I found New York’s best neighbourhood for tourists in the Lower East Side

History meets hip in one of Manhattan’s most enticing neighbourhoods.

Barry Divola

4 min read

February 28, 2025 - 1:14PM

The most romantic destinations in the world

Lifestyle

Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News.

I’m standing in a tiny kitchen, in a cramped three-room apartment in an old New York tenement building. There’s not enough room to swing a cat, but a Lithuanianâ€Šfamily of eight lived here in the early 20th century.

“Where we are right now in the Lower East Side used to be the most overcrowded area in the entire world,” says Emily, a young guide with the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

I’ve come here on a tour of the museum’s two buildings to learn more about the history of this neighbourhood, because the Lower East Side has become something very different. It’s now a tourist and night-life hotspot and its streets are lined with many of the hippest restaurants, bars, cafés, art galleries and boutique stores in the city. But even as it has reinvented itself, reminders of its past remain.

Our guide tells us that many of the immigrants arriving in this neighbourhood a couple of hundred years ago were Eastern European Jews escaping persecution and looking for a new life. They set up stores and businesses here, so the area became especially well known for garment stores and delicatessens.

You can still get a taste of classic Lower East Side at Russ & Daughters, a Jewish deli that has been keeping New York stocked with smoked fish, knishes and matzo ball soup since 1914. Katz’s Delicatessen is even older, opening in 1888 and still attracting long queues to get in, as much for Meg Ryan’s famous fake orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally (which was filmed here) as for its gigantic pastrami sandwiches.

You can still get a taste of classic Lower East Side at Russ & Daughters.

Sweet Pickle Books, which only opened on Orchard Street in 2020, nods to the neighbourhood’s past reputation as the pickle centre of New York. It’s a charming store that combines a love of used books with a love of pickles, which the owner preserves and sells in jars.

For those possessing a sweeter tooth, Economy Candy, which has been on Rivington Street since 1937, is like Willy Wonka’s factory, a temple to every type of lolly, chocolate or gum you’ve ever dreamt about.

The original Essex Market, probably the city’s most renowned food hall, opened in 1940, but its latest incarnation, on the corner of Essex and Delancey streets, only debuted four years ago. And it’s truly impressive, a hangar-like space with a big mezzanine seating area and around 40 vendors under one roof selling a United Nations of delicacies – Italian, Indian, Mexican, German, Moroccan, Dominican and more.

Katz’s Delicatessen opened in 1888 and still attracting long queues to get in.

You may have heard there’s been an Australian café invasion of New York over the past decade or so, and some of the best are in the Lower East Side. On my first day in town I breakfast at Dudley’s, a bustling café and bar that helped convert Manhattan to smashed avocado, ricotta hotcakes and flat whites.

And the following day I drop in to Good Thanks, a bright and rustic double-fronted café with a distinct Australian emphasis on fresh ingredients and hearty fare such as breakfast sandwiches, harissa eggs and healthy bowls.

“This is just the best neighbourhood,” says owner Will Rees, who is originally from Sydney. He opened Good Thanks six years ago, and has since expanded to Williamsburg. “It’s a well-trodden tourist spot now but it’s still got a grittiness and a young energy to it, even if it has become more gentrified.”

One of the stalwart spots is Pianos, a former piano store that was transformed into a bar and music venue over 20 years ago. Picture: Barry Divola.

That young energy can really be felt after the sun goes down and the sidewalks heave with bar-hoppers. One of the stalwart spots is Pianos, a former piano store that was transformed into a bar and music venue over 20 years ago. Other newer hip watering holes have sprouted on seemingly every block, including Ray’s, a retro dive bar co-owned by actor Justin Theroux.

And you can hear live music everywhere. On Houston Street is the Mercury Lounge, a revered spot that was ground zero for The Strokes when they helped revitalise the New York City rock scene in the early 2000s, while on Allen Street is Rockwood Music Hall, which has two spaces for live music – one is ticketed, but the other is a small bar where admission is free and a different act plays every hour, from late afternoon through to midnight.

And when you need to refuel, the neighbourhood is crammed with eateries of all stripes, whether it’s the burger of the moment at Gotham Burger Social Club, the stellar ramen at Ivan Ramen, the enticing empanadas at Empanada Mama, or delicious Italian snack foods at Trapizzino.

Moxy Lower East Side reflects the buzzy energy of the precinct and includes modern Japanese restaurant Sake No Hana. Picture: Supplied.

Another big development in the LES? Unlike a decade or two ago, when you finally decide it’s time to turn in after taking in all the neighbourhood has to offer, you can now go back to a hotel right in the area. I stay at one of the more recent additions, Moxy Lower East Side, which reflects the buzzy energy of the precinct and includes modern Japanese restaurant Sake No Hana, piano lounge Silver Lining and rooftop bar The Highlight Room.

When I get back to my room and hit the pillow after a long day and night, I have a thought. Even though times have changed since the early 1900s, the Lower East Side still feels like one of the most crowded places on the planet – but in a good way.