GCI Places

Curated collection · Solo afternoon

The Lower East Side On Foot

Four businesses within a few blocks that between them still serve the food of the district's successive migrations. Ordered north to south.

Assembled and reviewed by Global City Intelligence on 2026-09-07. The order below is a suggested route, not a ranking.

The route

  1. Veselka

    East Village and the Lower East Side

    Ukrainian, on Second Avenue, at the top of the walk.

  2. McSorley's Old Ale House

    East Village and the Lower East Side

    Two minutes east, an ale house accumulating dust since the 1850s.

    Photograph of McSorley's Old Ale House in New York
    McSorley's Old Ale House , 15 East 7th Street, Manhattan, New York . Leonard J. DeFrancisci · CC-BY-SA-3.0

  3. Russ & Daughters

    East Village and the Lower East Side

    An appetizing store on East Houston, in the family since 1914.

  4. Katz's Delicatessen

    East Village and the Lower East Side

    Across the street, the last full-scale delicatessen on the Lower East Side.

    Photograph of Katz's Delicatessen in New York
    Katz's Delicatessen, New York. Alex Lozupone · CC-BY-SA-4.0

4 of 4 places shown on the map. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.