Shopsin’s
“It was really nice to see Kenny and to eat his delicious creations (also made by his lovely kids).”
“so we ordered macncheese pancakes, blueberry ricotta pancakes, chinese blisters on my sisters and the plate that had a fried steak.”
“I followed the lineman's advice and added the house-made hot sauce to my maple syrup atop these cakes, and…”
Shopsin’s
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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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!
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.
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
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.
My first time back in over four years! The shop is exactly as I remembered. Got super lucky when we stopped by that it was opened since I know that it has very selective hours. I have fond memories of the mac and cheese pancakes and was super excited to have my friend try it for the first time.
If you're a first timer you will definitely be overwhelmed by the menu! It's packed with yummy deliciousness. I get a little nervous just looking at it but everything sounds unique and delicious. I have tried bits of other dishes and everything has wowed me. They are truly creative!
I got the mac and cheese pancake and it came out exactly as I remembered. I am more into sweet and the pancake goes really well with syrup. The pancake tasted good and exactly as I remembered. Cheesy goodness. I do think that it is quite heavy and I only had one pancake!
I think the next time I will definitely be trying something else on the menu. I noticed other people eating breakfast sandwiches and they looked amazing.
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 fiance 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!
Ok, 300+ menu items I would've loved to try, but my first visit (and unfortunately, my last visit) was totally off-putting that I will not be returning. My friends and I love trying new places, and immediately after seeing Shopsin's menu online, I was hooked. My friends and I came here on a Thursday around 11:45am. There were a few people, some empty tables. My friend told the waiter that we had 3 people in the party (forgetting that we in fact had 4 people). We pushed two tables together to create 4 seats. One of our friends was running late and so we were waiting for him. When the waiter came over to take our orders, we told him that we were waiting for one more person, and he made a big fuss about how we initially told him that it was a party of 3, when it was really 4. He informed us that we would not be able to order without the 4th person. He also felt compelled to be-rate us with a speech that he wouldn't have seated us had he known that there was a 4th person that wasn't there yet. Rule #1: Cannot sit or order until everyone in the party has arrived (even when there are empty seats). He also made it explicitly clear that we were not allowed to have a 5th person join us (as they do not serve a party larger than 4 people). Ok. Rule #2: Does not serve a party of more than 4 people.
Finally, my friend arrives and we order. We ask for suggestions since the menu is 300+ items and we ask what is a popular item. He sarcastically responds and says, "I can't be held responsible for what you order." Rule #3: Don't ask your waiter for recommendations. My friend loved the decor and he points his phone at the kitchen, and immediately the kitchen crew starts yelling at him to not take a picture. Rule #4: No photos. I have no idea how some of the other Yelpers stole a photo. Rule #5: Cash only. This one I knew from reading other reviews. There are more rules, but I'd rather not list anymore. I'm sure they make up more rules as they think of them and not tell customers until the situation arises. The prices are high. For example, $5 for a pancake and $6 for a piece of french toast. I'm not coming back. Are any of these rules explicitly listed somewhere? It was such an unpleasant dining experience. Bye Felicia!
Came here out of a whim to try the Mac and cheese pancakes. My friend and I were about to grab lunch in the area and we decided to try this first when we passed by the store.
We wanted to share one since we weren't planning to eat a lot but the server said "no you have to order at least one each, most people get two or three" Not the best attitude…
The pancakes were delicious and I'm still thinking about them now. Would love to try the waffle next.
Also, their menu is HUGE and overwhelming.