clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
A round pie littered with mushroom raised on a platform and lit.
A selection of pies, stuffed and not, at Bravo Kosher Pizza, in Midtown and FiDi.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Where to Eat Kosher in NYC

Texas-style barbecue, sushi, pizza, matzoh, blintzes, and more

View as Map
A selection of pies, stuffed and not, at Bravo Kosher Pizza, in Midtown and FiDi.
| Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

The rules followed by observant Jews when it comes to selecting a meal are a little more complex than one might imagine, beginning with the animals that are permitted (pigs and shellfish are not), the humane method by which they are slaughtered, how foods must be prepared, and those ingredients that may not be eaten at the same meal. Dairy and meat are prohibited together so a pastrami sandwich can be kosher, but a Reuben sandwich, which incorporates cheese, cannot. Certain parts of animals, including some organs, are also not permitted. On top of that, just because a restaurant follows these guidelines doesn’t necessarily mean it has a kosher certification — the standard that many observant Jews hold to when dining out.

All the spots listed on this map boast a kosher certification (though there are different types, often involving which entity is certifying). What they do show, however, is the breadth of cuisine — from Texas-style barbecue to sushi to pizza to more traditional items, like matzoh ball soup, blintzes, and pastrami sandwiches. Here is a choice selection of some of our favorite kosher restaurants in town.

Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.

Read More
If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

Holy Schnitzel

Copy Link

Nobody is better at frying up breaded chicken cutlets than Holy Schnitzel, a kosher chain with branches in Borough Park, Staten Island, Sheepshead Bay, and Aventura, Florida, in addition to the UWS location. The plain schnitzel sandwich with lettuce and mayo on a crisp baguette is exemplary, but you can also get versions of the sandwich that add pastrami, sautéed mushrooms, spicy peppers, kosher bacon, and a host of breading that include panko and corn flakes. Hamburgers, salads, and chicken wings are also available.

a breaded cutlet hero sandwich cut in half to show cross section.
The classic schnitzel sandwich at Holy Schnitzel.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Pastrami Queen

Copy Link

Pastrami Queens started life in 1956 near the courthouse on Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens, and 40 years later changed its name and departed for the Upper East Side. There right on Lexington Avenue, the small spot established a reputation for its overstuffed pastrami sandwiches, crisp potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce, and chicken noodle soup. A more recent location has sprung up on the Upper West Side.

A plastic container showing a coarse textured gray brown paste.
Pastrami Queens’ chicken liver.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Le Marais

Copy Link

Le Marais was founded by a pair of Frenchmen — Jose de Meirelles and Philippe Lajaunie — who believed a successful French restaurant with no cheese and no pork, and one that would be viable even when closed on Fridays and Saturdays, was a possibility. And they were right. They reconfigured prime steaks as necessary to avoid prohibited cuts, added duck rillettes, steak tartare, and chicken paillard to the menu — et Voila!

A puck of raw ground beef with toasts radiating from the top.
Steak tartare at Le Marais.
Le Marais

Sen Sakana

Copy Link

This groundbreaking restaurant specializes in the Nikkei cuisine of Peru, which incorporates Japanese elements into traditional Andean dishes. Hence, at Sen Sakana one can feast on fluke ceviche flavored with ginger and lime juice, rice balls with a spicy tuna dip, branzino done on a robata grill, and lomo saltado — a classic Peruvian stir fry of beef strips, tomatoes, and onions.

A bar with dramatic lighting and angular tables opposite
The interior of Nikkei restaurant Sen Sakana
Sen Sakana

This restaurant showcasing Sephardic cuisine offers a menu of contemporary Iranian and other Eastern Mediterranean food in an elegant setting near Times Square. Kebabs of prime beef, lamb, chicken, and fish are high points, served with rice and salad or in sandwich form. Persian stews laced with herbs are also featured. Other branches on Long Island in Great Neck and Roslyn.

