Yonah Schimmel gets credit for inventing the humble knish in 1910 at his still-thriving knishery on East Houston Street.
But knish fiends all over New York still lament the loss of Mrs. Stahl’s Knishes, a dingy place tucked under the elevated train at Brighton Beach Avenue.
The shop served up hand-made cushions of potato, kasha, and cabbage inside flaky baked dough. They were truly legendary.
Photo at right from Jack Szwergold’s flickr page.
The real Mrs. Stahl was a local lady who sold her home-baked knishes up and down the beach in the 1930s.
In 1935 she was persuaded to open a store, which thrived through the 1980s; there was even a short-lived Upper West Side branch. But Brighton Beach changed, and cravings for cheap Jewish soul food plummeted. By 2005, it was gone.
“The first thing that hits you as you walk in—besides the crisp sea breeze coming from the ocean a block away—is the warm, oniony smell of potato filling….” stated Brooklyn Bridge magazine in a 1997 article (photo: Brooklyn Bridge)
“In small back rooms, huge bowls of thick, just-boiled potato filling cool down and trays of perfectly shaped, doughy knishes wait to be put in giant ovens. Their destinations are varied. Thousands are sold from the store each week, and thousands more are shipped to gourmet delicatessens across the country.”
Tags: Brighton Beach Avenue, Brooklyn Bridge magazine, Coney Island, Jewish food in New York City, knish history, knishery, Mrs Stahl's, Mrs. Stahl's knishes, Yonah Schimmel
Ephemeral New York 
April 11, 2010 at 3:06 am |
This makes me cry. The former Stahl’s is now a God-damned Subway!!! The west side one a Dominoes. This is the kind of change America doesn’t need. At this rate we won’t have a history to talk about. The word ‘local’ will become meaningless.
February 16, 2013 at 8:20 pm |
Right on nothing is left from the old neighborhoods we used to go to Mrs Stahls once a week. My grandfather would bring home a large assortment of Knishes and we would eat our favorites on the ride back to Manhattan Beach.
October 25, 2013 at 5:02 pm |
Of course, you mean a Subway sandwich shop. In NYC, that has to be clarified!
Yeah, it’s sad.
Glen Russell Slater
October 26, 2018 at 10:19 am
Thank you! I was wondering how a restaurant was turned into a subway, as in the train system.
November 17, 2019 at 3:57 pm
@Amy Whinston: I first imagined a new entrance to the Brighton Beach station, which is, literally, right above the store, but then when Julian mentioned Domino’s, I realized it was a Subway sandwich shop.
November 17, 2019 at 5:02 pm |
I agree so very sad
June 23, 2010 at 7:36 pm |
Saw your site linked via Vanishing New York today. I think your heart is in the right place by documenting these things. But your lack of credits or linking on photos is a tad disconcerting.
Case in point: The top photo of Mrs. Stahl’s is my photo and was was taken from my Flickr stream.
Please credit anyone who you take photos or information from. Otherwise, don’t take their work and misrepresent it.
June 23, 2010 at 7:48 pm |
I just fixed the text to credit you and link to your Flikr page. My apologies; I did not know it came from Flikr. The photos on this site are either taken by me, sent to me by readers, in the public domain, or are otherwise credited.
August 13, 2010 at 11:35 pm |
but did you ever try the borscht shake?? uniqu to Mrs Stahls–
I did not know that it was gone- a eal caamity
April 2, 2011 at 5:25 am |
My grandparents Anchel and Lily Greenberg opened the first Kosher Caffeteria in New York City and Fanny Stahl worked for them in the kitchen. My grandmother taught Fanny to make kinshes. She was Austrian and a fantastic cook and baker. She was legendery for her kinsh dough – she used strudel dough – and to this day I yearn for the taste and smells of her kitchen as she pulled potato, kasha and cabbage knishes out of the oven.
May 23, 2022 at 6:11 pm |
Fanny Stahl was my great aunt! So happy that you got to meet her. Miss those knishes too!
April 2, 2011 at 5:28 am |
P.S. and I can remember, as a child, watching Fanny sell knishes on the beach. They were divine.
I now live in Los Angeles and knishes are just a memory to me – I haven’t found any to compare to those I had as a child in Brooklyn.
April 2, 2011 at 5:28 pm |
Thank you so much for writing. I too remember as a kid the wonderful tastes and smells of those fantastic kasha and potato knishes. I accept that nothing in New York can last forever, but I wish the one exception was Mrs. Stahl’s knishes. Heavenly.
