Shopsin's
Categories: Diners, Grocery, Sandwiches [Edit]
Neighborhood: Manhattan/Lower East Side120 Essex St
Essex Street Market - Stall 16
(between Delancey St & Rivington St)
New York, NY 10002 (212) 924-5160
- Nearest Transit:
Delancey-Essex Sts (F, J, M, Z)
Grand St (B, D)
2nd Ave-Houston St (F, V)
- Hours:
Tue-Sat 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: No
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Breakfast
- Alcohol: None
21 Reviews for Shopsin's
"The Adobe" may well be the best NY breakfast there is. The stars are for the absolutely killer food. Today was quiet and the family Shopsin were well behaved, but it is all worth it for the great grub. This place serves CREATIVE, ORIGINAL SH_ _ MAN! Ok the Adobe- a breakfast burrito with eggs, beans spinach topped with cranberry relish- intrigued? Around the cornacopia of flavors is the homemade cocunut pancakes, with a small bottle of maple syrup and fresh fruit including raspberries and watermelon. Nuff said. A pic of this will be up on the blog! Go now while it is quieter and warmer as their spot is freezing in winter though for this flavor combo, I would brave anything.
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When I think about just the mere IDEA of going to Shopsin's for breakfast/brunch, as I just did while writing those words, my face flushes red and I get what's known in the medical community as "Santa Cheeks". This is basically what happens when I get really, really excited about something, or really nervous. But guys, there's NOTHING to be nervous about at Shopsin's. It is my:
Favorite Breakfast in All of New York 2008!!!!
What blows my mind, and everyone else's who goes there, and most of the people's who have written reviews about it, is the wild, Lewis-Carroll-esque, almost hallucinogenic level of creativity on the menu, to the point where mentally you're like "no, come on: you have cycled away from good and are heading straight for disgustingtown." But that's when the true lunacy begins: it IS good. You were WRONG!! HA HA!! Go to the dunce corner. Because even the weirdest coconut-meets-burrito-meets cranberry relish concoction on the menu is not just good, not really good, it is GREAT.
However, I don't want you to think that it's all just wild crazy creative stuff, because while those are there and all DELICIOUS, there's also just normal things like pancakes, eggs, biscuits: and they are all seriously damn near PERFECT. The pancakes I have had have all been phenomenal, most recently--perfect little fluffy fellows with Maine blueberries. The biscuits, the eggs, the scrambles, the everything--it is all really what I dream about when I dream breakfast. Which is whenever my lids close. Even when I'm just blinking.
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I am nearly 30 years old. I'm not sure if I could count the number of restaurants I've ever been to. 5000? 10,000? A lot... And despite the fact that I'm sure to go to thousands more in my life, I have a hard time thinking that any of them will be able to be as good as Shopsin's.
Kenny Shopsin is a genius of food. And i don't use that term lightly. Genius with a capital "G". Whenever I take people that haven't been before, I recommend that they try something that sounds crazy or weird. Georgia BBQ Pork Sandwich with Spinach Coriander Sauce? Awesome. Tomato and Cheese Curd Soup? To die for. Blisters On My Sisters with Andouille? You've probably never had anything like it.
But you should.
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Shopsin's is the best kept secret in the Lower East Side. I discovered this restaurant on Yelp, actually, and I'm so happy that I found out about this place. Shopsin's has amazing breakfasts and sandwiches, that rival ANY breakfast or sandwich I've ever had. The menu itself will actually hypnotize you with its number of offerings. I was told by the owner/cook that I needed to take "speed reading classes" to help me make up my mind. It's really difficult to decide what you want, since there's so much to choose from. Their prices are a bit high compared to most diners I've been to, but once you eat this food, you don't mind paying a little extra. The ambience is extremely un-pretentious and welcoming. They have a very small kitchen, so they can only prepare a few meals at a time, so don't worry if no one takes your order immediately. They move at their own pace. It's worth a wait for a table. It's worth waiting for the food, while the father and son cooking team bicker and insult each other. It's an exceptional dining experience and I thank Yelp for introducing it to me.