Tubes of ground meat served with rice and vegetables.
Beef koobideh kebab at Colbeh.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Turquoise

Copy Link

For a very Mediterranean seafood experience head to Fresh Meadows in eastern Queens to Turquoise. A half dozen or so whole fish — usually including dorade, striped bass, and branzino — are available every day, as well as fillets, which can be grilled, broiled, or deep fried depending on the texture of the flesh. Raw fish is also available as carpaccios and tartares. The meatless menu means dairy desserts like cheesecake and chocolate mousse are available.

A cross hatched fish with blackened skin.
A broiled bronzini at Turquoise.
Turquoise

Cheburechnaya

Copy Link

Cheburechnaya is a restaurant that specializes in the Jewish food of Uzbekistan — with Russian flourishes. The food is splendidly inexpensive and includes plov (Central Asian pilaf), pastries with lamb and chicken, fist-sized manti dumplings, composed salads and bread dips, flatbreads prepared on the premises (try the parabolic cracker noni toki), and one of the city’s best collections of kebabs. These include chicken, lamb, beef, veal sweetbreads, and calves’ liver, and sometimes chunks of meat are separated by lamb tail fat to enhance succulence.

Cheburechnaya
A selection of dishes at Cheburechnaya.
Stefanie Tuder/Eater NY

Gottlieb's Restaurant

Copy Link

One of the few remaining Glatt kosher restaurants in the city, Gottlieb’s was founded by Hungarian Holocaust survivor Zoltan Gottlieb in 1962, and ever since has been an anchor of South Williamsburg’s Hasidic community. Waiters are bilingual in Yiddish and English, and patrons are likely to order cabbage soup, chopped liver, Hungarian goulash, and for dessert, apple kugel — in addition to the usual pastrami and corned beef.

The front of a restaurant with faded neon lettering in the windows. The sign reads: Gottlieb’s Restaurant, Delicatessen, Catering
Gottlieb’s Restaurant in Williamsburg
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Bravo Kosher Pizza

Copy Link

Serving classic New York and Chicago deep-dish pies, Bravo is a vegetarian pizzeria that keeps a strictly kosher dairy and partly vegan menu. The stuffed-crust vegetable and cheese pie is especially good, lush with tomatoes, mushrooms, purple onions, and spinach — but the ziti and vodka slices, spelt-crusted pies, garlic knots, calzones, and green salads are equally as worthy.

A round pie with cheese and mushrooms melted on top.
The stuffed-crust vegetable pie at Bravo.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Mama Kitchen

Copy Link

This wonderful spot in a copse of trees in Bed-Stuy offers Israeli food in a farmhouse setting. Step up to the counter and order schnitzels, kebabs, homely soups, and stews. All come with a plate of cold composed salads on the side, which could be a meal in themselves. You won’t go away from Mama Kitchen hungry.

A blue plate with various colored salads heaped high.
The side plate at Mama Kitchen.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Basil Pizza & Wine Bar

Copy Link

This contemporary wine bar mounts a menu of antipasti, pastas, and wood-fired pizzas, restricting itself to the dairy side of the kosher menu, with some fish dishes included as main courses. The open kitchen allows you to see pizzas being made, which include the usual margherita topped with fresh tomatoes, four cheeses, mushrooms, a novel Greek pizza topped with tzatziki and black olives, and white pizza with habanero chiles for the heat-lover.

A hand twirls a spaghetti over a plate.
Pastas are a strong point at Basil.
Basil Pizza & Wine Bar

Chef Ori Esther Safra directs this modern Israeli restaurant in Crown Heights, serving both Ashkenazic and Sephardic fare. There’s wood-roasted cauliflower with pink beet tahini, a veal and tomato stew with ground lamb, a duck leg confit with rainbow chard, a deconstructed falafel, and a behemoth 30-ounce bone-in rib-eye. This is food with a contemporary flair with plenty for the adventuresome to feast upon.