My father too remembers Mrs. Stahl’s out on Brighton Beach, selling her knishes.
July 13, 2011 at 12:22 am |
My grandparents, the Weingasts owned the shop in Brighton Beach…i can remember as a kid playing with the “old fashioned” cash register while my grandfather made knishes. They were the best… My grandfather is celebrating his 90th birthday tomorrow!!!
July 13, 2011 at 11:42 pm |
They were the best. Congrats to your grandfather too!
March 5, 2012 at 5:35 pm |
Some of my fondest memories are going to Mrs. Stahl’s in Brighton Beach… I wish my children could have had the opportunity to share this with me!
March 20, 2012 at 2:13 am |
I am a former Brighton Beach resident who once enjoyed the Stahl’s knishes, but I am left wandering around in the wilderness. I’ve been trying to reproduce them at home. Mainly, I’m trying to get the detailed recipe for the dough, and also the method of enclosing the filling before baking. Any ideas? Any help you might offer would really make an old knish-aholic very happy. Thanks.
October 11, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Mr. Silverstein, The plumber’s son from Corbin Place has the secret formula of the Stahl’s Knishes. PLEASE CONTACT HIM.
April 8, 2020 at 6:04 am
I was told that it was strudel dough?
September 10, 2012 at 2:57 am |
Are your grandparents still alive? Do you think they would send me the recipe? I used to buy them all the time when we went to Brighton Beach Baths when I was a kid. Glenn Flugman, flugman1@att.net
October 16, 2013 at 4:26 pm |
I was both a long-tine customer at the store and also worked with
Eleanor Weingast.
She still refused to grant me a discount at her brother’s store.
Dr. Barry Persky
October 26, 2015 at 3:56 pm |
Oy
October 26, 2015 at 3:58 pm |
Oy. I knew the brothers. Mrs. Stahl they weren’t. Terrible bosses. Always angry about something.
September 10, 2016 at 4:20 am |
Wow, now you really stirred up some memories. I grew up on Brighton 7th Street. That was the sixties and early 70’s. Brighton was still first second and third generations of eastern decent. What a wonderful time. I remember the Oceana. Big and beautiful and mom would always let us sit in the bacony. Can’t ever remember buying in the movies.we bought our candy at the little store that was just next door to the Oceana. Or maybe at George’s Candy Store, on the corner of Brighton Beach Ave and Brighton 7th. The 40 Thieves made the best egg creams and I got my comics and 16 magazines there. Mrs. Stahl’s we got on the way home. I remember Irving’s Deli. It took a long time for it to go downhill. We used to go to the Seagate Diner. I was little but I remember the Hebrew National Hot Dog store next to the 40 Theives. It’s getting harder to find Dr Brown’s Celery Soda. Still a favorite of mine. I’m here in NJ the last 26 years, but I will always be Brooklyn. Used to go in once in awhile but everything I knew as a kid is long gone. Heck, even the boardwalk is different. They filled it up with sand. We lived at the beach in the summer and when it got too hot, we would sit there because it was cooler. My husband is from Carnasie and that neighborhood he knew…long gone. Sorry if this is running so long but it is just so genuinely sad. I don’t go into anymore. That life was carefree and happy. Kids nowadays will never understand how joyful in life was.
September 27, 2016 at 5:23 pm
I beg to differ. My Aunt Gussie and Uncle Milton had the candy store on 4th next to the shul. They made the best egg creams.
January 1, 2017 at 9:08 pm
Boy did you bring back memories. I was born and raised at 3180 Brighton 4th street. I am now living in Zebulon, NC. The daughter of one of the owners of Stahl’s knishes is a good friend of mine, and she also living in North Carolina. I can’t tell you what I would do for one of those knishes today. Sorry to tell you that 40 Thieves recently closed. The last time I was in the area, I went to the deli right near the theater. I also sent to the Mill Basin Deli. Those were the days.
November 17, 2019 at 2:33 am
The store next to the Oceana was Nat’s Sweet Shop. They
old bubble gum after the war, 2 pieces max. per person. The line was blocks long The knishes are a memory for me, too.
September 10, 2016 at 4:23 am |
Any chance your grandfather share the recipe. Those knish were so loved, I would paid for the recipe.
