Barney Greengrass
- Getting there
- Upper West Side, between 86th and 87th
Why it’s in the log
Barney Greengrass opened in 1908 and has billed itself as "The Sturgeon King" ever since — an Upper West Side appetizing counter built around smoked fish rather than deli meat. Anthony Bourdain made it one of his earliest televised New York recommendations, ordering a sturgeon platter with nova eggs and caramelized onions and pairing it, on camera, with a newspaper and a cigarette.
The formula hasn't moved: sturgeon, sable, lox and whitefish sliced to order, served in a dining room that still runs on Formica tables and a deli-counter rhythm rather than anything styled for a photo. It's a fourth-generation family business, and it looks it.
Weekend mornings draw a real line — go on a weekday if you want the platter without the wait.
“"Essential ingredients for a balanced breakfast: New York Times, Barney Greengrass, cigarettes" — that's Bourdain's line, not mine, and it still tracks minus the cigarettes.”
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