Saul Zabar, an icon of New York City’s food culture, died Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 97.
Saul and Stanley Zabar, along with longtime partner Murray Klein, ran Zabar’s appetizing store, a culinary institution on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The Zabar brothers took it over from their parents, Louis and Lillian Zabar, who opened their first outpost of what would become the family business in 1934.
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Zabar’s was so successful that, over the years, it transformed from five smaller shops spread across the Upper West Side to one large business occupying roughly 20,000 square feet on Broadway and 80th Street, employing more than 200 people. Gourmet foods dominate the shop’s first floor, and cooking and kitchen equipment take up the second floor. It remains a family-run operation.
The store is well known for its wide range of gourmet fare. At sprawling counters, customers can select from a variety of cheeses, meats, coffees, baked goods and – of course – smoked fish. Aisles in the store are frequently packed with eager customers.
At the heart of it all is the Zabar family.
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In a 2022 interview with CBS Mornings, the brothers talked about the business.
“My father was tough, working hard. He wanted to Saul to be his right hand ma, and Saul didn’t want anything until he died,” Stanley Zabar said.
“We were at odds until he died, because he was demanding of me things I didn’t want to be,” Saul Zabar said.
They carried on the legacy, now for four generations.
Saul Zabar was involved in all aspects of the business. In a video posted on YouTube, he explained his involvement in getting the store’s coffee business going – it now sells more than 400,000 pounds of coffee a year.
“When I first got married, I got interested in coffee and coffee roasting and coffee buying,” he said. “Eventually, we found people here, and we taught them this business, because this gourmet business didn’t exist.”
“My father’s legacy lives on in every bagel, every slice of smoked fish, every cup of coffee, and in the countless conversations that fill our store each day,” said his daughter Annie Zabar. “He poured his heart into this place—just as he did into every pot of coffee he brewed—and his influence will always guide us.”
“His two passions were coffee and fish,” Zabar’s general manager Scott Goldshine said. “Saul’s really the guy that started all the gourmet coffee way, way, way before Starbucks.”
Goldshine said that even at 97, he was working.
“There was nothing he didn’t put his hands in, and as a result, off of the people who are here this long, we all have Saul inside of us at this point. All the good stuff is inside of us,” Goldshine said. “Saul was a great man. Like a father to everybody in the store. Every employee here is completely broken up.”
As were longtime customers, who are grateful for the lasting legacy he leaves behind.
“It’s a very important Upper West Side institution,” Upper West Side resident Dan Lazare said.
“People come from all over the city to come here. Tourists come here,” resident Wendy Baker said.
“He’s to be honored and respected,” resident Dan Rubin said. “We’ll miss him.”
In 2011, the store was caught up in a culinary controversy when it was discovered that their lobster salad contained crayfish instead.
“It’s crawfish. If you look up the literature, it is referred to as lobster in many parts of the country,” Saul Zabar said at the time.
They wound up changing the name of the product.
“A little controversy adds spice to our lives,” he said at the time.
Mayor Eric Adams paid tribute to Zabar on social media.
“A true New York legend. He gave the city lox, love, and a place to argue over babka. Zabar’s isn’t just a store, it’s a slice of NYC soul. May his memory be a blessing,” Adams wrote.
Gov. Kathy Hochul also responded.
“A great loss for New York City and anyone who’s ever enjoyed the ultimate bagel and lox from [Zabar’s]. Our hearts are with the Zabar family during this difficult time. May Saul’s memory be a blessing,” Hochul wrote.
