Moishe's Kosher Bakery

Service is 💯 I don’t review often, but this experience was worth it. I came in looking for rainbow cakes, and then realized I only had my phone and could pay with tap/Apple Pay, but they only take cash. So Shirley, the sweet and wise Jewish woman behind the counter, gave me the cakes and said she trusts that I’d get her the money. The way she said it was so kind and of course I went on a mission to find my debit card, go to an ATM and yaddah yaddah it all worked out. Thank you Shirley for old school hospitality and neighborliness.

I had the pleasure of visiting Moishe’s Kosher Bakery on the Lower East Side, introduced by a congregant at the Bialystoker Synagogue, and I have to say, their babkas are hands down the best I’ve ever had. I brought one back to Los Angeles just in time for Shabbat and it was a game-changer—perfectly rich and full of flavor. I also picked up two black and white cookies, which were some of the best I’ve ever tasted, and paired it with a strong black coffee. The friendly, heimish cashier really made the experience complete. The cash-only policy? Definitely a tell-tale sign of a great, no-frills establishment. With Jewish life on the Lower East Side changing, Moishe’s is a true gem that continues to preserve the quality and tradition we all cherish. Highly recommend making the trip and experiencing it firsthand!

I visited this place during my visit to NYC, don’t judge the place by appearance/ambience, their all the baked sweet items are worth trying. They do sell everything on weight, so it is possible to try many items by just taking small portion (20 to 50 grms each). The old lady at front counter is so nice and warm welcoming.

I had something mysterious and onion-y that I liked here. Challah rolls were also above average.

such an amazing bakery with incredibly delicious kosher babka, hamantaschen, strudel, challah, cakes and various other treats and pastries ❤️

I came to Moishe’s Kosher Bakery for the first time yesterday to grab a collection of treats for my birthday and they completely went above and beyond. They gave me their freshest cakes, an assortment of sprinkled cookies and the best B&W cookies I have ever had! And they were so thoughtful and kind throughout. I will definitely be coming back!

The best hamentashen. You can't go wrong with the chocolate and cinnamon babka as well as other pastries. Long running traditional Lower East Side establishment.

Don't judge this place on it's appearance..... The baked goods are so good!! I got the pull apart Challah and it was so good! I still have a couple rolls left and they still taste great! The black and white cookie was good but the butter cookie with jam and chocolate.... Oh my goodness! Probably the best I've ever had! Definitely recommend you trying this place! I'll definitely be back next week 😁

Thanks for the HAPPY birthday cake it's completely delicious and yummy for all my friends and family by my birthday party's and for anything special

In a far corner of a Lower East Side neighborhood, is a remant of a once thriving Jewish community. Moishes still serves up black and white cookies, long associated with bakeries past. This is an outlet of the larger main store that was on Second Avenue Sadly that store is long gone. An elderly woman conversing with local residents got behind the counter to ask me how much of the checkered chocolate layer cake I wanted as I gave her a signal of where to cut a piece of the loaf for me. I am so happy.

What a hoot, a real old-fashioned kosher bakery on the lower far east side that we came across on a day of aimlessly wandering places we haven't explored. We went in, and all I was looking for was a good seeded rye. I'm partial to Zabar's rye but am not often on the UWS any more. Got that rye, but also walked out having bought half a cinnamon babka (one of my faves) and a humongous prune hamantaschen. The woman behind the counter reminded me of my paternal Grandma ( who was in her late 80s when she passed away in 1972!), short with wavy silver hair and an indeterminate Yiddish (?) accent. Real old world, opinionated! She insisted that the chocolate babka was much better than the cinnamon and ultimately cut off a sliver for us to taste. Tasted like chocolate babka! Very good, but I prefer my cinnamon, thank you. So I got a little lecture on cinnamon; she uses it "for medicine." Every morning, apparently, she had cinnamon and turmeric and ginger and I forget what other herb or spice, mixed in hot water. Then she drinks it very fast because it doesn't taste good but it's healthy. I politely smiled, but inside I was laughing and really enjoying this darling old lady (& I'm no spring chicken!). Our total came to $12.89 and my husband gave her $13.00 cash. He told her to keep the change, and she said, 11 cents, I'll give it to charity. And she will; that's a typical thing to do, put the change in a designated box for charity. Altogether a fun throwback to our childhoods in the Bronx, and this will be a destination for a future walk so we can try some of the other Jewish treats that we almost never have any more!

