Elbow Bread

Bakery · Chinatown

Elbow Bread

Bakery · Chinatown

1 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002

Highlights

Elbow Bread is a cozy Lower East Side bakery blending Jewish-American traditions with inventive twists, featuring delightful bialys, pretzels, and playful pastries.

1 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002 Get directions

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@elbowludlow

$10–20

@bonappetit

"Manhattan bakery by Zoë Kanan offering Jewish diaspora-inspired treats like sauerkraut-potato knishes and cider challah honey buns." - ByEmily Wilson

8 Restaurant Trends That Defined 2024 | Bon Appétit

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@eater

"Elbow Bread opened in a slender corner spot in the heart of Dimes Square, a partnership between celebrated baker Zoë Kanan and the Court Street Grocers team. The space itself might be small but it's packed with so much heart: Housemade bialys with caramelized onions, coconut cream sourdough danish, schmaltz scallion pocket, sandwiches, and more. Fan favorite pretzels, which have little hands dimpled on them, come out around 10 a.m." - Eater Staff

The Hottest Bakeries in New York City

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@infatuation

"From a baker who was formerly at bagel brunch specialist Sadelle’s, Elbow Bread is a gleaming little spot nestled in the crook of Ludlow and Canal streets. Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of Jewish American influences in their incredible pastries and breads. Take the sweet, sticky challah honey bun, for example, or a caramelized caraway rye palmier that’s just begging to be dunked in a rich black tea. Elbow excels at savory items: our favorite thing might be the dill-infused, crunchy-crusted potato knish, but we also like the bready scallion schmaltz pocket. You’ll find a few sandwiches, pretzels (after 12pm), and bialys with your choice of a whitefish salad or a white bean purée too. Don’t ignore the sweeter things though. The coconut danish is exquisite—with sweet cream and a light, crisp pastry—and its wishbone shape makes it an ideal candidate for sharing. Get there early. photo credit: Will Hartman photo credit: Will Hartman photo credit: Will Hartman" - Will Hartman

Elbow Bread - Review - Chinatown - New York - The Infatuation

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@eater

"Elbow Bread is a Jewish American bakery and sandwich shop set to debut at 1 Ludlow Street. It is a collaboration between baker Zoë Kanan and Court Street Grocers duo Eric Finkelstein and Matt Ross, located in the former Mel the Bakery space on the Lower East Side. The bakery will offer traditional Jewish pastries like onion bialys and knishes, as well as innovative items such as a schmaltz and scallion pocket and a revived Charlotte Russe cake. Unique to Elbow Bread, challah is used for creating laminated pastries like the savory sesame elbow and challah honey bun. The bakery will also serve beverages and a selection of sandwiches, but no bagels due to ventilation limitations. Elbow Bread aims to balance tradition with new techniques, drawing on Kanan’s extensive baking experience." - Devra Ferst

Elbow Bread Opens From Zoe Kanan and Court Street Grocers - Eater NY

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@davidcho

New hot Manhattan bakery, seems up your alley

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ili

Google

Nice little bakery with a cozy vibe, though a bit pricey for what you get. I really enjoyed the blueberry kolache and other pastries , fresh and flavorful. Some of the sweet options were a bit much for my taste, but overall good quality. The place is quite small with no seating, so it’s more of a grab-and-go spot. Staff were super friendly and helpful. Worth checking out if you're nearby, just maybe not a spot I'd line up for.

Lisa Williams

Google

Anyplace that has a buttered roll on the menu has already won my heart. The roll had a great crust and a thick pat of good quality butter. I also love a sesame coated anything. It was pretty darn delicious. I also got a Nori Chocolate Chip Cookie that had a great chew and was thinner and crispier than your average bakery cookie that seems to always think thicker is tastier. This cookie is also very good. The place was cute though small and the staff lovely as well. I'll go back whenever I'm in the area, and that says a lot...

Mandy Kuo

Google

Visited on a Sunday early afternoon. There were still many items left. Lots of options for savory bread and pastries. The sweet potato pretzel was surprisingly great, almost had similar texture like the German ones with chewy bite (much better than soft pretzels!). Got the scallion challah which had nice strong scallions just the bun didn't seem fully baked. The garlic bialy was quite greasy and had lots of roasted garlic. The challah croissant was good, not too sweet.

the bb

Google

One of the best bakeries in New York City currently excellent challah croissant, challah Pullman, donuts and bialys. The dressed bialy was delicious! Really pleasant kasha drink as a non-caffeinated beverage option. Line can get long so go early. No seating. Small area to stand.