July 27, 2011 at 6:02 pm |
I loved Mrs. Stahl’s…BUT I loved Shatzkins Knishes even better. Especialy when my dad came out of the subway tunnel on Eastern Pkwy and bought us a shatzkin knish from the street vendor or from the store on St. John’s Place or Coney Island
September 27, 2016 at 5:25 pm |
Hirsch’s on the boardwalk off 4th were the best.
November 16, 2011 at 2:21 pm |
How can I get knishes mailed to me
November 18, 2011 at 4:14 pm |
There were so many great knishes in NYC back in the day! Less we not forget the amazing fried knsihes of Ruby the Knishman or the incredible big fat round baked knishes of Grabstein’s Delicatessen in Canarsie. We all had our favorites but they were all simply amazing!
October 28, 2022 at 7:06 pm |
Mrs Stahls were great. Even my wife from the Bronx loved the Cherry Cheese knishes. Now that you bring up Ruby’s knishes. he came up to East Pond Bungalow Colony in Fallsburgh NY and sold them out of his truck on the parking lot in the summer. They were unique but wonderful as well.
November 18, 2011 at 4:18 pm |
I wish I could go back in time and try one of those. They sound absolutely wonderful.
November 23, 2011 at 6:59 pm |
In 1961 when my grandmother died my grandfather came to live with us. He told my mother, his daughter, to buy an upright freezer and he would pay for it. Then he had us drive him to Brighton and he bought dozens of boxes of knishes of all varieties, so that my mother would have something to serve when relatives visited him on Sundays. We must have had hundreds of knishes frozen ready to heat. And they were all delicious!
November 23, 2011 at 7:12 pm |
I like his thinking.
December 7, 2011 at 1:34 am |
I remember Ruby’s, Mrs. Stahls, Grabsteins, Knish Nosh…….Top Spot in Canarsie……all gone? sigh.
September 15, 2016 at 6:54 pm |
Ruby’s is Alive and well (Melody & Cindi) my cousins….still run ruby s….80 years….
Cousin Gary
March 2, 2012 at 6:35 pm |
I grew up in Brighton Beach, and not only was there Mrs.Stahl’s,but also Irving’s Deli under the subway on Br.7th St. and ZeiMar’s Deli next to the Oceana Movie Theater. On the way home from school (Abraham Lincoln) you could treat yourself to a charlotte russe from the SeaLane bakery or have a slice of pizza from the only Italian restaurant in Brighton, on the corner of Coney Island Avenue and Br.Beach Ave. next to the “40 thieves” candy and cigar store.
June 1, 2012 at 5:54 pm |
als knishes, Zei Mar,The Forty Theives , the Oceana movie theater, Brighton Beach Bathes and all the Brighton Beach had to offer.
I am still in the neighborhood and I have been trying to figure out how to make those knishes that I used to eat on the way home from the beach.
They were wonderful!!!
Thank you for the memories.
February 23, 2013 at 6:38 pm |
I lived in the 50′ ‘s down the street at 3145 Coney Island Ave and Brighton 10 th street. What a great time! I have a great picture of Mrs. Stahls before they closed it down. Living in Santa Monica now
near the beach…. No knishes here.
September 10, 2016 at 4:16 am |
Wow, now you really stirred up some memories. I grew up on Brighton 7th Street. That was the sixties and early 70’s. Brighton was still first second and third generations of eastern decent. What a wonderful time. I remember the Oceana. Big and beautiful and mom would always let us sit in the bacony. Can’t ever remember buying in the movies.we bought our candy at the little store that was just next door to the Oceana. Or maybe at George’s Candy Store, on the corner of Brighton Beach Ave and Brighton 7th. The 40 Thieves made the best egg creams and I got my comics and 16 magazines there. Mrs. Stahl’s we got on the way home. I remember Irving’s Deli. It took a long time for it to go downhill. We used to go to the Seagate Diner. I was little but I remember the Hebrew National Hot Dog store next to the 40 Theives. It’s getting harder to find Dr Brown’s Celery Soda. Still a favorite of mine. I’m here in NJ the last 26 years, but I will always be Brooklyn. Used to go in once in awhile but everything I knew as a kid is long gone. Heck, even the boardwalk is different. They filled it up with sand. We lived at the beach in the summer and when it got too hot, we would sit there because it was cooler. My husband is from Carnasie and that neighborhood he knew…long gone. Sorry if this is running so long but it is just so genuinely sad. I don’t go into anymore. That life was carefree and happy. Kids nowadays will never understand how joyful life was.