A book lined room with a dining table set with finery.
Modern Israeli cooking in a sedate setting.
Alenbi

Izzy's Brooklyn Smokehouse

Copy Link

This down-home barbecue is now a venerable kosher choice in Crown Heights, but cast your mind back a decade when it opened and be amazed at the excitement and uproar it created. There’s a second location on the Upper West Side, maybe not quite as good, but still worth visiting. Both turn out tasty brisket, beef ribs, chicken, hot dogs, and chile sausage fit to compete with any other barbecue in town, kosher or not. Barbecue tacos are another highlight.

Slices of pink edged meat with a lake of sauce spreading in front.
Izzy’s brisket.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Olympia Pita

Copy Link

The name says it all: Olympia Pita was founded in 1972 right on Brooklyn’s Coney Island Avenue, making wonderful fresh pitas as its centerpiece right from the start. These are lush and puffy flatbreads, delivered warm and fit to go along with the selection of salads and grilled meats. Don’t miss the Yemenite soup or the shawarma egg rolls.

Dishes radiating from a heap of cut pitas.
A selection of mezze from Olympia Pita.
Olympia Pita

Koma Sushi

Copy Link

Koma stands for “kosher omakase” at this Midwood sushi parlor that opened in April 2021. It

offers high-quality omakase late into the night, as well as smaller assortments and fish by the piece. The signature maki roll bearing the restaurant’s name, for example, features yellowtail, tuna, and avocado inside, topped with fluke and salmon. Kitchen entrees lean to grilled fish.

Two panels of pink sushi.
Fatty tuna sushi and a spicy tuna maki roll.
Koma Sushi

Mill Basin Deli

Copy Link

This colorful spot a stone’s throw from the seaside (great for after-dinner walks) doubles as an art gallery, which gives you something to look at while waiting for your overstuffed deli sandwiches. Chopped liver and brisket au jus are standouts, as are matzoh ball soup, or pristine chopped salads and bread dips. The menu sprawls in a pleasant sort of way, so in the unlikely event you’re tired of classic deli fare, you can stray to fajitas, turkey gumbo, or the PLT sandwich — featuring burnt pastrami slices.

An eggroll with a fried shell cut open to show the red meat inside.
Mill Basin’s pastrami egg rolls are legendary.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

David's

Copy Link

Located in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn in a neighborhood sometimes known as Little Syria, this restaurant specializes in Sephardic food in a diner setting, much of it astonishingly good. Try the bazergan — a bright red, cracked wheat pita dip laced with cumin; or the Moroccan cigars — deep-fried pastry flutes with a beefy filling. Rib-sticking full-meal soups, and kebabs cooked over charcoal abound.

Brown deep fried tubes with a hand in the foreground holding one to reveal contents.
Meat-stuffed Moroccan cigars at David’s
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Holy Schnitzel

Nobody is better at frying up breaded chicken cutlets than Holy Schnitzel, a kosher chain with branches in Borough Park, Staten Island, Sheepshead Bay, and Aventura, Florida, in addition to the UWS location. The plain schnitzel sandwich with lettuce and mayo on a crisp baguette is exemplary, but you can also get versions of the sandwich that add pastrami, sautéed mushrooms, spicy peppers, kosher bacon, and a host of breading that include panko and corn flakes. Hamburgers, salads, and chicken wings are also available.

a breaded cutlet hero sandwich cut in half to show cross section.
The classic schnitzel sandwich at Holy Schnitzel.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Pastrami Queen

Pastrami Queens started life in 1956 near the courthouse on Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens, and 40 years later changed its name and departed for the Upper East Side. There right on Lexington Avenue, the small spot established a reputation for its overstuffed pastrami sandwiches, crisp potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce, and chicken noodle soup. A more recent location has sprung up on the Upper West Side.

