Shopsin’s

Looking for a place to take your father in law? Well, look no fa’ther. Their generous portions are only rivaled by their generous service. Food tastes like the place looks, clean. The service was similar to Fedex, cause it delivered.
Good looks. Good lucks. And most of all, good eatin’!

Came for brunch and were totally overwhelmed by the menu as we were waiting. Knew there were some rules that we had to abide by but weren’t clear on them and were luckily filled in by a regular waiting behind us. There were 3 in our party and ordered a pastrami sandwich, mac n cheese pancake, and banana pecan french toast. We like the french toast the most, pastrami sandwich, and were most underwhelmed by the mac n cheese pancake (i guess we had high expectations from prior reviews). All in all it was all still very good and would absolutely come back again to try their infinite menu items.

Every time I visit New York, I have to take the long subway ride to have breakfast at this place. The menu is vast but the food, every time, is so satisfying and amazing. Before I came here, I had seen the documentary «I Like Killing Flies» and for Christmas last year, my husband bought me Kenny’s book «Eat Me.» I share the man’s sense of humor, so I was ready to follow his rules in order to get service.
Tips: make sure you come early, preferably at the the opening hour. Do not be more than a party of four. Read the menu online and know what you want before you come. CASH ONLY. Don’t use your cell phone when you’re there.
Believe me, the food is worth it. I’ve only had the mac n cheese pancakes and the swee’ pea Pete, but I swear that if I lived in New York, I’d make sure I’d come eat there once a week to try something new — especially his soups. The book’s recipes make them sound divine.

Venue — Small diner within the Essex Market. You’ll see it when you first enter. There are only a few tables.
Menu — The menu is overwhelming. There’s so many good choices with interesting names packed into two pages (one page front and back) that makes it difficult to read and to choose from.
Food — Petes are good (eggs and various toppings on top of garlic bread). Pancakes look amazing, especially the mac n cheese pancake. Portions are large, but a bit pricey.
Service — Pretty non-​existent.
CASH ONLY.

These are probably the rudest people I have ever met.
I have been twice. Once, the food was OK. The people who work there are so rude and grumpy. Work at a drive through if you don’t want to serve people in a restaurant.
I have food allergies (not severe) and they simply kicked me out of the restaurant and refused to serve me. I asked them if they could not add cheese to my dish and they said no and then refused to serve me.
Please do not go to this place. They are awful.
They also won’t bring you coffee until you order food.
Great place right.

I was a little intimidated coming here as I heard how rude they can be. Service was good, though (and I didn’t ask any questions). Most importantly, food was delish. I had the sigh-​latkes with bacon egg and cheese. We also shared the cookie puss pancakes. So freaking good. I’ll be back.

So good! Had wanted to try this place for awhile, and despite knowing how overwhelming the menu would be… It was still pretty overwhelming. I got two pancakes — one butterscotch chip, and one macaroni and cheese. Both terrific. Getting one sweet and one savory was a perfect balance, and definitely enough food. I know the Mac and cheese is the unique one, but the butterscotch chip one was terrific, as well– one of the best pancakes I’ve had in nyc, possibly even better than Clinton street baking co. Also — I thought the service was fine; I came in expecting an Elaine Benes-​esque experience and was pleasantly surprised with my waiter. Looking forward to returning here!

After 20 years I finally came back to this, his 3^rd location and got to say hi to him. He did not remember me but remembered a friend… so we were talking and then one of his son’s warned me «not to ask him another question because he might pop!!!» So I clammed up but he still chatted a bit. Still got to mind you manners there.
There was some «hipster dad» and normal wife in front of us in line with 2 young kids and Kenny sent his son out to tell the guy to leave after he had been waiting at least 30 minutes… he was pissed but I could tell he understood… maybe not the right time for the kids as it was packed. They had to turn away people @1:15. We waited 35 minutes for a table and about 25 for the food.
I had the «Wiggly Pete» ¹⁰⁄₁₀ it has jalapeño infused crispy cheese burned on top of the powerful garlic bread and my son had the «MO BETTA» 9/10…look it up… amazing.
Well worth the wait on any length of line as long as you are not there waiting a long time and then they tell you to get lost;) We watched the waiter actually ignore this lady’s special request… it was awesome… she could not believe it… she gave up and lucky for her did not complain.
I have many Shopsin’s stories but I always remember one I heard because it happened right when I started going there… the actor Andrew McCarthy from «Weekend at Bernie’s» went in there a little to «LA» which always show’s up on Kenny’s radar and then made the awful mistake of asking for a Cappuccino… what happened is legendary… violent ejection.
Kenny needs to be cloned… rebuilt and eternal.

