About our rating systemSince 1928, a beloved luncheonette has served hangry New Yorkers in this spot. Actually, make that 5 luncheonettes, all of which operated from behind the classic 40-foot-long lunch counter that's at the center of this long, railway-car shaped eatery. The latest iteration is named for the first and opened in 2022, but you'd never know it hasn't been here for decades. The workers wear the classic white paper hats with the red detailing; there are faded celebrity photos on the wall, along with ancient posters for "Hellman's Salad Week" and Coca Cola; and the menu is a greatest hits of classic NYC breakfast and lunch fare, everything from egg and cheese on a roll, to tuna melts, reubens, and egg creams. 
There are some breaks with tradition, and they start with the food, which is far tastier than when this was Eisenbergs, the prior luncheonette (it closed during the pandemic). Owners Eric Finkelstein and Matt Ross, who are also behind Brooklyn's popular Court Street Grocers, have made sure every ingredient is just right, from the thin bacon piled atop purposefully sugary peanut butter (for that funky sandwich), to pastrami sourced from a deli in upstate New York that then sits in a steam oven overnight before being served. My favorite sammy is constructed from creamy chopped chicken liver pate, cornbeef, Russian dressing and rye It's pictured above, and it is heart-stoppingly delicious (just don't your cardiologist you ate something this crazily unhealthy).
Another change from the past: the prices. They are higher than they used to be (so what else is new?) but still well below what you'd pay at equivalent restaurants. As one example: the pastrami sandwich here is a good $7-$10 cheaper than it would be at the city's other delis at "just" $16. (Note: Many of the sandwiches here are overstuffed, and thus big enough to share.) And there didn't used to be a line out the door to eat here, so schedule in an additional 20 minutes for that. Because this recreation of a classic Noo Yawk luncheonette is so pitch perfect, it now draws crowds (whaddaya going to do?).
Favorite touch here: they don't give you a check at the end of your meal. Instead, diners go up to the register and tell the cashier what they ordered....and then she trusts them to tell the truth! If that isn't old fashioned goodness, I don't know what is.
