn, don’t be afraid to pick their brain about the best ways to enjoy your food, storing it, pairing it, etc.

The quest for the best NYC bagel continues for me! Coming to Russ & Daughters right as they open is the best way to enjoy this nice seafood market/​bagel/​Jewish deli establishments because swinging back later in the day, people were outside waiting is no fun way to spend your day in the great New York City. Note that there is no real place to sit down here, so you could take your bagel and walk over to Washington Square Park (not too far).
FOOD: Lox bagels all the way with scallion cream cheese and tomato. I wish that I got this with capers, but I digress. This so far has taken the cake with the belly lox and with so many varieties of salmon, you cannot go wrong! The belly lox, yes it’s salty, and yes, the people at the counter will warn you, but I love the salty/​cured taste to it! This may be a personal preference, but it was really delicious and then offset wit hthe smooth cream cheese peppered in with scallions. I found the belly lox + scallion cream cheese + everything bagel is seriously the meanest bagel of them all.
Grab your number right as you enter. If you need a menu (and if you are a newbie, you will), hunt on the counter for the plastic menu to see the types of bagels they can prepare for you!

One of the best jewish lower east side markets. It’s been in manhattan since the early 1900’s Come here for the smoked salmon and various lox. Standouts were the pastrami lox. But definitely go with any suggestions the counter workers make as they were spot on with the brunch lox they had made up for us. ½ a pound for a party of 4 worked out great. Great flavor and fresh. The beet salad with herring was also great. As nothing goes to waste they also had a wonderful salmon tartare. Check out the cookie and candy counter as well. As the dark chocolate covered cocoa almonds were wonderful. Friendly and great service from the counter folks. Come in, grab a ticket, and wait to be served.

What a unique experience for a little ol’ Texan like me, not a lot of Jewish folks down south, much less Jewish delis. I really enjoyed visiting Russ & Daughters, though tiny and crowded at midday on a Saturday, the décor and setup takes you back, considering they’ve been here 100+ years, they’ve really maintained the original integrity of the restaurant. The servers are dressed in white coats and are a bit standoffish, but how could you not be when you deal with hoards of people all day… Maybe it could be counted as part of the charm of the place. There’s also had a dessert bar with chocolates, pastries, and coffee.
We only opted for the lox bagels, which were amazing. The New Zealand king salmon was the best one, not too salty, fresh, and smokey. I had the Irish smoked salmon, with capers and onions. If I could do anything differently, I’d add tomato and subtract onion. My only point of development for them is that the bagel was SO HARD. I could hardly bite into it and my jaw legit hurt after I finished (all in a day’s work… haha jk) so had to knock off a star, but a must try if you’re in the area.

Small Jewish deli that has been providing Deliciousness to the Lower East Side of NYC for over 100 Years! This is a must try if you’re in the area!
From the minute you walk in you feel like you have been taken back in time when you see the décor and food they have to offer. They have an assortment of smoked salmon and fish, cream cheeses, dried fruits, chocolate items, all natural juices, and bagels. I have had the scallion cream cheese with Gaspe smoked salmon which I like cause it doesn’t have an overpowering taste or smell of brain smoked with onions and tomatoes. Simply Delicious! I also have had the chocolate covered expresso and coffee beans which were also delicious. You might find the items in this establishment a little pricey but you get what you pay for which is Deliciousness!
The staff wears a white uniform with paper hats and are very friendly and helpful in describing the different types of items that have to offer. Highly recommend this place!

If you love bagel and lox, you absolutely need to come here. This was hands down the best bagel and lox that I have ever had. Freshest salmon. Such a great location. The ambiance is so authentic. Somehow when we were there we didn’t run into a line.
I’d recommend trying the goat cheese cream cheese if you love goat cheese as much as I do… noms.

I kid you not, I started a draft of this and all I wrote was «f*ck yes salmon». That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.
To elaborate, I ordered a plain toasted bagel with red onions, scallion cream cheese, and salmon belly lox and gooooood lord it was good. Best bagel and lox I’ve ever had, ever. You’ll get a ticket, and you’ll wait in a tiny, crowded ass shop, but get one. You definitely won’t be sorry.

There is nothing special that I can add that was not already mentioned in the countless excellent reviews. This place is worth a visit AT LEAST once to experience their lox, cream cheese on a bagel. It doesnt matter what what kind of salmon or what cream cheese you pick– you cant go wrong with anything this place produces. Personal favorite is the Gaspe nova and the caviar cream cheese.
I make it a point to pick up a tub of cream cheese whenever I am in the city– its worth a drive into the city!

«Wait. Where’s the line? I just take this number and get called immediately to order? But I don’t know what I want!»
Thoughts that raced through my head upon walking into Russ & Daughters on Saturday morning.
While traipsing around NYC, I try my best to playoff that I live there. Ya know, not the tourist type. This means I’m not allowed to ask many questions and instead, work to exude an air of confidence just like the regulars.
So alas, my lack of preparation led me to ordering the most promising named sandwich, Daughters’ Delight. Sounds nice, right? It consisted of Gaspe Nova and wild Alaskan salmon roe with scallion cream cheese on an everything bagel. It was prepared by an old man that can only be described as having a whimsical smile on his face.
Then, my thoughts went something like this…
I totally just fooled that guy into thinking I was a local.*
I can’t believe I just paid $ 18 for a bagel sandwich. Is that what locals do?
Look at all the pretty things in this shop! Does that really say BAGEL bread pudding?
I need to hurry home to eat this. Why don’t they have seats here?
This is the prettiest bagel sandwich I’ve ever seen.
Those are some BIG roe balls. They keep exploding in my mouth!
Woah, this salmon is gooooood.
This scallion cream cheese is gonna linger. Better brush my teeth again.
Next time, no roe, same salmon, light (er) cream cheese.
WHY CAN’T THIS PLACE BE CLOSER TO ME.
*I actually think whimsical old man couldn’t have cared less where I came from.

