Second Avenue Deli

Photograph: David Rosenzweig

If the trend of soaring rents pushing out beloved New York businesses (not to mention residents) is bumming you out, take comfort in the tale of the intrepid Second Avenue Deli. (Oh, and a bowl of the matzo ball soup probably wouldn’t hurt either.) Unable to meet the rent hike at its longtime East Village location in early 2006, the eatery’s sandwiches and gratis pickles and coleslaw seemed destined to go the way of Lutèce and the Quilted Giraffe. But the 24-hour kosher oasis, founded in 1954, resettled in Murray Hill last December. Now the restaurant’s future looks as solid as its artery-clogging kishke. The kids probably won’t go for that traditional dish once they find out what it is (stuffed cow derma), so steer them toward old favorites like noodle pudding, supermoist brisket and fruit blintzes with sweet maple syrup, or new options like mini-burgers and franks-in-blankets, any of which tots can wash down with a tall glass of fountain-pulled chocolate soda. The famed deli sandwiches are large enough to split among three children or two adults; they arrive with a basket of extra rye bread that makes divvying up the house-cured corned beef (superior to the pastrami and salami) as easy as gobbling it down.

—Julia Israel

162 E 33rd St between Lexington and Third Aves (212-689-9069, 2ndavedeli.com). Average main course: $14.