Zabar's

Zabar’s has to be experienced, in person, to truly be understood. You have to see the crowds, hear the banter of our sales help, smell the croissants baking, admire the rich brown hues of our coffee, sample cheese from every corner of the world, enjoy the beauty of hand sliced nova, walk upstairs and see the largest selection of imported cooper cookware anywhere… it really is a one of a kind adventure.

In 1934 Louis and Lillian Zabar started Zabar’s by renting an Appetizing Counter in a Daitch Market. Louis would sell only the highest quality smoked fish at a fair price. He wanted his customers to trust him and he wanted them to become «regulars». He traveled to the smokehouses and sampled the smoked fish himself. Louis worked long hours; he roasted his own coffee. He hand selected every item that Zabar’s sold – always wanting to give his customers the best available at a «fair» price. In the mid 1970’s Zabar’s opened The Mezzanine which offered kitchen appliances and gadgets from every corner of the world. Remaining true to Louis Zabar’s philosophy whatever was sold had to be the best quality and the price had to be right. Zabar’s is open 365 days a year and there is always a Zabar in the store. Today the store is over 20,000 square feet. We have over 250 employees. We sell over 8,000 lbs of coffee a week and over 35,000 customers a week visit our store.

The Zabar’s Z.
Business Owner
Eighty Years, and 3 generations later, Zabar’s family business is still going strong.

Our father and mother, Louis and Lillian Zabar, started the business back in 1934, opening a 22-foot-wide shop along NYC’s Broadway at West 80th Street. Louis was a real stickler for quality, roasting his own coffee, and personally visiting smokehouses to sample and inspect the fish – rejecting far more than he accepted.

The principles and practices of our founder and father continue to guide us: Respect the customer. Never, ever stint on quality. Offer fair value. And last but not least, keep searching for the new and wonderful.

As Louis taught us, to succeed as a family business, you have to love each other, and love the business – in our case, great food, great service, great prices, great folks. We ask you, what’s not to love?!

Here’s to another 80 years, and then some! Heartfelt thanks for your patronage.