Second Avenue Deli Opens Next Week Closer To Third Avenue (UPDATED)

Chris Shott — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:08:22 -0400

The Real Deal is reporting that the Lebewohl family has finalized its purchase of 162 East 33rd Street -- the new site of the clan's hallowed Second Avenue Deli, which will now be closer to Third Avenue.

The new deli, which opens next week, will seat at least 75 people in a renovated space that was the site of a tapas restaurant. ...The old deli, which closed on Jan. 1, 2006, had 128 seats.

Ed Levine of SeriousEats.com last week called the deli's forthcoming resurrection "the most eagerly anticipated new restaurant opening of the year in New York."

But he wondered, "which Second Avenue Deli will it be: the deli that served the best all-around deli food, which is what it was when the late, beloved Abe Lebewohl was around, or the very good but not great deli it became after Abe was senselessly gunned down while making a bank deposit and his lawyer brother, Jack, took over?"

Perhaps neither. The new deli reportedly will be run by Abe's twenty-something nephews, Jeremy and Joshua Lebewohl. "The restaurant will operate 24/7," according to a recent Times Magazine story, "serving its same enormous menu."

UPDATE: A deli spokesperson has informed The Observer that, contrary to the Real Deal article, the hallowed eatery will not open next week.

Observer » Second Avenue Deli Opens Next Week Closer To Third Avenue (UPDATED)

Second Avenue Deli Opens Next Week Closer To Third Avenue (UPDATED)