Maybe the food is good, I’ll never know. My friend lives up the block and I searched Unilocal for a local brunch spot that had vegetarian options. Shopsins had a 4-​star overall rating and the food pics looked good, so we made the move.
We had four people in our party and began to tackle the menu. Without exaggeration, the menu must have 600 items on it. I believe the pancake options alone topped 30 varieties. That said, it’s a lot to go through, and especially since it was our first time there, I asked the server for some guidance.
Me: «Hey, it’s our first time here, any chance you could give us some direction…»
Waiter cutting me off: «NO.» And then he walks away.
This was possibly the rudest interaction I’ve ever had with a server. Is this supposed to be their «thing?» The menu is literally hundreds of items with a 8pt font, how is somebody supposed to know what whole sections like «Blister Sisters» are without some sort of direction?
Bottom line is we were completely turned off by the waiter’s uncalled-​for attitude, and then after realizing the average menu item was around $ 20 before add-​ons, we decided to just leave instead of giving them our money. I wasn’t going to pay $ 24 for a sandwich while feeling that the establishment doesn’t appreciate our business.
I read a few reviews before writing this one, where I see happy customers confused as to why people would complain about the service. Is being a rude their schtick? Well, we didn’t stick around to find out, and they consequently lost $ 100+ table.

What can I say? Shopsin’s is one-​of-​a-​kind.
The menu with hundreds of items in tiny fonts. The fact that a tiny kitchen can produce so many things. The sassy and brusque (i.e. New York) service. The crazy combinations of heart-​clogging foods. The small diner feel, even though it’s tucked inside Essex Street Market.
My advice would be to get there by 10am on the weekend. There wasn’t any wait for my group of 4 on a Saturday at that time, but there was a growing line by the time we finished our meal.
I would also suggest combing through the menu before you come… or you’ll spend a good hour deciding what to order! I’m the most indecisive food orderer I know so this was quite a dilemma. Whether you want sweet or savory or some chaotic marriage of both, Shopsin’s has it.
After much deliberation, I ended up going with the mac and cheese pancake sandwich with bacon, egg, cheese, and potato. It was delicious. It was heavy. The portions were huge. I have no regrets! My fiancé had a variation of the «blisters on my sister» dish (most grotesque sounding name) and it was really good and huge.
The only drawback is the prices are quite steep. But go at least once for the experience!

From the vibe to the menu, this is quintessential NYC. This small, no-​BS diner is quite an experience. First, there’s no more than 20 seats in the whole place (including the ones at the counter). My friend and I managed to grab the only 2 seats at the counter). Then you’re presented with the extremely overwhelming menu. There’s enough content on them to be your light reading during your sessions on the porcelain throne. Seriously, there was more things to choose from than the novel-​like menus at the Cheesecake Factory. The craziest part is that they’re able to produce everything on the menu in a small kitchen that looked to be no more than 30 sq feet. So as we were perusing the menu, we just didn’t know what the hell to get so we consulted the server. My buddy tried to order a standard grilled cheese and the server’s response was priceless — «You’re seriously gonna order that when you can have literally whatever you want?» If I recall, there was an expletive somewhere in there. He was so bluntly entertaining that my friend and I couldn’t help but to just crack up about it.
I decided to get crazy with it — Beef sliders with Sautéed Onions, Scrambled Eggs and Cheddar Cheese on Mac ‘n Cheese Pancake «Buns». It was an epic gastronomic experience of breakfast, lunch and dinner on a single plate. These sliders were pretty sizable, but those things didn’t stand a chance. So good that I just had to eat every single bite even after sharing an order of chili cheese fries. I definitely felt like I had to work out 8 hours a day for a whole week just to offset the artery-​clogging, heart-​attack inducing meal I just ate… but it was SO. WORTH. IT. The only downside was that our food took forever (about 30 – 35 minutes) to arrive. It’s likely due to the limited kitchen space and resources (just a guess though).
Overall, the food is your playground and the service keeps it real. They encourage you to try something different, but don’t be surprised if you get a reaction upon trying to order something basic. So what’s the lesson here? Easy, just don’t be basic.

Worse/​rude service ever. Middle finger from kitchen staff.

This menu is insane. Plan to spend a couple minutes looking at everything and wishing you could try it all.
I met up with a friend here for Saturday brunch around 12:30. There were maybe 6 other people in front of us. We didn’t have to wait too long to be seated, maybe 20 minutes. The shop seats about 14 people.
I got the Bread Pudding French Toast with chorizo mac’n cheese and my friend got the Zesty, which was BBQ duck sliders on mac’n cheese cakes. It’s cute because they give you single serve bottles of syrup for your dish and then 7 different types of sauces. I tried my dish without anything on it and it was pretty plain. But after you add that syrup and some sauces, it comes together and tasted really good. At one point, I’m pretty sure I was just trying the sauces. We both agreed that there could be more cheese in our mac’n cheese.
*Cash only
*Located inside the Essex Market

Tourists: heck yes go here!
BUT I suggest you do your research first so you are not caught unawares.
First off: watch the documentary ‘I Like Killing Flies’. That explains a lot.
Secondly: look at the menu online beforehand — there’s so much stuff there.
Third suggestion: be prepared to wait in line.
I was sad that it was neither of the locations in the documentary. We also had a hard time finding it — thank goodness for smartphones and perseverance (I was determined to get there). AND we got there before the lineup — score!
Our experience was awesome — we will go again for sure!!! Excellent food. Kenny and one son were there — cool cool. Our waiter was unenthusiastic BUT he did not yell at us nor kick us out even when we asked not one, but two, ‘stupid’ questions.
Go there hungry and eat it all!