May 6, 2017 at 3:01 pm |
I remember. Next door was a deli/ grocery store called Revere. The great divid was Coney Island Ave, but those knishes were worth the dash( and always cross with the light) across. Do you have the exact recipe? I know it won’t be the same but can you share?
August 2, 2017 at 7:35 pm
My grandparents owned Revere. I’ve been looking for any old photos of the store and came across this article. If anyone has any photos, please reply here.
August 7, 2017 at 6:20 pm
Find a book called The Brooklyn Cookbook by Lyn Stallworth and Rod Kennedy, Jr. You will find a recipe for Mrs. Stah’s Cocktail potato Knishes and for Ebinger’s Blackout Cake. Could not replicate the knish taste but the Blackout Cake was to die for!!!!
March 2, 2012 at 8:44 pm |
-char chat- as a baby to-mid 1980,s ,, even ,when it was russian resturant, but still madel the kinishs, my family, went to bbb from 1955-80, I am in my 50,s now- kasha and cheery cheese were my favorite, I am now in my 50,s- left b;klyn around 20- yrs ag- we were from bayrdige, only when we were at bbb that it was convient- I – also livedi in mahatten beach for 3 yrs in mid 1980,s, mrs stahls, kinish,s was a frequent ,stop off the train .if, it was sitll open- ( I also went to John Dewey HS with 1 of grandson,s now around age 52 )- good memories for millions, thanks to Stahl,s family– C. Morgenstern
March 20, 2012 at 1:53 am |
I am trying to make at home a potato knish similar to Mrs Stahl’s. The filling is no problem. The outer skin is the problem. Anybody have a recipe for the dough and also for the way the filling was enclosed?.
March 21, 2012 at 1:49 am |
Gabrilia,s Knishes, ,another knish company is not what you wanted, , they, do make rd knishes too, so u can order from them on line already made,
— ( coney islands is where they started the business- square hard crsuh knishes is, what they are know for square hard crsu knish—- I ordered from them recenlty rd knish, other jewish style stuff on line 2 weeks ago-, come close to Mrs Stahl,s still in business– You, can, also ,order already made jewish style foods too-
March 20, 2012 at 2:29 am |
I would love to know this too. If anyone wants to take a stab at it….
April 10, 2012 at 1:35 am |
What a great story, and very well-written I might add (“hand-made cushions,” “Jewish soul food” – love it!) Did you know that they actually opened up a branch on the West Coast?? Must have been the early 90s in West L.A. But it was VERY short-lived. What a mean trick!
October 27, 2015 at 3:16 pm |
Yes, I do know about the one in West L.A! I lived in L.A. during 1991-92. Matter of fact, I just wrote on Facebook the experience I had after I saw a Mrs. Stahl’s posting. Below is what I wrote. Also, if there is anyone who has the sacred Mrs. Stahl’s recipes and is willing to share them with me I would be forever grateful. Of course, I would like to receive the recipes out of the goodness of the recipe holder’s heart, but if there is a price placed for the recipes I am willing to consider any reasonable offer and/or covenants and restrictions that maybe tied to them. Thanks!
Back in 1991 I moved out to L.A. In West L.A. there was a Mrs. Stahl’s. I went there one day and chatted with the workers. I remember I was told that they had the knishes shipped in from NY. They also told me that most of their customers were like me, former New Yorkers. I asked why. I was told that most in L.A. did not know what a knish was and that many thought they were entering an ice cream parlor, because of the many flavors offered, and then left disappointed. I thought that was hilarious, but completely understood the confusion, and felt a bit sorry for them as well. That said, a few month’s after I visited Mrs. Stahl’s they closed down for lack of business. I suppose there were weren’t enough of me to help keep them afloat…LOL That said, I sure do miss their sweet potato knishes…Yyyyuummmm.
May 9, 2012 at 1:59 pm |
I worked at this knish shop for a short time as a young lad. It was kind of a sweat shop and I was eventually fired for dropping a tray of knishes whilst bringing them up from the basement, where the clearance going up was so minimal you had to arch your back backwards in an ungodly angle. However, I always loved the knishes there and am sad that it is gone. I have fond memories of the shop along with the Oriental Movie Theater. But, then again, I haven’t lived in Brooklyn for some 14 years — and all things Brooklyn make me wretch with nausea. It is a borough more aptly thought of as a slum in my mind. No offense to anyone living there now or who has fond memories of the place.
