181st St Bakery & Deli

This place never fails! They have great food, wonderful service and though it is really a take-out place, I feel comfortable sitting there and eating. This is a great find and if you haven't eaten here before, it is worth it if you like quality sandwiches and lunch-fare.

I recently moved to Washington Heights and I have to tell you, I love this deli! They have the friendliest people working there and some really good sandwiches. They should have some more seating though. But great for on-the-go lunch breaks!

The name is somewhat confusing (‘bakery”) since there isn’t much baking going on- they only carry few kinds of breads and their cookie selection is not very broad. But it’s a good place to get your typical cold cuts and cheeses (as long as you don’t expect prosciutto di Parma and fresh mozzarella ;) It’s worth stopping by for a sandwich or coffee in the morning for a fast and friendly service.

This isn't really a destination place, but it is a really good resource to have in the neighborhood. Ordinarily you walk into a bakery/deli/grocery store in NYC, and the ubiquitous selection of small cookies sold by the pound are dry and tasteless as sawdust. But the cookies here are uniformly really delicious, some of them are positively heavenly. They make a delicate Mexican cinnamon cookie that I eat by the half pound every week, it's a flakey tender pastry with a delicate sweetness. Delicious. I also like the sandwiches here. I'd rather stop here before work in the morning and get a sandwich for lunch (they'll put anything you want on it), and spend $6 in my neighborhood ($6 for turkey with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, mayo, bacon and avocado!!), than spend two or three times as much downtown for something no good. Great danishes and cheesecake also. And when prune plums are in season they make the most fantastic plum cake. This is also the place that introduced me to Hornitas Mexican soda.