A plastic container showing a coarse textured gray brown paste.
Pastrami Queens’ chicken liver.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Le Marais

Le Marais was founded by a pair of Frenchmen — Jose de Meirelles and Philippe Lajaunie — who believed a successful French restaurant with no cheese and no pork, and one that would be viable even when closed on Fridays and Saturdays, was a possibility. And they were right. They reconfigured prime steaks as necessary to avoid prohibited cuts, added duck rillettes, steak tartare, and chicken paillard to the menu — et Voila!

A puck of raw ground beef with toasts radiating from the top.
Steak tartare at Le Marais.
Le Marais

Sen Sakana

This groundbreaking restaurant specializes in the Nikkei cuisine of Peru, which incorporates Japanese elements into traditional Andean dishes. Hence, at Sen Sakana one can feast on fluke ceviche flavored with ginger and lime juice, rice balls with a spicy tuna dip, branzino done on a robata grill, and lomo saltado — a classic Peruvian stir fry of beef strips, tomatoes, and onions.

A bar with dramatic lighting and angular tables opposite
The interior of Nikkei restaurant Sen Sakana
Sen Sakana

Colbeh

This restaurant showcasing Sephardic cuisine offers a menu of contemporary Iranian and other Eastern Mediterranean food in an elegant setting near Times Square. Kebabs of prime beef, lamb, chicken, and fish are high points, served with rice and salad or in sandwich form. Persian stews laced with herbs are also featured. Other branches on Long Island in Great Neck and Roslyn.

Tubes of ground meat served with rice and vegetables.
Beef koobideh kebab at Colbeh.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Turquoise

For a very Mediterranean seafood experience head to Fresh Meadows in eastern Queens to Turquoise. A half dozen or so whole fish — usually including dorade, striped bass, and branzino — are available every day, as well as fillets, which can be grilled, broiled, or deep fried depending on the texture of the flesh. Raw fish is also available as carpaccios and tartares. The meatless menu means dairy desserts like cheesecake and chocolate mousse are available.

A cross hatched fish with blackened skin.
A broiled bronzini at Turquoise.
Turquoise

Cheburechnaya

Cheburechnaya is a restaurant that specializes in the Jewish food of Uzbekistan — with Russian flourishes. The food is splendidly inexpensive and includes plov (Central Asian pilaf), pastries with lamb and chicken, fist-sized manti dumplings, composed salads and bread dips, flatbreads prepared on the premises (try the parabolic cracker noni toki), and one of the city’s best collections of kebabs. These include chicken, lamb, beef, veal sweetbreads, and calves’ liver, and sometimes chunks of meat are separated by lamb tail fat to enhance succulence.

Cheburechnaya
A selection of dishes at Cheburechnaya.
Stefanie Tuder/Eater NY

Gottlieb's Restaurant

One of the few remaining Glatt kosher restaurants in the city, Gottlieb’s was founded by Hungarian Holocaust survivor Zoltan Gottlieb in 1962, and ever since has been an anchor of South Williamsburg’s Hasidic community. Waiters are bilingual in Yiddish and English, and patrons are likely to order cabbage soup, chopped liver, Hungarian goulash, and for dessert, apple kugel — in addition to the usual pastrami and corned beef.

The front of a restaurant with faded neon lettering in the windows. The sign reads: Gottlieb’s Restaurant, Delicatessen, Catering
Gottlieb’s Restaurant in Williamsburg
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Bravo Kosher Pizza

Serving classic New York and Chicago deep-dish pies, Bravo is a vegetarian pizzeria that keeps a strictly kosher dairy and partly vegan menu. The stuffed-crust vegetable and cheese pie is especially good, lush with tomatoes, mushrooms, purple onions, and spinach — but the ziti and vodka slices, spelt-crusted pies, garlic knots, calzones, and green salads are equally as worthy.

A round pie with cheese and mushrooms melted on top.
The stuffed-crust vegetable pie at Bravo.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Mama Kitchen

This wonderful spot in a copse of trees in Bed-Stuy offers Israeli food in a farmhouse setting. Step up to the counter and order schnitzels, kebabs, homely soups, and stews. All come with a plate of cold composed salads on the side, which could be a meal in themselves. You won’t go away from Mama Kitchen hungry.

