Eli Zabar

What Eli Zabar does

Eli Zabar is a privately held, family-owned specialty food retailer and hospitality operator founded in 1973 by Eli Zabar, youngest son of the founders of the Zabar's delicatessen on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The company operates an integrated portfolio of food retail, dining, wholesale baking, catering, and e-commerce concepts concentrated on Manhattan's Upper East Side, including the flagship Eli's Market at 1411 Third Avenue, multiple Eli's Essentials grab-and-go shops, the Eli's Table restaurant and wine bar, Eli's Night Shift beer bar, Bar 91, Bar 87, Eli's List wine and spirits shop, the E.A.T. gourmet food shop and cafe, and a flower shop. A 15,000 square-foot wholesale bakery (Eli's Bread) on East 91st Street produces artisan breads including challah, sourdough, rye, and brioche using proprietary recipes developed since 1974; the company also operates rooftop greenhouses for growing produce and runs an in-house chocolate-making operation.

The business sells directly to consumers through physical storefronts, a comprehensive e-commerce website with nationwide shipping for gift baskets, breads, meats, cheeses and pantry goods, and a phone/email-based Home Shopping grocery delivery service launched in 1999 (predating FreshDirect and Amazon Fresh) that serves Manhattan year-round and the Hamptons seasonally. A catering operation handles corporate office lunch and holiday event menus. Pricing sits firmly in the premium segment: gift baskets range from $150 to $1,500, individual breads from $12 to $65, and steak samplers from $239 to $259. The company has earned third-party validation including Time Magazine's reference to Eli as the "godfather of the modern artisanal bread movement in America," New York Times coverage dating to 1988, and a Gold Belly top-rated seller badge. Eli Zabar remains the principal owner and operator, with next-generation family member Oliver Zabar opening DEVON NYC in Nolita in November 2018.

Name

Eli Zabar

Legal name

Eli Zabar

Website

https://elizabar.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1973

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Eli Zabar is a family-owned specialty food retailer and bakery founded in 1973 on Manhattan's Upper East Side, operating multiple markets, restaurants, a wholesale bakery, catering, and nationwide e-commerce serving affluent Manhattan residents, Hamptons seasonal customers, and gift buyers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Food Retail & Artisan Bakery

NAICS

Baked Goods Retailers (445291), Other Specialty Food Retailers (44529), Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers (44532), Retail Bakeries (311811)

SIC

Retail-Grocery Stores (5411), Retail-Food Stores (5400), Bakery Products (2050)

akta.pro primary industry

Bread & Pastry Specialty Stores (CRAHAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Specialty Food Gift Shops & Hampers (CRAHAGAN)

Keywords

• Artisan bakery products
• Specialty gourmet groceries
• Prepared foods catering
• Wine and spirits shop
• Food retail marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail store sales: Physical retail stores selling artisan breads, prepared foods, gourmet groceries, cheese, meat, flowers, and specialty items across 7 locations on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
2. E-commerce and online ordering: Website sales with nationwide shipping for gift baskets, breads, baked goods, and specialty food items with delivery charges.
3. Catering services: Corporate and personal event catering including everyday lunch catering and holiday catering menus for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas, Easter, Passover, and other occasions.
4. Home Shopping / Grocery Delivery: Introduced in 1999, the Home Shop service provides phone and email ordering with Manhattan delivery and Hamptons summer deliveries. Order placed by calling 212-423-0129 or emailing [email protected].
5. Restaurant and wine bar: Eli's Table restaurant and wine bar, Bar 91 wine bar, Eli's Night Shift craft beer bar, and E.A.T. cafe providing dine-in experiences.
6. Wholesale bakery: Eli's Bread wholesale operations supplying breads to restaurants and retail locations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Eli Zabar operates a network of specialty food retail stores, restaurants, and a wholesale bakery on Manhattan's Upper East Side, founded by Eli Zabar in 1973. The company produces and sells house-baked artisan breads, premium prepared foods, gourmet pantry items, cheeses, meats, wines, flowers, and curated gift baskets, complemented by restaurant dining, wine bars, catering services, grocery delivery, and nationwide e-commerce shipping.

Product overview

Eli Zabar operates a portfolio of food retail and dining concepts on Manhattan's Upper East Side, centered around their flagship market at 1411 3rd Avenue. The core offerings include artisan bakery products (Eli's Bread), premium prepared foods, specialty grocery items, and upscale casual dining through concepts like Eli's Table, Eli's Essentials grab-and-go shops, Eli's Night Shift beer bar, and Eli's Bar 91 wine bar. The company also runs E.A.T. gourmet food shop, Eli's List wine store, and a flower shop. An extensive e-commerce operation offers gift baskets, breads, meats, cheeses, pantry items, and specialty foods shipped nationwide, complemented by Home Shopping delivery service for Manhattan and seasonal Hamptons deliveries. Catering services cover everyday corporate lunch and holiday events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Night Shift Burger: Eli Zabar's signature patty blend of chuck, aged beef, brisket and sirloin, called the Upper East Side's best burger.
• Essence of Eli