Delicious, authentic Jewish pastries. Same woman working in front as was there when I lived on LES-40+ years ago and adds up cost of purchase on paper, as she did then. No computer or calculator. Store itself can use a remodeling, but then it wouldn't be unique.

Moi she's Bakery is the last of the Mohicans of real Jewish bakeries on the Lower East Side. Alongside of getting the standard challah bread, onion rye, and rolls, they have apricot and prune hamantaschen, and you should see the longer tart cookies, chocolate babka, Rugelach, and rainbow cookies!! My new favorite thing is the chocolate roll with vanilla cream -- MMMmmm good!! GO!!! They are religious so they close early!!

I love old school bakeries and throw backs to old New York but this place did NOT deliver figuratively and literally. We popped in for some Sunday danish and what we got tasted like it was baked on Tuesday. It was so stale it totally crumbled. The icing chipped off. 2.75 per danish - they had cheese and fruit. I think we got raspberry but it was so old I honestly couldn't tell. They need to circulate the danish and throw out the old ones.

Best chocolate babka in NYC. Plus, the staff has a lot of razzle dazzle banter and gossip. It's fun and yum.

Mrs. Schreiber's recipes bring me back to my childhood. I met the kindest neighbors and enjoyed the chocolate Mandelbrot and the cherry Hamantashcen.

I highly recommend the chocolate bells! I became a fan from when I grew up in The Bronx off of 170 Street, when it was still a diverse ethnic community in the 60's and there still a real pickle barrel store and Kosher bakeries and Kosher delicatessen's that sold real genuine square potato knishes where the outside was crispy and the inside was perfectly mashed. Moishes is the only bakery in Manhattan that sells the chocolate bells, once you taste it, you'll never want anything else

UPDATE: Not a single thing has changed here. I get better baked goods in a grocery store. No joke.

It's definitely a worn in bakery with no bells or whistles to speak of, but for a timeless kosher treat that won't set you back much, Moishes does the trick. They're probably most well known for their black and white cookies, though you'll find all the classic jewish baked goods on their shelves. Cash only, so don't even think of flashing a credit card.

Every single person in this establishment is unmasked at all times, and the elderly woman working there this evening demanded I remove my face mask before ordering. Unacceptable. The pandemic is still going strong, and no one should ever be told to remove their mask.

Moishe's has THE best Babka this side of, well, ANYTHING! We call it "Babka Crack" in our house. And the Rugelach? AMZING! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.

Lady behind the counter you are always cranky, unfriendly and gruff. I can buy challah elsewhere. Last time I shop here.

I loved the location on Second Ave. which had a bakery in the back but this is nothing like that. God knows when and where the goods are baked but they're stale and/or wrapped in plastic.

I love this old school kosher bakery! If you love chocolate babka and/or giant hamantashen, this is your place! I'm not a fan of the big black and white cookies and all the other kinds, but they look good.

I am startled to see any complimentary comments about Moishes on Grand Street. Here is why. Upon entering the bakery a couple of weeks ago, I told the woman behind the counter that I was looking for seeded rye bread. She said she only had 1/2 of a loaf left, and I said that's fine. She proceeded to put it into a bag for me, and tell me how much I owed her. I asked her to please wait a moment, and let me see the bread. She pushed the bag towards me and walked away. When I took the loaf out, what I found was unbelievable. The bread was as hard as a rock, and that is an understatement. I put it back on the counter, and told her I have no interest in purchasing bread that is clearly inedible. She didn't respond, just stood with her back to me. The next thing I saw told me everything you want to know about this bakery. The woman tore off a piece of cake from one of the trays on the shelf, and with her bare hands, proceeded to eat, wipe the crumbs from her mouth with her fingers and put the cake back on the tray. The city is filled with some wonderful kosher bakeries. Save your health and your money. Moishes on Grand Street is not one of them. Shame on them, twice.