October 18, 2012 at 1:45 am |
Mo, your story about having to contort your body coming up the stairs from the basement brought a chuckle and reinforced a theory I have about the evolution of Mrs. Stahl’s. For many years, they had a little person working there. He was quite amazing. I think he must have worked in a circus before settling in at this job, because he would effortlessly scamper about at all levels of the place. I am sure he had no problem with the basement stairs. Then, after many years in attendance, he died (or quit). From that time on, the knishes and the ambiance were never the same…Your other comments about Brooklyn being a slum are ridiculous. Just because you were abused, doesn’t make the place a slum. The slum surrounded you, not the borough. I’m not sure if you’ve ever been in a real slum.
October 24, 2012 at 9:06 pm |
I live in Brooklyn and it is probably one of the most decent places to live in this country. The people ( the diversity of people is amazing) are good. You can get around by public transportation 24 hours a day and never need a car. The schools are still good and the food is terrific. Your neighbors in Brooklyn will come running if you need help.
Dorothy Bermna
March 30, 2013 at 1:48 am |
I used to have your job in the late 60’s, I know what it was like carrying those knish trays up the stairs and I remember the low ceiling over the staircase quite well! I share your thoughts about Brooklyn, I moved away about 40 years ago.
Josh
November 16, 2017 at 2:03 pm
Is this the josh who moved to Canada ots,anita,Morris ‘s daughter how r u?
November 16, 2017 at 5:03 pm
Yes, the one and only!
I remember you and the whole family very well.
Getting older but still active, married, 3 grown up kids and doing wedding & bar/bat videos for 38 years.
We visited NYC this past Sept & had to try some yonna schimmel knishes which brought back old memories of Sam & Morris!!! I was in Brighton a year ago and took a long walk thru BB ave and of course visited the old knish location which became a subway.
What’s happening at your end…give me an update.
Videobyjosh@hotmail.com
Take care, Josh
November 16, 2017 at 5:05 pm
This is Sam’s daughter Maxine.
November 16, 2017 at 5:07 pm
This is Sam’s daughter Maxine. How ya doin Anita?!
February 6, 2018 at 11:28 pm
Anita please send me your email address.
I found a cute letter of yours from 1973, I’d like to scan and email it to you.
Videobyjosh@hotmail.com
Take care…
Josh (in canada)
July 5, 2012 at 5:46 pm |
I grew up in Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn with the Weingast family. I was great friends with their daughter Anita. Our entire childhood was feasting on Mrs. Stahl’s knishes. Her dad used to bring boxes of the most incredible knishes for all of us kids in the neighborhood. I love the cabbage knish, the kasha knish was insane and blueberry cheese was like desert. I spent many years of my childhoodhanging out in theat little store under the el in Brighton Beach. Thank god for memories. Will never be able to ever duplicate those knishes. Much love to everyone from that amazing time in Brooklyn. You all know who you are.
March 30, 2013 at 1:53 am |
I worked there in the late 60’s and I remember the clan well, send my love to Anita, Josh
July 5, 2012 at 6:45 pm |
Stan K says ” Brighton is not and was not indicative of Brooklyn. Yes, I too miss the onion pletzel and the Stahl’s potato knish. Where else could a group of young kids walk 1:00AM to a Chinese restaurant and expect to return safely. To go to the movies for 18 cents, and see two feature movies and a cartoon and win a prize as well. Who remembers all metal water guns that had a copper front nozzel, charlette rouge ice cream etc.
August 5, 2012 at 6:28 pm |
Greetings Knish Lovers!
I’m so happy to discover this thread and wanted to invite you all to my talk:
Life and Times of the Knish at the New York Public Library
on Tuesday August 8 at 6:30 pm.
http://www.nypl.org/locations/tid/45/node/153888?lref=45%2Fcalendar
My knish research was sparked in large part by the disappearance of Mrs. Stahl’s, a fixture of my childhood and my father’s childhood…
I’d welcome your comments…
Barbara Hewitt, if you receive this, could I ask you to give me a shout at knish@me.com ? I’d love to hear your stories.
Wild New York, do you have a photo credit for that second image by chance? the interior of Mrs. Stahl’s? I’d love to track it down.
My very best,
Laura Silver
Brooklyn, NY
August 6, 2012 at 2:26 pm |
thanks Laura, what a great idea for a talk! Mrs. Stahl’s was a fixture of my childhood too. My father remembers Mrs. Stahl herself loaded down with knishes going up and down the beach selling them.