This is lox heaven. I mean, really, really impressive. I loved that there was even a selection of fish roe! I can’t get enough roe. God, if I lived in NYC. Well, I would be broke because I would be eating this every day.
There’s caviar (eight types), herring, smoked specialty fish, and this is just the list of salmon:
Gaspe Nova Smoked Salmon
Double Smoked Danish Salmon
Western Nova Smoked Salmon
Irish Organic Smoked Salmon
Scottish Smoked Salmon
Norwegian Smoked Salmon
Belly Lox
Gravlax
Pastrami Cured Salmon
Pickled Lox
Don’t forget your bagels and bialys and cream cheese (Plain, Scallion, Vegetable, Horseradish, Caviar, Lox, Plain Tofu, Scallion Tofu, and Vegetable Tofu)!
Daughters’ Delight ($ 16): Gaspe Nova Smoked Salmon and Wild Alaskan Salmon Roe with Cream Cheese on Bagel. I love smoked salmon and I love salmon roe, so I had to get this combination. I wanted to keep it simple, so I opted for regular cream cheese (I would do scallion next time) and a traditional bagel. It was tasty deliciousness.
I ate half my sandwich right outside the shop on the bench. I was so happy.

Fantastic lox bagels. On weekends, a line starts before the doors even open. All with good reason. Quality is top notch. I’d be here every week if I was close by. Don’t skip the Graspe lox on everything bagel with scallion cream cheese and «the works» aka capers, onions, and tomatoes. It is perfection.
Pros:
–Polite, professional employees who very carefully construct your bagel to look as good as it tastes.
–Best quality lox — freshness is great (they are famous for their Graspe nova lox which uses an old school brining technique as opposed to standard smoking method. I prefer it now. Superb.).
–Bagels are not too big or too small and the lox sandwich ends up being the perfect meal. They’ll toast if you want but they’re so fresh that it’s unnecessary.
–Amazingly fresh, diverse, and delicious varieties of cream cheeses. Scallion, veggie, lox, chives, blueberry, etc.
–Great fresh-​squeezed orange juice and many other goodies to purchase. Many desserts, dry fruits, rugelach varieties, black and white cookies, candy, classic deli type foods and drinks, etc.
–Decent variety of bagels (sesame, everything, wheat, poppyseed, plain).
Cons:
–Expensive even for NYC. The raspberry rugelach is a standard box of 10 small pieces for $ 15. Lox bagel is $ 11.
–Wish they had whole wheat everything instead of just plain wheat bagels.
–A wait will be inevitable. Grab a ticket when you enter. I got lucky I avoided it but in true New York fashion, some dude tried to cut ahead of me. The staff noticed and were nice enough to give me their attention first. People do not play when it comes to getting their bagel fix here.

Toda vez que vou a NY venho aqui umas 2 x e como 2 sanduiches pequenos em vez de 1 grande! Assim como dois sabores em vez de um. O de pâté de figado e maravilhoso e os de salmao sao de chorar de tao bons. O atendimento e otimo. Tem uns chocolates bons demais tb. Ah! E o arenque defumado? Nossa que delicia. Se eu pudesse comer so uma comida em Nova Iorque seria aqui. Sem piscar!
Pense no sanduiche de bagel+salmao+cream cheese como o acaraje judeu de Nova Iorque. Nao deixe de comer. E o daqui e o melhor!!!

Ceci est mon premier avis sur Unilocal et que dire d’autre mise à part que cet établissement est fabuleux que le personnel y est très agréable même si il voit que vous êtes à New York pour la première fois et que je vous n’avez jamais mangé un bagel. cet endroit était un passage obligé pour moi lorsque j’avais lu les commentaires sur Unilocal et je né suis pas déçu. Dès qu’on rentre on a envie de tout goûter !!!: les saumons sont tout simplement magnifiques. Le bagel et à 13 dollars ce qui est très raisonnable vu la qualité exceptionnelle de celui-​ci et un goût fabuleux. Effectivement dithyrambique sur cet établissement j’y retournerai avec plaisir :) merci à eux !!!

Todos los amantes de pescado deben de irse a Russ & Daughters durante cualquier estancia in NYC. Las variedades de pescado ahumado y preparado son impresionante. Solo in NYC hay solche tiendas familiares perfectas.
Evita las horas picos y lleva tus bagels perfectos cuando caminas por los calles. Los dulces son inigualables también.
***
All people, who truly love fish, should visit Russ & Daughters during any trip to NYC! The selection of smoked and prepared fish is enormously varied & delicious. Only in New York City does one experience such a sublime combination of tradition and innovation.
Avoid the peak hours & lines. Take your perfect bagels (or knishes) while walking around the neighborhood. The sweets are exceptional as well.
###
Alle Leute, die Fisch mögen, müssen unbedingt nach Russ & Daughters! Die Auswahl vom Fisch ist außerordentlich. Nur in New York City erfährt man solche perfekte Laden.
Manchmal wird’s brechend voll. Nehmen Sie ihre perfekten Bagels (oder lieber Knishes) auf einen Spaziergang durch die Umgebung. Die Süssigkeiten sind sehr empfehlenswert.

Hier gibt es super leckere Bagels mit vielen möglichen Beilagen.
Tolle original NewYorker (bzw jüdische) Kleinigkeiten (Apetizers)
Besonders der frische geräucherte Fisch ist hier 1A Ware und absolut spitze!
Viele Kunden kommen hier auch aus dem Viertel in den kleinen Shop.