Siena WD

Google

This place is not to be missed, and I'll point you toward a particular purchase: it's called elbow BREAD people, go where they're pointing you. Granted, I've only tried one of their loaves. They've also got a gorgeous looking challah and some sesame number and you're damn right I'll be back for those as soon as I've finished my Beautiful. Black. Sourdough. Look at that picture. Just look at it sitting there. It's adorable. And the wonderful person behind the counter wrapped it up all snug for me in some just-as-adorable paper. I think we should all be more embracing of whimsy, like l understand everything is terrible and robots are gonna wipe out thought and no one's gonna know anything anymore, but still there's space to enjoy these lovely little moments we get to have by being alive. For instance. We have snowfall and sweet mornings, we have toddling down to a bakery and smiling at window displays and buying a fresh loaf of bread from the kind people who made it, then tucking it under our arm, carrying it home. I couldn't be happier with my little loaf. It's not some bland, forgettable vessel bread, it's got flavor, character. The tartness and thin crust of a sourdough, the sweet, plush earthiness of a pumpernickel, and the dark sharp taste of a great rye. It's very versatile. Take it a sweet route with some fig jam, cheese and walnuts, or savory, like this stunning homemade sandwich you see here. A real elevation. Again, I know it's a mess out there, but people, we're still doing great things, there's still some day to day joys worth paying attention to. Like this place! I don't know. It's just special.

Julia Hsia

Google

New bakery in the area, nice staff with creative pastries and bread. Overall the price was slightly high. 🥛🧀🍊Marmalade & sheep cheese danish was sooo delicious! Kinda a guilty pastries but not too much. The bread part was crispy and moist; the filling had a rich flavor balanced between creamy cheese and sweet marmalade with a touch of sourness. Black bread tasted special but the texture was dull. It tasted plain but with a hint of grain.

Ruby Chan

Google

I found myself a big fan of jewish bread like bagels and bialys, so I was very excited to hit up Elbow Bread on the Lower East Side. They took over the old space of Mel Bakery (I miss them sm) last year, serving pretzels, bialys, challah and knishes in honor of the neighborhood’s Jewish immigrant history. I read mixed reviews online but I personally LOVED their bread!! I can totally see myself coming back for their pretzels and trying out other bread on their menu. Their staffs were very welcoming and energetic. ＊Salted Hug Sweet Potato Pretzel $7 ** The pretzel was super cute with little hands! It was still warm when I got it! You can pair it with honey mustard or cheese. The sweet and savory flavors were great, and the texture was spot-on. Slightly crunchy on the crust and fluffy on the inside. I’ll try the cinnamon sugar brown butter one next time. ＊Vegan Garlic Bread Bialy $6 *** Veganuary new item. I wish they will keep this garlic bread bialy on their regular menu! The bread was so fluffy, generously spread with garlic herb butter. Very garlicky. ＊Malted Almond Elbow $7 ** The toasted almond was addictive. I found some salt at the bottom which elevated the overall flavor profile. The swirled pastry was biscuit-like and very crunchy. ＊Bialy with Whitefish Schmear $9 The caramelized onion on top was too savory for my taste. The whitefish schmear was yummy at the first few bites but it got saltier after. ＊Kasha Latte $7 I was so curious about kasha latte, which was actually buckwheat latte made with almond milk. It was like unsweetened cereal milk with some crunch. Just a note that it was also a decaffinated drink. ＊Strawberry Pretzel Heart $8 I loved their regular sweet potato pretzels. This vday special flavor was not only pretty but also very delicious. It was brushed with strawberry glaze, and topped with pink sugar. The texture of the pretzel was soft with a slight crunch on the crust. 10000/10. They gave us a small tub of strawberry cream cheese frosting and OMG, it deserved my highest compliment: not too sweet! The dip was so creamy, making it a double strawberry treat.

Aja Brandman

Google

Waited about 15 min on Sunday around 1, which isn’t so bad. It’s definitely close quarters once you get inside since the display case is right next to the front door (feel like it would be better to switch the counter set up for better flow). Staff was very nice and patient. I tried the nori chocolate chip cookie after hearing good things and I was a little underwhelmed. The texture and consistency of the cookie is great (slight crunch with chew), but I was expecting more of a salty brine with the nori and only felt like I got the oceany brine.

@bonappetit

"Manhattan bakery by Zoë Kanan offering Jewish diaspora-inspired treats like sauerkraut-potato knishes and cider challah honey buns." - ByEmily Wilson

8 Restaurant Trends That Defined 2024 | Bon Appétit

View Postcard for Elbow Bread

@eater

The Hottest Bakeries in New York City

View Postcard for Elbow Bread

@infatuation

Elbow Bread - Review - Chinatown - New York - The Infatuation

View Postcard for Elbow Bread

@eater

Elbow Bread Opens From Zoe Kanan and Court Street Grocers - Eater NY

View Postcard for Elbow Bread

@davidcho