These mom-and-pop shops still do brisk business sans clicks, swipes, or apps

Photos: Avrom Rubinfeld

In an era of sprawling malls, glossy franchises, and online giants promising delivery at the click of a button, you’ll still find them: the corner pharmacy with the hand-lettered sign, the pizza shop where nothing’s changed but the price of a slice, the diner that’s serving the same breakfast since Kennedy was president. Against the odds, these mom-and-pop shops have endured, holding their ground as living reminders that commerce can still feel like community.
Which of these stores remind you of less frenetic days?

The first in a series

Tradition on Rye

Gottlieb’s Restaurant on Roebling Street in Williamsburg looks exactly like the deli you picture when someone says “old-school.” The faded sign out front, the glowing neon letters assuring glatt kosher comfort, the shelves on the wall piled with disposable containers and the no-frills menu chart are all part of the charm. Inside, the deli case is piled high with kugel, knishes, latkes and cold cuts.
The deli was opened in 1962 by Shloime Zelka Gottlieb, grandfather of current owner Menashe Gottlieb. When the store opened, it was a novelty -- it wasn’t common for chassidish families in Williamsburg to eat out, but Reb Shloime had a broader vision: He provided a place where people who didn’t have easy access to heimish food could gather to eat, often for free.
“The store was always intended to be like second home, a place to farbreng, schmooze, and meet people,” says Menashe. Widowers and Holocaust survivors with no families would line up for Mr. Gottlieb’s dishes. “He was always cooking food for people,” says Menashe about his Zeide. “After the war, in the DP camps, he was somehow always feeding people.” Opening a brick-and-mortar deli in Williamsburg was the natural next step.
The Gottlieb family has run the deli ever since. “My father, Shulem Yosef, joined the business in the late ‘60s, shortly after his chasunah,” says Menashe, who followed about 25 years ago. Shulem Yosef became a Williamsburg fixture, his name synonymous with the diner and with good old-fashioned Hungarian food, until his sudden petirah last year at age 75.