We were on a custom lower east side Jewish food tour. A lady at a bus stop over heard me talk about kosher food. She recommended to go to Moishe's at 504 Grand. This place is wonderful. Nostalgic with the string hanging down. The store looks like it bakes fresh and sells out what they have. We were full at the time so I purchased the Apple Strudel that I saw in the window. DELICIOUS and the value is wonderful. The texture was so moist and not too sweet. We needed directions and the man behind the counter was perfect, tells us our best route to the subway. On the way we walked past the Yiddish Newspaper the Forward. WOW.

ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE...IT'S the only bakery around. So there's no competition I would like to see a another business...bakery or someone who bakes fresh every day. Everything in this store is shipped in....it's not good when there's no competition.......Looking for a good bakery!!!!!!

After scouring NYC for the best chocolate babka, we heard a tip that Moishe's Kosher Bakery was the best. Seriously? I've been lugging home 20 pounds of Dean & Deluca chocolate babka back to Hawaii for the last 15 years! Then when chocolate babka appeared on the cover of Food & Wine magazine January 2016 issue and Bon Appetit declared "chocolate babka is the new bagel" in February 2016, I thought "oh no! Now everyone in the U.S. will be buying NYC chocolate babka and I won't have enough to bring back to Hawaii!" (babka is unheard of in the islands). But then an amazing thing happened...suddenly chocolate babka was everywhere in the city! Sadelle's on West Broadway ($20/loaf), Bouchon at Columbus Circle ($3.50/slice), even near the checkout counter at Fine & Fresh corner supermarket! We however are very serious about our chocolate babka. Dean & Deluca's loaf was our gold standard (they raised the price over the years to its current price of $14.95). Then last weekend, we thought we hit the jackpot when we discovered the most delicious chocolate babka at Kossar's (a Jewish institution since 1936) at only $9.50 a loaf. But then we happened to be strolling past Moishe's this morning and discovered it was open! Their tiny bakery looked closed forever when we past by on Saturday. We took home their chocolate babka ($9.25 a loaf) and our Jewish friend was right, Moishe's is the BEST!

Delicious chocolate babka (bought a loaf--loved how it gets wrapped old skool with string) and B&W cookies. People there couldn't have been nicer. Display cases are groaning with goodies. Go.

Disappointing. I purchased an apricot hamentaschen. It was filled with orange colored sugar confection - not a drop of apricot. Disappointed. Not to return.

Been buying bread and sweets from here for almost 2 decades, I'm still a big fan of their rainbow cakes and black & white cookies.

I've only been to this location a couple of times. I usually go the Moishes on 2nd Ave. I've heard they are in the same family, but I don't know. I did notice a difference in the pastries. They are both good. I only got a hamentaschen here this time around. Friendly service, not sure why they have a lot of low ratings. Items looked fresh, and there were quite a few people in there when I visited.

In NYC for a work assignment. I arrive on the Jewish holiday of Purim, early in the morning, after celebrating a festive Purim eve with my congregation in Maryland. I am meeting with colleagues whom I've never met in person although we've been working together for weeks. So I want to bring them some Purim treats. I arrive at Penn Station and take the subway to the lower east side, near NYU, and walk straight to Moishe's bakery. It's like something from a forgotten time. Totally old fashioned. Married couple running the place. Signs on paper and cardboard. Boxes wrapped up with white string. I purchased a box of hamentaschen, the traditional Purim pastry, and a couple of large slices of chocolate babka (who sells babka by the slice other than these guys?) and another pastry, and I walk to meet my colleagues at work. We devour the baked goods. Perfect. Delicious. I want more. Prices are reasonable, service was excellent, and the atmosphere seriously like from decades ago and charming. I can't wait to return!

The service is rude. The food wasn't fresh or tasty the 2 times I've tried (near my neighborhood). I would never go again.

This bakery is awesome! I stopped by while visiting the Tenement Museum (also awesome) and got the chocolate bell. It was so good I stopped on the way back and got another! Aside from the amazing bell I talked to the workers there and that was such a treat. They were incredibly friendly (so rare around here!) and they explained to me all about kosher foods and baked goods. I met three different workers there on both occasion and they were each just as kind-hearted. Definitely stop by. It is such a unique space. I love it.

