While some of the places on this list have upheld the Kosher, strictly fish-and-dairy approach to the appetizing genre, most don’t adhere to this. Pastrami, corned beef, chopped liver and other carnivorous Jewish comfort foods historically had to be sourced at delicatessens, like Katz’s and 2nd Avenue Deli.
Historically, appetizing shops observed kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws outlining what’s considered Kosher, and only carry certain seafood (fish with scales no crawfish or bottom-feeding species, including bivalves and mollusks) and dairy items, but no meat, as mixing meat and dairy is verboten.
Appetizing shops are an NYC-bred tradition, opened in the late 1800s and early 1900s by Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants, most hailing from Eastern European countries.