Eli’s Essentials

New York, United States

2.4

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 212-348-4940
Website:
www.elizabar.com
Address:
1291 Lexington Ave, New York, NY, 10028
b/t 86th St & 87th St
Upper East Side
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
180 ft86th St / Lexington Ave
200 ft86th Street (4,5,6)
0.2 mi86th St / Madison Ave
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
No
Attire
Casual
Noise Level
Quiet
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
No
Caters
Yes
Good for Working
No

Today

Today 7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Open now
Local time (New York) 11:13 Saturday, 28 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday 7:00 am – 9:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Grab & go café with bread, pastries, sandwiches, juices, salad bar, hot soups, prepared foods, and others.

Perfect for a delicious breakfast /​lunch /​dinner or even just a snack at any point in the day!

History

Established in 1973.

This is a little gem of a store where you could easily find yourself three times a day. There’s hot oatmeal for breakfast, a salad bar and a soup bar, good options for dinner, and, of course, loaves of fresh Eli’s bread delivered throughout the day.

Meet the Business Owner

Eli Z.

Business Owner

While the name Zabar is synonymous with smoked fish and the quintessential New York brunch, Eli Zabar envisioned a different kind of food store from his family’s West Side landmark delicatessen. Inspired by the food halls and the markets of London and Paris, Eli has become an institution on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, directly across town from the store and home where he grew up.

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20 reviews of Eli’s Essentials