This bakery has been here since I was a child.I do believe he owns the bldg,& not interested in remodeling. This bakery hasn't changed its interior since I've been 5 yrs old.Im now over 40. The only change is the size of the pastries are smaller including the danishes, so bring a magnifying glass,but expect to pay a high price. Not worth it. Use to be excellent.I no longer visit,found a better place in Queens.NY

Sigh to the fading NYC.... there will never be another place quite like Moishes. Brings a tear to my eye that I will never have cigars or chocolate babka like that again outside of Europe. My go to place since I was a kid. It was a sad day when they abruptly closed. Of course the space has now been taken over by some generic, run of the mill, corporate chain bakery pushing their bland, over priced fare. So much for culture.

I feel so mothered when I come in here. I know I wrote about my surrogate Jewish mom at East Broadway Kosher. But things have changed. I have a new mom now. The dark-haired lady who works here is really sweet and insisted on feeding me samples on a recent visit. One was the tsibele kichel, oily little dough squares topped with onions and poppy seeds, only available on Thursdays and Fridays. Like focaccia run over with a roller, drizzled with oil and baked again. Addictive would be putting it lightly. Get a bag, grab a beer and you're in business. I was also fed a spicy egg and potato kugel, sold by the slab. It's a great snack for a packed lunch. I crave savory more often than sweet, but the cinnamon sticks keep me coming back too. A finger-shaped cinnamon roll with a crystallized, sugary cinnamon crust on the bottom. Bakery surrogate mom made fun of me when I said I only wanted four, and told me she could finish four in a minute. Aside from a matronly desire to fatten me up and teach me Yiddish names of baked goods, doting mockery is an important trait to look for in a bakery surrogate mother. I asked if one of the pumpernickel loaves I saw had raisins. "Well I can confirm that your eyes are still good honey," she said. "How much would you like?"

I love this place! Genuine and real old school. Yes -- they get their goods from other bakeries, but that's a plus -- they source the best stuff from the best places. The best bread bakery rarely has equally good pastries and visa versa; this place has the best of all of them.

A lovely remnant of the old Lower East Side in its heyday. The staff and the baked goods are a real taste of the old world. They don't take credit cards, but they really dole out a sense of history. Nothing packaged and preserved about these cookies and breads. And where else can you get Corn Bread (or Corn Rye?)

Their mandel bread, both the plain and the marbled, is excellent. Whenever I visit New York I go to the Lower East Side just to buy the mandel bread. Their babka is also great.

Generic baked goods - taste factory-made. If you were to throw one of their hamantashens at a dog you could really hurt it. The old lady behind the counter was really sweet though. I just wish she baked the stuff the way a grandmother from the old country would.

This place has the best rye bread in the world. seeded or unseeded, there is no better rye bread anywhere.

Alll I can say is Yum! The cookies are relish and the people behind the counter are so nice.

Moishe's was a rare serendipity that visited me while I was waiting on a mechanic at a bicycle shop nearby. The atmosphere and hospitality was enough to make me want to return, and then you get to have their amazing pastries. Maybe I just haven't had better, but I thought their hamantaschen were the best I've ever had.

the place is filthy............I stopped going in there for a while because the quality seemed to be going down hill.........the last straw was when I bought a seeded rye, which USED to have a crisp crust and soft, fresh inside.......well I should have known.......the man who waited on me took a rye out of a plastic bag it was in on the shelf and put it on the slicing machine........WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT.........never again.........

I've been to this bakery at least 20 times, whenever I visit my friend who lives along FDR Drive. I've been meaning to write this review, but it's only now that I've been able to make it, as I usually forget to write down details of their location. The place actually looks somewhat rundown, but you'd be surprised by their offerings. My friend was the one who introduced me to this bakery which was not looking interesting the first time we went there; but I soon have realized they've got one of the best tasting bread products in NYC, I'll SAY without reservation. Very rich, traditionally baked and prepared; a bit pricey, but well worth the money. I just feel somewhat "looked down" by the people on their counter, perhaps because I looked different & with a different accent, i.e. an Asian versus them who are attired in conservative Jewish attire (fascinating to look at, actually)...don't really know, but i'd still say they're one of the best among bakeries around in the city.

The other Moishe's bakery -- not the best rugelach, but so much better than at Moishe's in the EV. Friendly owners.

the bakery needs a total remolding. its old and doesnt look as clean as it should be, but their fresh rye bread is delicious, and some of the cakes are good,