Forget all the other famous candy stores in NYC! They are more hype and high prices than anything else. Economy Candy is the place to go! They have old school candy that isn't easy to find anymore. They are a family run business which opened in 1937!

Also they carry a lot of imported chocolates and candies and Kosher candy as well. They have a Pez collection that is out of this world as well as merchandise that is based on candy brands. It's a very cool store indeed.

Economy Candy, 108 Rivington Street

Update - Vanessa’s is open for business. Love those dumplings!

Vanessa's has been serving fresh handmade dumplings since 1999 on Eldridge Street. When I first started eating there, 4 dumplings were only $1.00! Now the price for 4 dumplings that are made in front of you while you wait is only $1.50! There is almost always a line to order and to get a table. They have other food as well. I often stop here during a Chinatown photo tour or after a street photography workshop. 

They call the area Chinatown. Technically it's the Lower East Side but Chinatown keeps expanding.

Vanessa's Dumplings, 118A Eldridge Street

So let’s talk pickles! Talk about a specialty. The Pickle Guys are the last pickle shop in the Lower East Side. I understand that there were once many pickle vendors in LES.

They say that their pickles are from an old Eastern European recipe and “just the way mom used to made them.” Their pickles are Kosher and they have a variety of other pickled vegetables and condiments.

If you’re a fan of pickles you definitely need to stop by here and have a few. Also, the have a restaurant next door which I will be posting about shortly. What’s not to love about pickles?

They are open on Saturdays, but they close for the Jewish holidays. So check their website first.

The Pickle Guys - 357 Grand Street at the corner of Essex Street

Morgenststern's Finest Ice Cream is a very retro style looking ice cream parlor with updated tastes. If you like ice cream I definitely suggest it. The flavors are both standard and new flavors as well. Like Tahini Caramel! The ingredients are all natural.

I'll let them speak for themselves here! "Nicholas Morgenstern is a self-made restaurateur, with extensive pastry experience in some of New York's finest establishments. In 2014, Nicholas opened Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream. "Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream is my chance to express my love of the quintessential American indulgence. I have been dreaming of these flavors, this style, and this place for years.""

Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream - 2 Rivington Street near Bowery

Two sweet words when seen together in a shop window! Yes, hot bagels. As in they make them there! Once you’ve had a fresh bagel out of the oven and still warm, you may never have another standard deli bagel again.

Kossar’s has been around since 1936 and apparently they are the oldest Bialy shop in the US! I haven’t tried their bialy but the bagels are fabulous. They are located in the lower Lower East Side. It’s a very cool neighborhood and they are next door to not one, but two pickle shops. Stay tuned for the posts about them.

Kossar’s - 367 Grand Street near Essex Street

I have hesitated to write about Katz’s because it seems that every tourist to New York City has no difficulty finding it and there are many other delis in the city. But after eating there for the first time in a number of years, I decided that it definitely merits being included here.

Be prepared for lines to get in and the sandwiches are really big and yummy. Bring a good appetite.

In their own words “In 1888, a small deli by the name of Iceland Brothers was established on Ludlow Street in New York’s Lower East Side by the Iceland brothers. Upon the arrival of Willy Katz in 1903, the name of the store was officially changed to "Iceland & Katz". Willy’s cousin Benny joined him in 1910, buying out the Iceland brothers to officially form Katz’s Delicatessen. Their landsman Harry Tarowsky bought into the partnership in April 1917. Katz’s Deli was moved across the street, to its present location, during the construction of the subway system. The vacant lot on Houston Street (pronounced "House-ton" after a Dutch emigrant of the same name) was home to barrels of meat and pickles until the present storefront facade was added between 1946-49.”

Katz’s Delicatessen, 205 East Houston Street at the corner of Ludlow

Good News - The majority of the shops and food stands at the Essex Market are open and it’s very cool. It’s been around since 1888 serving the community of the Lower East Side with goods supplied by little independent vendors. It recently moved down the street a block into a new space. While the new space has a nice modern look to it, the market has not lost it’s independent spirit.

You can find a bakery, produce markets, butcher and fish market as well as dining and much more. There is a nice open space feel for eating and clean restrooms as well.

The Essex Market is a definite must if you plan on being in the Lower East Side and the International Center of Photography will be opening across the street from it in 2020. It’s also very close to the Williamsburg Bridge which has a pedestrian path.

Essex Market - 88 Essex Street at Delancey

I finally managed to try out Yonah Shimmel's Knish Bakery. Fabulous! I had a sweet potato knish and a cherry knish. They are large and filling. I didn't eat them both at once. Really good. Yonah Shimmel's has been there since 1910! They are a bakery and a restaurant. 

Yonah Shimmel started selling his knishes from a pushcart in 1890. He was a Russian Jewish immigrant and the business remains in the family of his cousin's family after all these years. As well as knishes they have a number of Eastern European dishes. 

"Yonah Schimmel’s was so integral to the Lower East Side that “No New York politician in the last fifty years has been elected to public office without having at least one photograph taken showing him on the Lower East Side with a knish in his face,” according to Milton Glaser and Jerome Snyder’s 1968 column in New York Magazine “Underground Eats.”"

Yonah Shimmel Knish Bakery, 137 East Houston Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues

If you want to delve into the history of New York City, the Tenement Museum is a really good place to start. The story of this city is about immigration and it is what makes New York City so diverse and interesting.

“At a time when issues surrounding migrants, refugees, and immigration have taken center stage, the Tenement Museum is a potent reminder that, as a nation shaped by immigration, our brightest hope for the future lies in the lessons of the past.”

Tenement Museum - 103 Orchard Street at Delancy