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Place rating: 5
New York, NY
are most items weirdly overpriced? yes. but the coffee is cheap and delicious – $ 1.65 for a small – and the decorated shortbread cookies are worth it. come for those two alone.
Place rating: 3
Astoria, Queens, NY
Questionable pricing for the quality and portions, but DAMN that chicken liver sandwich is good.
Place rating: 1
Beverly Hills, CA
We bought a small $ 17 lemon cake for a dinner party and it was inedible, so dry you couldn’t even swallow it. Total waste of money. $ 4 from the grocery store would have been 10 X better.
Place rating: 5
SoHo, Manhattan, NY
I had 2 ham and cheese croissants, yes, two, because they were freaking amazing. I sat in the window sipping the house coffee and doing a bit of work. This place gives off good vibes and I am glad i didn’t settle for starbucks or something else commercially bougie and overvalued.
The prices here are pretty acceptable, even by non-​manhattan standards. The manager constantly walks around and makes sure customers are happy.
This place made my Thursday.
Place rating: 1
New York, NY
Most expensive scramble egg one can buy for breakfast. Does not list price. Charging ppl ridiculous amount of money
Place rating: 3
New York, NY
Costly for certain gift items. Fresh every day. Something for everyone! This location has a couple tables to sit. It’s really grab and go. Great food buffet daily for prepared meals to go!
Too bad this wasn’t here when I lived two doors from this corner! I still make it a point to stop and shop when I walk by!
Love all of Eli’s products. I especially love the bread!
Place rating: 1
Brooklyn, NY
2 bland Chicken salad sandwiches (pre-​made), 1 chicken Florentine (pre-​made), and 1 soda = $ 30.
They don’t post their prices — probably because they’re so overpriced.
Be forewarned — go one block down to the bagel store and better food at ½ the price.
Place rating: 1
New York, NY
Obscenely expensive. Fifiteen dollars for the salad bar. Thirty two dollars for roast tu
Place rating: 3
Bronx, NY
Super expensive …
2 oz babka for 3.81 $.
1.63 for boiled egg (insane).
But i guess this is just flagship store… they have massive wholesale business …
Plus they are depend on super whealthy focus.
Make story short.
I will get better value for my money somewhere else.
Place rating: 1
Manhattan, NY
My friend picked up two sandwiches at Eli’s on Labor Day. I found a nickel-​sized piece of rock hard plastic in my mozzarella and prosciutto sandwich. So I shared the other, tomato mozzarella sandwich with my friend and we both ended up with food poisoning which cost both of us a day of work.
As a result, I’m very concerned about the food preparation practices of this store, and urge caution to future patrons.
Place rating: 3
New York, NY
A wonderful little place to get reasonably priced basked goods and coffee.
It has recently become my place to pick up chocolate croissants and cheese danishes to bring to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Then I have them with a cup of coffee there
Place rating: 5
Manhattan, NY
The breads are so good, it’s like being transported to Paris! The staff is awesome and take tender care wrapping the bread! The fruit is too over pricey and the salad bar is too! So just stick to the bread and maybe one or two lettuce leaves!
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Dropped by this place a few days ago. All I can say is, wow! The window display of fresh breads and pastries is what sucked me in, but the packaged sandwiches and self-​service bar is what sealed the deal for me. Everything looks delicious! I had a tuna sandwich, and the rice pudding was OVER THE MOON. This place is not cheap by any means, but a good place for a nice lunch or date. This will be one of my go-​to places when visiting NYC.
Place rating: 2
Manhattan, NY
Holy crap is this place expensive. $ 2 for a single hard boiled egg. Yeah you read that right. I got one little chicken parmigiana for almost $ 10. I think i would have gotten better food at an actual sit down restaurant. It is definitely not worth the prices.
Place rating: 1
Manhattan, NY
If you want sticker shock served up with an attitude, here’s your place. Overpriced, even for the neighborhood with clueless people working.
All of the Eli’s are run the same way, so I’m not sure why I thought this would be any different. What a shame.
Place rating: 1
Seattle, WA
I was captivated by the baked goods in the glass window when I walked by but sadly I was disappointed by their chocolate donut. For $ 2.95 you’d expect it to be pretty damn good but I’ve actually had a better chocolate donut at whole foods that was half the price. The donut was not only barely chocolatey but the dough itself was bland and dry. Looks are deceiving, folks.
Place rating: 2
Santa Monica, CA
Food is five stars, no question. Everything else about this store is almost a satire of itself:
1) Three chocolate covered Oreos — $ 6.95. Really? Maybe it was four, maybe not. Either way. Ridiculous. They dipped a boxed cookie in chocolate. The cocoa beans were obviously harvested by gentle gold-​winged fairies.
2) One very small container of shrimp salad that contains 5 shrimp — $ 12.95. I’m stupid, but not that stupid.
3) One, yes ONE, manicotti (about 4 inches long) — $ 8. Wait… did I really just pay that? Oh, yes, I did — by accident. Word to the wise: avoid the salad bar.
4) And, drumroll, please!!! My favorite: a very small cup of Jell-​O — $ 3.95.
I would be more likely to white-​knuckle it through these prices because the food is great, but the customer service is abysmal. On no fewer than three occasions, I have overheard the manager disrespectfully treat employees and employees barking back at him. The cashiers can barely be bothered because my wanting to pay them takes away from their chit-​chat with each other.
Again, I cannot overemphasize how good the food is! It is! But, really, Eli. Really.
Place rating: 1
Brooklyn, NY
If way over-​priced food (prices are insulting), unfriendly service and cramped quarters are your thing, then this is the place for you.
I won’t be returning.
Place rating: 2
New York, NY
Be prepared to hand over your rent and first born to be able to afford this place!
Dropped in this new outpost of the Eli’s chain of NYC markets and fooderies that seem to be all around the UES now. Good lawd are they kidding with these prices? Hey Eli, not everyone who lives up here is mega rich like Mayoro Bloombito! Get over yourself already.
This is in a good spot for those heading to the 86th street subway station and looking to pick up a coffee or morning pastry. Basically a grab and go shop. Lots of breads, sandwiches, pastries, soups, coffee, and other high priced upscale food items targeting the uppity UES and baby carriage crowd. Not for this working stiff from the wrong side of Lexington Ave!
I’ll stick with the coffee stands, bodegas, and Green Café Deli across the street from them where I won’t feel as if I had just gotten mugged walking into it.
Place rating: 2
New York, NY
Oh, for God’s sake. If the über-​expensive Eli’s juggernaut can’t get THIS right, I don’t know that there’s much hope.
It’s a cute little grab-​and-​go on the way to the 4÷5÷6 train. Salad bar, bread, sandwiches, soup, pastries, sushi, and miscellaneous «gourmet-​ish» fare. And coffee, obviously.
Everything is insanely expensive, some things almost comically so. For the price of a plastic bag containing several dice-​size pastries, you could buy a filling lunch elsewhere.
A mini-​loaf of corn bread was $ 6.95. And it was sprouting mold.
The cashier looked mortified when I pointed it out to her, so I guess that’s something.