TAKES RESERVATIONS: No, so get here early. I heard and read there is usually a wait, but for some reason on the Sunday morning (10am) that I went, there was no line.
GOOD FOR: Breakfast, Brunch. If you’re craving for ANYTHING, this restaurant makes it all (See Menu Selection).
RESTAURANT SIZE: The restaurant is small, let me be clear, VERY small. There are only a few tables and seats, so be prepared to feel like you’re sitting in a box. for munchkins.
DÉCOR: Nothing fancy here, just random pictures and toys on the walls. I did observe some bobbleheads near the register and a huge NY Giants towel hanging from the ceiling.
MENU SELECTION: This is officially the largest menu selection of items I’ve ever seen in my life! I don’t know how they manage to squeeze in so much into that tiny kitchen, unless they have some secret doors leading to other laboratories creating these concoctions. The list of items range from the everyday breakfast items that you see at diners to the extraordinary like the Cap’ N J. There’s so much on the menu, it’ll make your head spin!
FOOD: We ordered the Huevos Rancheros with Short Ribs and the Cap N J. The serving size for both were huge. The short ribs were extremely flavorful and soft. The Cap N J was a monster! It was basically as advertised, a panko fried chicken on scrambled eggs inside 2 mac n cheese pancakes. Yes you read that right and it was amaze-​balls!
SERVICE: There was just 1 waiter and he also worked the register. He was quick and no non-​sense.
NOISE LEVEL: Fairly quiet as it’s a very small «restaurant».
FINAL COMMENT: Will DEFINITELY be visiting again … and again … and again!

Things to note:
–Located in the southwest end of the market with limited seating
–Cash only
–Won’t seat over four people
That being said, I got there pretty early on a Saturday morning to avoid any lines. I also came with a completely empty stomach so I could devour the obviously large portions they dole out.
Was able to quickly get a seat at the bar and ordered the Mac & Cheese Pancake sandwich with chorizo omelet ($ 18). Then proceeded to get the S’more milkshake ($ 7) to wash it all down. This is an egregious amount of food. Pancakes were understandably cheesy and grilled perfectly into form. The omelet lacked a bit of punch, but they give you 7 (!) different hot sauces to add to the monstrosity. Very good overall.
What’s best about this place is the over-​the-​top friendly staff who actually enjoy being there. Everyone seems to know everyone else (even the patrons), and that makes the experience worth while. Definitely on the pricey end for a cash only establishment — but if you have the time, you should make it down here once for breakfast.

A friend and I were looking for a place to eat in LES. Shopsin’s had some of the best reviews on Unilocal for a place I hadn’t been before, so we decided to go there. A word to the wise: If you think the Cheesecake Factory has too many menu options you’ll be flabbergasted when you see what Shopsin’s has to offer; there must be at least 200 items on the menu. Additionally, the wait staff is quintessentially New York and has no interest in explaining the menu or offering recommendations (the bawdiness is part of the restaurant’s charm). Know what you want to order before you arrive (or at least narrow it down)!
Shopsin’s is nestled in Essex Market and is a bit of a hidden gem. Apparently there is often a line and this held true when we arrived. It wasn’t too bad, though, and we waited about 30 minutes before opting to sit at the two seats that opened at the bar.
I stuck with what I had decided to order before hand which was really hard when you see the delicious selections whizzing by. Even more amazing is how this tiny restaurant — with a kitchen comparable in size to those found in a basic NYC apartment — is able to prepare such an assortment of entrees.
Our food came out within 30 minutes. They do warn you that if you’re in a rush not to eat there. I ordered the Santa Pete, which is a large slice of spicy bread with three poached eggs covered in chorizo, a green chili hot sauce, jack cheese and cilantro. Divine. Delicious. Having foodgasams just thinking about it! My friend ordered the Bianca — Eggs, polenta, duck schnitzel w/​chorizo kale gravy, which was also very tasty. We both ended up taking half of our food home.
Overall I had a great experience at Shopsin’s and am looking forward to trying more items off of their menu. It’s a little pricey but worth it given that there aren’t a lot of places serving hearty and uniquely flavorful meals like this in New York City. Also, if you’re easily offended, steer clear! I was chided at when asking the waiter for a picture and an entrée recommendation (this dude actually ended up being very cool, though, if you can hang with those kinds of personalities). The guy sitting next to me, an alleged regular, was as crude as they come. But I’ll sit next to Russell Crowe on a bad day to eat here again.

