B&H Dairy Restaurant

Comfort food from the old country

Lower Second Avenue was once known as the Yiddish Broadway, a vibrant entertainment hub for crowds of Eastern European Jewish immigrants living in tenements and brownstones in what is today’s East Village. Theaters and vaudeville houses lined the bustling sidewalks alongside restaurants featuring huge servings of traditional dishes, tastes of the ‘old country,’ just like bubbe (grandma) used to make. Kosher dietary law prohibits combining meat and milk products, so some eateries served meals containing meat while others, like B&H, offered meatless dishes familiarly called ‘dairy.’

Time-worn and tiny, its aisle is so narrow between the counter stools and six small tables that even skinny-minnies making their way to a rear table risk jostling somebody’s pierogies. Original owner Abie Bergson (the B of B&H) had no desire to expand the cramped dining area, insisting it was far better to have customers waiting for tables than tables waiting for customers. Staying small may be one reason why it’s been going strong since 1938, while larger rivals (like Ratner’s and Rappaport’s) have since closed their doors.

The staff is mainly Hispanic now, yet old-timers claim the menu of Jewish soul food hasn’t changed since opening day. Heaping plates (‘Is all of this for me?’) of blintzes, latkes, kasha varnishkas, and bowls of lentil, split pea, hot or cold borscht, and veggie matzoball soup come with house-baked buttered challah bread – the basis for what many deem NY’s best French toast and grilled cheese sandwiches. Sip an egg cream or fresh-pressed fruit juice. Signs on the wall list menu items, daily soups and specials – and all at surprisingly gentle prices.

Over the years, B&H has fed hungry actors, beatniks, hippies, hipsters, college kids, and hard-core regulars. If you’re lucky, you’ll be elbow-to-elbow at the counter with an octogenarian who’ll bend your ear about great food and the good old days.

Address 127 Second Avenue (between East 7th Street and St Marks Place), New York 10003, +1 212.505.8065, kubiti.blog/bh-dairy | Getting there Subway: Astor Pl (6), 8 St-NYU (N, R); bus: M 1, M 2, M 3, M 8, M 15, M 101, M 102, M 103 | Hours

Tue – Sat 8am – 10pm, Sun 8am – 9am | Tip Jewish old-world bakery treats like babka, rugelach, and fruit-filled hamantaschen fill the shelves nearby at Moishe’s Bake Shop.