The photo is from a long-defunct magazine called Brooklyn Bridge that published in the late 1990s. I can try to get you the exact month it ran but don’t have that off-hand.
July 14, 2016 at 9:36 am
To WildNewYork — re: the photo from Brooklyn Bridge Magazine
The publisher and my friend, Melissa Ennen, now runs “The Brooklyn Commons” (WBAI radio is on the 3rd floor) out of the same address of that magazine, 388 Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill. I think she has copies, so you can contact her there.
I was floored by the wonderful remembrances here centered around Mrs. Stahl’s knishes, especially Barbara Hewitt’s, which parallel my own. Let me also add my memory of riding the ever-screeching trolley with my grandmother down Brighton Beach Avenue under the El and around the bend at Coney Island Avenue in the early 1950s. The sounds stick in my mind as well as the wonderful smells (those knishes, yes!). A visit the other day to the Yiddish Theater exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York brought a lot this crashing back, which is what sent me to this website (doing a story on the Yiddish exhibit for WBAI radio).
And those charlotte russe’s at SeaLane bakery. So simple. So YES!
Thank you.
Mitchel Cohen
August 14, 2012 at 10:12 pm |
Hi there, thanks. Yes, I’d love to a reference to the issue number of Brooklyn Bridge magazine — I remember it — if possible… Wow. did your dad actually know Mrs. Stahl by chance?
And, one more request, if I may… any chance you might be able to relay my comment to Barbara Hewitt? I’d love to get in touch with her but my other attempts have not been fruitful…
My best and thanks,
Laura
September 28, 2012 at 1:32 am |
Hi we loved Mrs. Stahls knshes all of them and our children got to taste them also, if any body has a recipe even close to the Onion Pletzel we wold love to have it.
Alll they seem to have is a bready plezel something like a bioly which no way resembles the Onion Pletzel.
I wish the niice people from Georgia would tell us the exact name of the store they went to it would be most helpful and keep Mrs. Stahls name alive.
We would all thank you.
P.S. I would like to comment on the person who said they think of Brooklyn as a slum . It is the fourth largest city in America and as such it has its poor and rich areas
The houses near my home sell for millions ( not a lot of land) but no slum
we brooklynites are affended( and we don’t say thirty tird and tiird-33 and 3rd- and we don;t all say Ax instead of ask-
I think an apology is needed – Isn’t that right Brooklynite’s!!!!!
September 30, 2012 at 12:22 am |
Barbara Hewitt has been found – barbarahewitt30@aol.com
All your comments bring tears to my eyes and joy to my heart – since I know I grew up eating the best knishes every made – by my grandmother Lily Greenberg. The dearest woman in the world, and the best baker. God bless her. And oh those cabbage knishes – heaven.
Barbara
October 13, 2012 at 12:37 am |
My Uncle Mutt use to walk with my daddy to the trolley car to brighton beach hours later after they were done swimming on their way back they use to stop at Mrs. Stahls, for a few pennies they could buy a potato knish and sometimes they had enough money to buy 2. My Uncle Mutt now lives in San Francisco and they dont even know what a knish is At the jewish hoildays he has knishes and other food flown in from NY what a treat is was to eat Mrs. Stahls knishes I still myself remember them …his soul is in San Francisco but his heart is still in Brooklyn ..
November 9, 2012 at 2:52 pm |
rip mrs stahls knishes!
December 5, 2012 at 9:30 pm |
I grew up in Williamsbug, and later moved to Sheepshead Bay. For over 45 years I have lived in Baltimore and every time my husband ( a native Baltimorean) and I went to NYC, we always stopped at Mrs. Stahl’s and double parked. One would run in and order at least two boxes of knishes to be frozen and we especially loved the blueberry and cherry cheese. Nowadays, we have rediscovered Yonah Shimmel which are now the best around and take boxes back down I-95. Maybe someday a Mrs. Stahl clone will reappear?
Lynda Sussman
July 11, 2013 at 7:27 pm |
Are the recipes anywhere around? If so, please contact me.