Me and my wife planned a trip to the LES and have an early lunch at Shopsin's. Have to admit, I was scared shitless on our way there and worse when we actually found the place. I even had to rethink what I was wearing. It was worse than going to a damn black tie dinner. Then there were issues about cellphones and... it was torture and an effort, basically. Although, I could see the reason behind this and I'm sure you've read the essays by people and watched the movie but you really do feel the family-ness and how the diner is their extended home and that you're really there as their guests. So, much like as if you were in a guest's house, you need to "take off your shoes" and respect where you are.
The diner is found inside the Essex Market near the F,JMZ subway entry. It's a smalll place but seats are found out in the hallway. You'll be greeted by everyone and automatically you'll find Kenny Shopsin himself chatting with the patrons and figured he's in a good mood... ok... now sneak inside quietly and sit. I was anxious to see the menu and believe me, I've never seen a menu that big and I heard he actually took out a number of his items. I had the chicken pistaccio blue plate special and my wife got the yin/yang beef barley and corn rice combo and IT WAS AMAZING. It's a perfect mix of home-style cooking and gourmet mixing. I don't know how to make into words the explosion of flavors but food really is experienced personally. The portions were large enough for us to share and we even had enough to bring home and enjoy it again. I can't imagine how he can mix all those ingredients together and figured... yeah, that's good.
We intend to go back. :)
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After N years of hearing about this miracle from @pheezy, I finally graduated to a Shopsin's brunch with my LES peeps, and it blew my fuckin brains out. Perfect location (around the corner), perfect food (blisters on my sisters, two soups, pancakes, and sandwich shenanigans), and perfect service (bonus black-box homemade hot-sauce remix).
I miss shopsin's.
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I've been to Shopsin's twice in the past year, and I've been amazed by the variety of dishes on the menu and by how good every dish has been. Their space in the Essex Street Market is small, and the wait on Saturdays is long (I waited about an hour both times), but it's worth it.
It's a family operation, and things are casual between the "staff." Our waitress sat with us while taking our order, which I enjoyed, because I find her enchanting, although objectivity demands that I not allow this to influence my rating.
I've ordered blue plate specials on both my visits. The chicken with pistachio curry was fantastic and came with tons of sautéed vegetables. My companions have been similarly pleased with their food.
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After watching the documentary "I Like Killing Flies," I had to visit Shopsin's on our stop through NYC last December.
Not being a party of five, I knew my boyfriend and I would be alright, but I was still a little skeered of Kenny Shopsin -- he's an imposing figure!
The menu is indeed a clusterf*#k of insanity, and I think it needs an errata. We ordered a soup to share in one of those crazy yin-yang bowls and had a sandwich each: all of it was amazing.
While we were there, Kenny came out from behind the stove and opened his mail, and one of the packages he got was the book "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," which got the few patrons reminiscing about what a great book it is.
I wanted to ask for a picture with him and mention we'd seen the film recently, but fearing a reaming, I managed to snap a fuzzy pic as we were leaving. Definitely one of my favorite NYC experiences.
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During a Saturday am wander around the LES, I decided that I wanted breakfast. I tried Essex - they wouldn't open until 11am. Then I wandered into the Essex Street Market, and found a tiny diner, and asked if I could take a seat at the counter. No problem.
I had a great view of the pass and the Garland Range and of the cook cooking orders on the flat top. As I looked around the space, I saw that it is decorated with supplies. Hot Sauce, pickled jalapenos, mixes etc. I immediately was enthralled.
Then I was handed the menu. It is HUGE which is diametrically opposed to the kitchen, which is tiny. The staff were so busy, but nice. Genuinely nice, and they seem to really like each other.
I ordered grits with bacon and cheddar cheese, and scrambled eggs. They were perfect. Huge portion of grits - would have been better to split them with someone - but alas, this morning I was alone. I ate, complimented my waitress, eavesdropped on the cook's conversations with some regulars and essentially had a really nice diner breakfast, that was kind of a LES event.
