In 1934, Louis and Lillian Zabar opened Zabar’s, a modest 22-foot-wide smoked fish counter inside the Crystal Pure Food Market at Broadway at West 80th Street.
Even as the Great Depression took its toll across the country, the Upper West Side remained a comfortably affluent pocket of the city. The neighborhood had evolved into a bustling Jewish enclave, drawing in families who had found enough financial success to trade the crowded blocks of the Lower East Side for roomier uptown apartments.
Encompassing just 2,500 square feet on the street level of a five-story Italianate structure, Zabar’s advertised itself as a “kosher-style” store, meaning meat and dairy products were sold together to appeal to the increasingly modern and secular Jewish families of the neighborhood.
For some time, Louis had sold fruits and vegetables, but a severe skin allergy forced him to pivot to the highly lucrative appetizing business—focusing exclusively on smoked fish, cured meats, and cheeses.
Fast forward 92 years, Zabar’s is now a legendary grocery empire–and a name that’s familiar to all New Yorkers. The late Saul Zabar was even colloquially knighted by media outlets like The New York Times as the “Smoked Fish Czar of the Upper West Side.”
What was the opening like in 1934?
Though the store opened with sawdust covering the floorboards, customers were instantly greeted by the heavy, mouth-watering scents of briny pickles, cured deli meats, and freshly smoked salmon.
Louis was a perfectionist who demanded the highest quality at the lowest price.
To ensure he sold only the best, he would personally tour dozens of local smokehouses in Brooklyn and Queens, famously rejecting far more fish than he accepted, according to Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Zabar’s shared the Crystal Pure Food Market with three other ambitious immigrant tradesmen, including a produce seller who later founded Sloan’s Supermarket and a butcher who launched the Shopwell chain.
From modest 22-foot-wide counter to legendary grocery empire
After Louis passed away in 1950, his sons Saul and Stanley, along with partner Murray Klein, took over the business.
Over the decades, they steadily expanded the shop to encompass nearly an entire block across five contiguous buildings, adding their famous housewares mezzanine. Here’s how the legendary shop evolved over the decades:
- 1934: Louis and Lillian Zabar open their modest 22-foot smoked fish counter
- 1950: The second generation takes over, kicking off an expansion that would eventually consume five contiguous buildings
- 1960s–1970s: Zabar’s begins introducing mainstream New York to European delicacies like imported Brie, sun-dried tomatoes, and gnocchi
- 1980s: The store aggressively slashes prices on luxury caviar, sparking a famous citywide “Caviar War” that makes the delicacy accessible to everyday shoppers
- 2024: In celebration of the market’s 90th anniversary, New York State officially declares February 6 as Zabar’s Appreciation Day
The institution is now so ingrained in New York culture that its classic orange tote bag—which boasts its own dedicated Pantone color (Zabar’s 165 C)—is preserved in the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection.
What to order at Zabar’s today
While the caviar and imported cheeses are legendary, no trip to this Upper West Side institution is complete without the staples that built the empire.
If you’re stopping by today, here’s what you need to get:
- Hand-Sliced Lox: The undisputed star of the show. Whether you prefer the classic salty lox or the milder Nova Scotia salmon, watching it get sliced paper-thin by a veteran counter worker is a New York rite of passage
- House-Roasted Coffee: Zabar’s sells hundreds of thousands of pounds of their custom coffee beans every year. Grab a bag of the classic Zabar’s Special Blend
- Bubbe’s Rugelach: Flaky, sweet, and perfectly traditional. It’s the ultimate pastry to pair with your coffee
- Artisanal Cheeses: Browse the massive cheese counter that helped introduce New Yorkers to imported Brie decades ago
92 years after a young immigrant couple opened a small counter to sell smoked fish, Zabar’s remains the undisputed culinary heart of the Upper West Side.
Don’t miss out! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and now on WhatsApp, too!