A blue plate with various colored salads heaped high.
The side plate at Mama Kitchen.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Basil Pizza & Wine Bar

This contemporary wine bar mounts a menu of antipasti, pastas, and wood-fired pizzas, restricting itself to the dairy side of the kosher menu, with some fish dishes included as main courses. The open kitchen allows you to see pizzas being made, which include the usual margherita topped with fresh tomatoes, four cheeses, mushrooms, a novel Greek pizza topped with tzatziki and black olives, and white pizza with habanero chiles for the heat-lover.

A hand twirls a spaghetti over a plate.
Pastas are a strong point at Basil.
Basil Pizza & Wine Bar

Alenbi

Chef Ori Esther Safra directs this modern Israeli restaurant in Crown Heights, serving both Ashkenazic and Sephardic fare. There’s wood-roasted cauliflower with pink beet tahini, a veal and tomato stew with ground lamb, a duck leg confit with rainbow chard, a deconstructed falafel, and a behemoth 30-ounce bone-in rib-eye. This is food with a contemporary flair with plenty for the adventuresome to feast upon.

A book lined room with a dining table set with finery.
Modern Israeli cooking in a sedate setting.
Alenbi

Izzy's Brooklyn Smokehouse

This down-home barbecue is now a venerable kosher choice in Crown Heights, but cast your mind back a decade when it opened and be amazed at the excitement and uproar it created. There’s a second location on the Upper West Side, maybe not quite as good, but still worth visiting. Both turn out tasty brisket, beef ribs, chicken, hot dogs, and chile sausage fit to compete with any other barbecue in town, kosher or not. Barbecue tacos are another highlight.

Slices of pink edged meat with a lake of sauce spreading in front.
Izzy’s brisket.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Olympia Pita

The name says it all: Olympia Pita was founded in 1972 right on Brooklyn’s Coney Island Avenue, making wonderful fresh pitas as its centerpiece right from the start. These are lush and puffy flatbreads, delivered warm and fit to go along with the selection of salads and grilled meats. Don’t miss the Yemenite soup or the shawarma egg rolls.

Dishes radiating from a heap of cut pitas.
A selection of mezze from Olympia Pita.
Olympia Pita

Koma Sushi

Koma stands for “kosher omakase” at this Midwood sushi parlor that opened in April 2021. It

offers high-quality omakase late into the night, as well as smaller assortments and fish by the piece. The signature maki roll bearing the restaurant’s name, for example, features yellowtail, tuna, and avocado inside, topped with fluke and salmon. Kitchen entrees lean to grilled fish.

Two panels of pink sushi.
Fatty tuna sushi and a spicy tuna maki roll.
Koma Sushi

Related Maps

Mill Basin Deli

This colorful spot a stone’s throw from the seaside (great for after-dinner walks) doubles as an art gallery, which gives you something to look at while waiting for your overstuffed deli sandwiches. Chopped liver and brisket au jus are standouts, as are matzoh ball soup, or pristine chopped salads and bread dips. The menu sprawls in a pleasant sort of way, so in the unlikely event you’re tired of classic deli fare, you can stray to fajitas, turkey gumbo, or the PLT sandwich — featuring burnt pastrami slices.

An eggroll with a fried shell cut open to show the red meat inside.
Mill Basin’s pastrami egg rolls are legendary.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

David's

Located in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn in a neighborhood sometimes known as Little Syria, this restaurant specializes in Sephardic food in a diner setting, much of it astonishingly good. Try the bazergan — a bright red, cracked wheat pita dip laced with cumin; or the Moroccan cigars — deep-fried pastry flutes with a beefy filling. Rib-sticking full-meal soups, and kebabs cooked over charcoal abound.

Brown deep fried tubes with a hand in the foreground holding one to reveal contents.
Meat-stuffed Moroccan cigars at David’s
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Related Maps