Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery

This cherished and tattered relic has been in the same Lower East Side spot since 1910 and was a pushcart before that. Proprietor Alex Wolfson, a Ukrainian immigrant, is a descendant of founder Yonah Schimmel, who helped popularize the Eastern European–inspired knish, thanks to his wife's recipe. The enormous potato specimen is the top seller, steamed in a microwave and livened up with spicy brown mustard. Savory and sweet knishes in a variety of flavors (spinach, kasha, mushroom, apple strudel, cherry-cheese) are baked on the premises, but fresh bagels come from the respectable Davidovich in the nearby Essex Street Market. Most visitors get everything to go; a few linoleum tables are reserved for waiter service in case you'd like to enjoy your nosh with a cup of coffee or an old-fashioned egg cream.