July 13, 2013 at 8:35 pm |
My grandparents owned a home on Banner Avenue, Brooklyn, NY where the Weingast family also raised their children. The parents were kind, hard working, caring people. If I remember correctly Josh and Anita were the names of the two children who grew up and left the neighborhood. Mrs would go everyday to Brighton and sell the knishes, supervise the store and help her husband and promised to never have her children work as hard. Today as I read the posts of others I wonder where are they? What became of them and do they still make knishes for themselves or did they ever sell her recipe…Gone are the days my friend… We thought they would never end…..
July 14, 2013 at 1:49 am |
The Weingast kids names were Anita & Barry, there certainly was a Josh who worked very hard at the Knish store for a few years.The Weingasts moved to Florida & they retired from the Knish business long ago. Sam passed away, Morris is still around.
Surprise…I happen to be the Josh!
July 14, 2013 at 1:54 am
Thank you for writing in! To many of us who grew up eating Mrs. Stahl’s knishes, you are Brooklyn royalty!
July 14, 2013 at 2:17 am
How wonderful that the family stays in touch with those who loved such wonderful products! Josh, have the recipes ever been published or divulged to anyone? We need to keep it alive!
July 15, 2013 at 2:50 am
Sorry I am not related, I worked there when I was approx. 16/18 years old at $2./hour. I had no access to recipes but you may want to contact Barry Weingast at barry.weingast@citi.com
January 1, 2017 at 9:33 pm
I remember Maxine Weingast. Was this a relative?
July 24, 2013 at 10:12 pm |
Looking in vane for the recipe for Mrs. Stahl’s dear departed cabbage knish and I finding neither the recipe nor a reasonable facsimile I tested and modified a recipe for something called a cabbage knish which I am happy to report comes close to my recollection. 1 lb. good sauerkraut, rinsed and drained. 1 medium onion, chopped and sautéed in olive oil. Mix together and cook for 15 minutes adding a little water as necessary for consistency and to prevent burning or drying out. Mix in 1 Tb brown sugar and cook on low for a few minutes stirring till dissolved. Wrap the filling in homemade or frozen prepared dough and cut into individual knishes. Oil a baking tray and bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.
July 25, 2013 at 5:44 am |
[…] the neighborhood’s main commercial thoroughfare. We marveled at what had become of the famous Mrs. Stahl’s Knishes. We also took a look inside the former Oceana Theatre, where Michael watched the premiere of The […]
July 28, 2013 at 3:59 pm |
I, too, have the fondest memory of Mrs. Stahl’s cherry cheese knishes. I just picked 13 pounds of sour cherries at a local orchard and would love a recipe to try to triplicate them. if anyone has one, please forward. Thanks
November 25, 2013 at 3:48 am |
I remember as a young boy when she came by. Mom always bought us knishes from her. Eventually Mom and and some other friends talked her into opening the store. I lived in the Joseph P Day apartments on Brighton Bch Ave and 15th Street. Dad and some other people loaned her $25 each and she started up. She paid everyone back. Alas, nothing is forever. But,—— we do have Zabar’s.
December 7, 2013 at 5:06 pm |
where could I buy the kinshes potatoe cabbage , etc thank you dave
December 7, 2013 at 7:54 pm |
Yonah Shimel’s on Houston.
September 24, 2017 at 9:21 pm |
Go to Harold’s N.Y. Deli in Edison N.J. The knishes are delicious & huge.Enjoy
September 25, 2017 at 10:44 pm
Wish I still lived up north – sometimes.
January 14, 2014 at 11:45 pm |
My grandparents lived in Brighton Beach till the late 60’s. I lived in Trenton, NJ and always loved Mrs Stahl’s. After my grandparents passed, we would drive to Brooklyn specifically to bring home her knishes. I remember in the late fifties being at the beach and seeing these muscular guys walking around selling knishes from these large boxes which were held up by straps that went around their shoulders. The last trip we ever took was when an Indian family took over and the knishes were not the same. Great memories, my mouth is watering!
June 30, 2014 at 1:30 am |
My grandparents lived in Brighton Beach until the late 60s too. We lived in Teaneck and would buy Mrs. Stahl’s knishes every time we visited- probably twice a month. I still remember the incredible smells emanating from that shop. My favorite was the cabbage knish. I think that the whole Brooklyn experience- the immigrant Jewish grandparents, the salt air, sand and ocean breezes, the Jewish and other ethnic restaurants, various languages and accents all around, the whole milieu is something that can never be recreated. It was such a poignant tableau and it seems like all of us experienced the same thing. And now it is gone. I’m just glad that I was able to witness that culture and to partake of it’s memorable knishes.