Then I went shopping. It was a great kick off for my weekend.
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Oh man, if you are going to bust out and eat some truly heavy duty breakfast, health consciousness be damned, then you better do it right and head down to Shopsin's at The Essex Market. Just be sure to get there early, the makeshift corner space to which they relocated after loosing their lease in the West Village only has about seven tables, and they go fast. But don't come with more than four people or you won't be seated. May sound harsh, but look at the menu and it's easy to see why the place is still so popular.
We ordered black berry and mac and cheese pancakes. Let me repeat that: blackberry and mac and cheese pancakes! As in the mac and cheese is inside the pancakes. I once thought apple cheddar pancakes represented the zenith of pancake creations. I was wrong, Kenny Shopsin has managed to elevate the breakfast entree even further. For a meatier option was also shared the poached eggs with BBQ pork, green chiles, sourdough bread cubes, and grilled onions. It was spectacular!
Have I told you I love this place?
I mean both dishes are the kind of options other brunch spots rarely, but sometimes have as a special, and these were just the two that instantly caught our eye on a mammoth menu of many more innovative combinations. You want sliders and eggs? What about a fluffernutter waffle sandwich? Or slutty cakes? Shopsin's is the only place to get them all. The man behind it all recently starred in a documentary about the restaurant called I Like Killing Flies. I plan on checking it out soon.
One of the best dining experiences of the year, Shopsin's only drawback is their loony hours: They are opened Mon-Sat (closed Sunday) 9 -3. It's a tough one for us employed, but whatever it takes, I recommend you make time for a bite there.
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shopsin's is quite simply the best place for soup in the entire world. the last time i ate there was probably three years back, but i had the most amazing split pea soup in the world and then after that, the most amazing potato pierogi soup with caramelized onions in the world.
the family are great people and the free candy made for a super pleasant experience.
i've never seen such a giant soup menu in all my life and i have no idea how they whip them up on the spur of the moment.
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I can't express how much I love this place. I could eat here every day and never eat the same thing twice, but I know that whatever I'd order, it would be good. The Shopsins are great people and make amazing food. Thanks to Kenny, I was able to have poutine for lunch today.
Poutine! In NYC! I love this place!
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After four visits to Shopsin's since summer of 2007, I think it's high time I wrote an in depth review of this heavenly place.
The first time I went was with a friend visiting from out of town, and we decided to sit at the small counter where we were greeted by the tired but overall pleasant waitress (the daughter of Kenny Shopsin, I believe). Overwhelmed with a plethora of choices despite the fact that the menu was severely shortened, we decided to each have pancakes. My friend went with lemon ricotta, all six of which were light, fluffy, and ohhh-so-lemony. Me being me, I went with the cinnamon parmesan plantain pancakes, which were out of this world. A wide sliver of plantain was carefully positioned in the center of each cake, all of which were dusted with little white and brown specks signifying the presence of the other namesake ingredients. Neither of these pancakes needed the complimentary maple syrup bottles or butter offered; they're perfect on their own.
The next time I went by myself and again had pancakes, the "Slutty Cakes" to be exact.
A Note: Most of the items on the menu have either hilarious or blush-inducing names. Just go with it. Also, be prepared for seemingly high prices *these pancakes were $12*, but remember that you get a lot for your money.
I'm not sure what made these pancakes slutty; personally I loved every ingredient in them so that might imply something about me :). Heavily flavored with peanut butter and pumpkin puree, they were a deep orange covered in green pistachios and a liberal dusting of cinnamon. Again, these were no-syrup-needed pancakes because of their intensely moist texture.
