Brunch Gem of the Lower East Side

Article and photos by Victoria Wu

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Brunch. One of the favorite meals of the day for Millennials and Generation Z. Fortunately for me, Philly is only a two hour trip away from one of the best cities for brunch: New York City. The hardest part is not trying to find a good place for brunch; the hardest part is choosing a place to start because there are way too many options. For me, making a decision is one of my biggest weaknesses, and my weekend in New York showed no exception. After some hours of indecision, my cousin and I decided to start our days off right with a brunch at Russ and Daughters Café.

There is no way you’ll miss this store. While all other stores are just opening shop, Russ and Daughters already has a line out the door. We thought we were going to beat the crowd, arriving 15 minutes after the restaurant opened. But, we were wrong. There was already a line that stretched outside the door. Shocked but excited, I put my name on the waiting list. As my stomach growled every five minutes, I asked myself constantly, is this one hour wait worth it?

Finally, the one hour wait came to an end. Walking in the restaurant felt like walking into a time machine. The retro-styled café shop radiated soda-shop vibes. The walls were lined with backlit signs proclaiming the presence of pickled herring, smoked whitefish, and gaspe nova in jars. I was quickly greeted by one of the white-jacketed staffs who cordially suggested the classic smoked salmon bagel served on a board. It’s a classic for a reason. The quintessential bagel sandwiched the famous smoked Gaspe Nova salmon. Now I understand what all the rave was about. In addition, we ordered some Eggs Benny. As I cut the Eggs Benny, the sunny side up egg melted on top of the rich and slightly sweet pillow-soft Challah. Although not one classics at the cafe, it’s still a must-try. After all, this a century old store, so they know what they are doing.

Was it worth the one hour wait? Heck yea it was!