The restaurant is really small. There is quite a wait. The service is meh. There are stupid rules. The menu is confusing. The prices are ridiculous. BUT the food is really, really good so all is forgiven.
If you’re not sure what to order, I recommend the mac n cheese pancakes, the chocolate ebleskivers and blisters on my sisters.

I love a business with an attitude; I will always have a high regard for an establishment that refuses to bend its rules for the whims of patrons. As a customer, I am well aware that I am not always right; I know I am often wrong. Any business that upholds the philosophy that customers like me are always right is insincere, dishonest, and kisses up to me for a few dollars. That practice is best reserved for the world’s oldest profession, not for restaurants.
Shopsin’s is one enterprise that stringently enforces its rules, and customers have no choice but to either respect the rules or miss out on some of the most delicious food our city offers.
Shopsin’s does not accommodate parties larger than four. Moreover, Shopsin’s does not offer takeout; its food is the kind that would not travel. People who complain about the restaurant not offering takeout, would complain if it did and the food got sloppy when it got home. This judicious business does not attempt to please those who are impossible to gratify.
The menu, which changes regularly, is vast enough that I could eat here everyday for a year, and still not have tried it all. The duck gyro tops my list of favorites; it is a generous portion of rotisserie duck, stuffed inside a pita roll, with fried onions and a tahini sauce. A dash of one of Shopsin’s many hot sauces adds a delightful piquancy to the already flavorful sandwich.
The sliders are another hit. One can get them on latkes, donuts, waffle fries or mac’n cheese pancakes. Mix & match is not an option; for example, you can’t get one slider on waffle fries, one on a donut and one on mac’n cheese pancakes. All 3 sliders come on the same base. The caramelized onions lend a pleasant, subtle sweetness to the savory mini cheeseburgers, and you can add bacon (or turkey bacon), eggs, chili, kimchi or sausage onto the sliders. Again, any add-​ons need to be added to all 3 sliders in a serving.
The poutine, the duck fingers, the slutty pancakes, everything I’ve ever tried here has been delicious!
Ken, known for his «foul mouth», is actually a delightful conversationalist, if you get an opportunity to engage in a discourse with him. Eating at the bar provides an abundance of opportunities for such interlocution with the legendary Ken Shopsin.

Any good New Yorker will know about Shopsin’s, the tiny diner owned and run by Kenny Shopsin and his family. If the documentary on Mr. Shopsin [1] isn’t intriguing enough, the extensive 900+ items on the menu (which includes things like Mac and Cheese pancakes, French Toast Sandwiches, Frito Pies, and plenty more) should be enough to lure in even the most daring of eaters. Although Shopsin’s has since moved from its original location in West Village, the corner it takes up in the Essex Street Market appears to have retained the same charm.
There are, of course, the rules. Parties that are larger than 4 will not be seated, even if said party breaks up into smaller groups. Each person must order at least one dish, and there are no alterations or substitutions of any kind. Ordering should be done quickly, so some prior research of the menu is heavily recommended. Some of the older rules, like the ban on photography and cell phones as well as no ordering of the same dish, seem to have been phased out over time, but any good diner should enter Shopsin’s with at least some trepidation; after all, it’s not your ordinary restaurant.
I met with my friend on a weekend around 1PM and thankfully, there wasn’t much of a line in front of us. We were given seats near the kitchen counter and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kenny Shopsin sitting in a chair directly behind us. He exchanged some friendly banter with a few of the diners, but I was wary of pulling out my camera; after all, a DSLR is not an easy object to hide. Thankfully, our meal was mostly uneventful, as my friend and I placed our orders quickly and recieved our plates in short time.
I had decided on the Ova, an item found under their «Bread and Breakfast Name Plates» section, which was served still in the frying pan. It’s a unique amalgamation of ingredients, to say the least, consisting of two poached eggs plated above a mound of bacon-​cheese grits with a side of toast. A little wacky, yes, but nonetheless a delicious and hearty plate of food. I probably enjoyed trying each of the five hot sauces (provided on each table) a little too much as well, but I have to admit that I whole-​heartedly enjoyed my dish.
After we’d paid our bill, Zack, Kenny’s son, offered each of us a small trinket from one of the jars on their many shelves. For a first experience, I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised; after all, almost anything goes at a place like Shopsin’s. But where else would you find such a wacky, antiquated, yet endearingly unique place like Shopsin’s? Although it may not fit the traditional definition, it is very much a NYC institution, and very much worth the first visit.
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[1] «I Like Killing Flies», Matt Mahurin, 2004.