A third time had me dragging my father and two younger siblings along; at first I was nervous that the kitchen staff's amusing foul mouths would intimidate my baby brother, but if anything he was giggling right along with me. This occasion was particularly nice because we were treated very kindly by the same waitress, as well as Kenny's son who normally works in the kitchen. Her laid back nature put the family at ease, and it seemed that for every item on the menu she had either a suggestion or a comment to further narrow down the decision. Finally, my sister settled on the "Brigitte" sandwich which had chicken salad, avocado, and a few other hearty items; she enjoyed it. My brother, always indecisive and easily overwhelmed by extensive choices, settled on a shredded pork sandwich and salad on garlic bread; it sounds terrible but was apparently delicious, though incapable of being finished. My father, a bit more adventurous, went with a ham and cheese french toast sandwich covered in maple syrup; a Shopsin's version of Croque Monsieur, if you will. All sandwiches came with a wedge of watermelon, which I thought was cute.
My entree didn't come with watermelon because it was the ying-yang soup/side bowl. In the mood for something spicy, I asked for the African green curry soup which has a spice scale of 1-10. Warned against the highest setting, I cut back a little bit, and was presented the peanut butter-y green "mafe" of sorts chock full of every chlorophylled vegetable you can imagine. Set in its divided pink bowl, it was accompanied by scrambled tofu, peanuts and peas. I couldn't finish all of it in one sitting, but if left me sweating and very happy.
My final visit was with my best friend, and we went a more breakfast-y route. The waitress was not there that day, so it was Mr. Shopsin himself who took our orders while his son dished out the food (luckily it wasn't crowded). My friend had the chocolate chip coconut pancakes which were large and, again, unfinishable despite their deliciousness. I went with the ashura, which is a purple-colored, mostly rice breakfast dish filled with hot blackberries oozing juice, raisins and other plump dried fruit, hockey pucks of banana, a few pineapple chunks, and plenty of white beans and wheat to round out the dish. Warm and comforting, it's also very delicious.
This place will remain a mainstay for me as long as it's in business. So many pancakes, so many sandwiches, so many soups and egg dishes to try, and so very little time.
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Granted, when they moved from the West Village to Essex St. Market, there were a few things lost (namely my go-to order of the bacon egg and cheese empanadas), but this place is an institution.
The menu has something for everyone -- and EVERYTHING is good. I'm not sure how they manage to have all of the ingredients in the small space, but they manage.
There are no words to describe the chocolate malt, so I'm not even going to try. But trust me.
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The menu changes daily, but the Big John breakfast sandwich endures. Tortilla avocado soup is an excellent rainy day cure. If you get there at 10:45, you manage to sneak in between the early stroller crowd rush and the late surly hipster rush.
Brunch this past Saturday with a friend and we both loved it - we shared an order of the mini cinnamon-sugar donuts, a breakfast sandwich with eggs, cheese, bacon and potato, and an order of the peanut-butter chocolate chip pancakes. Everything was delicious, and we loved the atmosphere, everybody seemed to know each other and were eager to include us as well. I would definitely go back and I would recommend it, especially for a much-needed hangover cure on a weekend!
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Some things aren't for everyone. But, Shopsins is for me!
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Oh how i love you,
the chocolate macadamia
nut pancake. Heaven.
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mac and cheese pancakes?! we always bailed the atrociously long lines when they were in the west village and i kinda will always regret that. not that essex market isn't cute, but completely different feel, i'd imagine. food was excellent and prompt. don't know how i feel about the move to hipstery greenpoint, but the menu alone might be worth it...
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i was forcibly ejected from shopsin's for wielding a cellphone. as i approached, i was all fired up to eat some chicken enchilada soup. i walked in and saw the sign about "NO PHONES" so i pulled mine out of my pocket in order to turn it off and the manager|owner|resident wackjob bumrushed me out the front door. he put up a heck of a fight for an old man, but i served him a knuckle sandwich and made him beg for mercy with a camel-clutch.
i had heard that the entire operation was slated to move to greenpoint in brooklyn to capitalize on the hipster goldrush. they also apparently needed more space to set up a beer-pong table adjacent to the restaurant. i shall return for the rematch with my avuncular adversary. no holds barred!
JCTSFR: 0.03
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The menu will make you crosseyed, for sure, but mmm mmm the brunch is good!
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