Zabar's

Zabar's (pronounced Zay'- bars) is a specialty food store at 2245 Broadway and 80th Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, founded by Louis Zabar. It is one of the best known commercial landmarks of the neighborhood, and is known for its selection of bagels, smoked fish, olives, and cheeses (see appetizing store). Zabar's is frequently referenced in popular culture; it is featured in the 2014 film Banksy Does New York, it is mentioned in the 1998 film You've Got Mail, the 2009 TV series V and episodes of Northern Exposure, Will & Grace, Dream On, "The Green Inferno, How I Met Your Mother, Mad About You, Friends, Sex and the City, Broad City, The Nanny, Seinfeld, The West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, 30 Rock, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Hart of Dixie, Castle, Pardon the Interruption, Law & Order and Gossip Girl.

History

Louis Zabar (1901–1950) came to the United States through Canada from Ukraine, Soviet Union, in the early 1920s. His father, also a merchant, had earlier been murdered in a pogrom in Ukraine. Louis first lived in Brooklyn, where he rented a stall in a farmer's market. He married Lillian Teitlebaum (1905–1995) on May 2, 1927 and they had three children: Saul Zabar (born in 1929); Stanley Zabar; and Eli Zabar. Lillian had come to America by herself and settled with relatives in Philadelphia. She moved to New York City and met Louis Zabar, whom she knew from their village in Ukraine. Louis Zabar died in 1950 and was then the owner of 10 markets. After the death of Louis, Lillian married Louis Chartoff (1900–1978). From 1960 to 1994, brothers Stanley and Saul Zabar partnered and co-owned Zabar's with Murray Klein, who joined the store in 1953, but was not a member of the Zabar family. Klein officially retired from the store in 1994 and died on December 6, 2007, in New York City.