Candy, Pickles, Donuts and More Down in the Lower East Side
A few blocks east of the trendy neighborhood of soho lies a place with loads of history and culture and plenty of cheap eats. It's a neighborhood that is quickly becoming gentrified and more and more people are starting to live there. In this blog, I am going to talk about three places out of several others that are well known on the Lower East Side.
To get to the Lower East Side, you have several options. The general area is served by the NYC Subway F,J,M and Z trains. So you will have no trouble getting over here especially from Midtown Manhattan.
If you guys love candy, well this place is for you. Economy Candy located at 108 Rivington St is by far the best candy store in NYC. It's way better than the touristy Dylan's Candy Bar uptown. Even though Dylan's is big and has a nice selection, Economy Candy is just more edgy and older. Anyway back to Economy Candy. Since 1937, this place has been selling decent quality candy as well as candy dating back to even the 50's and earlier for low prices. Just be careful because some of the candy they sell can be illigally patented. It's always best to get the original candy and not something with arabic letters on it (I bought a Kit Kat bar with arabic letters on it). It's just safer to get the real american brands because the candies with different languages on the wrappers can have well... you never know what they're made with or how they made them blah blah blah. But it's an awesome place and definitely worth going to even when you are not in the area.
After you've satisfied your sweet tooth, walk a few blocks down Essex Street to satisfy your sour tooth at simply The Pickle Guys at 49 Essex Street. This basement like room of salty, briny goodness does not just sell pickles, they sell pickled vegetables and olives as well. I personally like the full sour pickles, but which ever pickles you prefer, get them and they will be fantastic. And they're so cheap! You can get 4 pickles for like 2 bucks. So they're like 50 cents a pickle. Not bad eh? And everything is stored in barrels just pointing that out.
Just in case you didn't get enough junk food for one day, head over to Doughnut Plant at 379 Grand Street. This is not a Dunkin Donuts type place. In fact, that place can have a much greater effect on your health than Doughnut Plant, but I won't get into that. They don't have munchkins or anything like that. What they do have however are excellent doughnuts. They have several different flavors to choose from, ranging from chocolate to peanut butter and jelly and even Creme Brulee. The great thing is that the doughnuts actually taste exactly like the pure ingredients they're made with. When you take a bite out of one of these doughnuts, you will say, and I know I say this a lot, but you will say that these are the best damn doughnuts you've ever eaten.
The Lower East Side of Manhattan is rich in history and as well has some great culinary delights. So while you're sampling the history, check out these places and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
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