Products and services

• Eli's Market Flagship specialty grocery store at 1411 3rd Avenue offering premium prepared foods, produce, meat, cheese, flowers, and specialty gourmet items for Upper East Side residents and visitors.
• Eli's Bread 15,000 square-foot wholesale bakery on East 91st Street producing artisan breads including challah, rye, sourdough, brioche, and specialty loaves for retail and wholesale customers.
• E.A.T. (Gourmet Food Shop and Cafe) Gourmet food shop and cafe at 1064 Madison Avenue offering takeout, casual dining, and specialty provisions.
• Eli's Essentials Grab-and-go shops with prepared foods and casual dining at multiple Upper East Side locations (74th, 87th, and 91st Street).
• Eli's Table Restaurant and wine bar at 1413 3rd Avenue serving refined American cuisine paired with wines.
• Eli's Night Shift Grab-and-go establishment with craft beer bar at 189 East 79th Street featuring Eli's signature Night Shift Burger blend.
• Eli's List (Wine Store) Wine and spirits shop at 1415 3rd Avenue featuring an extensive old-world wine cellar selection.
• Catering Services Corporate and personal event catering including everyday office lunch catering and holiday menus for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas, Easter, and Passover.
• Home Shopping (Grocery Delivery) Phone and email-based grocery ordering with same-day Manhattan delivery and Hamptons summer delivery service.
• Flower Shop

Quantifiable outcome

• Home Shopping service introduced in 1999, predating Fresh Direct and Amazon Fresh

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• DEVON NYCminorOthers · 1 January 2018Oliver Zabar opened DEVON in Nolita, a restaurant venture related to the Zabar family business.
• NOGLUminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Eli partnered with Frederique Jules to bring NOGLU from Paris to New York, offering gluten-free French-style pastries to customers.
• goop Amagansett MRKTminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2017Eli Zabar returned to Amagansett at Gwyneth Paltrow's goop MRKT for summer operations.
• Peconic Land TrustminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007Partnership to re-open the historic Amagansett Farmers Market in 2007, providing farm stand deliveries in the Hamptons.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves18 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Zabar's: The flagship Zabar's delicatessen on Manhattan's Upper West Side founded by Eli's parents Louis and Lillian Zabar. Directly comparable as a specialty food marketplace offering gourmet groceries, prepared foods, breads, cheeses, smoked fish, and coffee — and the most direct family-of-brand peer.
• Citarella: Manhattan-based gourmet seafood, meat, and specialty grocer with multiple locations and a strong prepared foods offering. Direct competitor for premium Manhattan food shoppers, with similar gift basket and nationwide shipping programs.
• Fairway Market: Iconic New York specialty grocer offering premium groceries, cheeses, meats, prepared foods, and bakery items. Comparable on product breadth, premium positioning, and Manhattan customer base.
• Dean & DeLuca: Premium specialty food retailer and gift purveyor known for curated gourmet baskets, cheese, and pantry items. Comparable on premium gifting, specialty groceries, and the marketplace + e-commerce model targeting affluent consumers.
• Amy's Bread: Manhattan-based artisan bakery producing handcrafted breads and pastries sold wholesale to restaurants and retail. Direct comparable on artisanal bread production, wholesale bakery operations, and NYC restaurant/retail customer overlap.

Broad incumbents

• Eataly: Large-format Italian marketplace combining retail, restaurants, and bakery under one roof with multiple locations including Flatiron and Downtown NYC. Comparable on the specialty food marketplace + restaurant + bakery integration model, though at significantly larger scale.
• FreshDirect: Major online grocer serving NYC and the broader Northeast with same-day delivery. Comparable on the home grocery delivery use case that Eli Zabar pioneered in 1999, though at dramatically larger scale with modern technology infrastructure.

Regional players

• Murray's Cheese: Specialty cheese retailer with a flagship in Greenwich Village and nationwide shipping via the parent Kroger-Boar's Head relationship. Comparable on specialty cheese merchandising, premium positioning, and gifting/shipping programs.

Emerging players

• Balthazar Bakery: SoHo-based bakery and cafe attached to the Balthazar restaurant brand, offering French-style breads and pastries. Comparable on artisan bakery + cafe model and Manhattan premium positioning.
• Jacques Torres Chocolate: Premium artisan chocolate maker with retail locations in NYC, nationwide shipping, and B2B wholesale. Comparable on the in-house chocolate operations Eli Zabar developed and on premium gifting/shipping model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EliZabar
• Facebookfacebook.com/EliZabarNYC
• Instagraminstagram.com/elizabarnyc
• Pinterestpinterest.com/pin/479000110341920503

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Eli Zabar