June 15, 2015 at 2:27 am |
As a kid my family used to travel from Sheepshead Bay over to Brighton Beach just for Mrs. Stahl’s knishes. Sure we had several Kosher Delis in the neighborhood (back in the late 50s to the mid 60s – I guess they’re all gone now), but they just had potato or kasha and nothing like the selection at Mrs. Stahl’s. When I attended Kingsborough Community College in Manhattan Beach, we had several hours off on Tuesdays (“club hours”) so a group of us would hop on our bicycles (later motorcycles) and head to Mrs. Stahl’s or occasionally all the way to Nathan’s. I live in NJ now and was shocked one day, when I drove to Brooklyn, and found Mrs. Stahl’s was gone. Surely, one of the family members or one of the bakers has the old recipes for all the varieties and can replicate them? I would think that here in northern NJ they would sell like crazy (I almost said hotcakes). My regards to all those Brooklynites and former Brooklynites who miss the old Brooklyn as much as I do. Unfortunately, you can’t go home again because it’s gone (or just not the same).
October 26, 2015 at 12:12 pm |
Such great memories! In 1967 my then husband and I moved to Corbin Pl in BB. We rented a basement apt there. We were two houses from the beach. We had a neighbor named Richard Levy. We would have parties on the beach with Chicken Delight delivering to the boardwalk. In the winter a kinish would warm my hands on the walk home. They were scrumptious. Miss them!
October 26, 2015 at 6:22 pm |
In my teens I first worked at the veg & fruit market next to Mrs. Stahls for $1 an hour, the salary was so low that we simply dipped into the change often to increase our pay! Then I moved on to Mrs. Stahls knishes, stayed for some time & put up with lots of BS & tough labour, & a while later I worked across the street at Chicken Delight & eventually managed it! Don’t wash those dishes don’t scrape that pan, just pick up the phone & call the man, its so delicious you’ll love every bite, don’t cook tonight. call chicken delight!!!
At chicken delight we had one weird delivery guy driving a VW beetle, one of his customers never gave him a tip, he got so mad one day that he dipped a plated chicken dinner into the street dirty rain water, she phoned the store a few days later telling us that the last delivered dinner was fantastic & she was glad we changed the flavouring!!! He dipped her future deliveries in rain often.
Josh, living now in Canada
October 27, 2015 at 3:20 pm
ROFL!!!! (From Trump Village, now living in West Virginia)
October 26, 2015 at 1:36 pm |
I worked at Mrs Stahl’s one summer as a teenager in the early 70’s…..I worked very hard under sweat shop conditions and was eventually fired by the Weingast brothers for putting too few knishes in too large of a bag….the knishes were to die for but at $1.85 an hour the Weingast brothers threw nickels around as if they were manhole covers
October 26, 2015 at 2:02 pm |
I own the URL, mrsstahlsknishes.com and have since shortly after they closed. And I will continue to own it until someone wants to bring them back and I can be part of that dream. They were a huge part of my childhood.
October 26, 2015 at 5:25 pm |
Mine too. I had my last Mrs. Stahl’s knish in 2004, kasha.
October 26, 2015 at 6:04 pm |
I have a kasha knish in my freezer from Yonah Schimmel. Returned recently to Baltimore with a dozen cherry and blueberry cheese. We, however, still miss Mrs. Stahl. Growing up in Sheepshead Bay we were able to go to Nathans easily, with a stop on Coney Island Avenue for a desert knish.
October 27, 2015 at 1:12 am |
I am full of Mrs. Stahl`s knishes. Nobody make cabbage knishes. What about the cherry cheese and orange drink?
June 5, 2016 at 10:18 pm |
There are advantages to living in a thriving city. Museums, employment, schools, hospitals etc. But the best is the culture. Top on the culture list is food, the food of our grandparents, our ancestors. I used to travel from Belle Harbor to purchase boxes of Mrs. Stahl’s variety of Knishes and mail them to my transplanted brother who could not survive in LA without a monthly fix of these incredible treasures. Many people complain about the passing of cultural favorites. The fault lies firmly on our own shoulders, chasing new mediocrity, and not instilling the values of our families and ancestors. In short the passing and non appreciation of all things encompassed by TRADITION. It is sad not to be able to enjoy these treats that Mrs. Stahl provided for generations.
June 13, 2016 at 8:38 am |
[…] Sandwiches? Fruit? I’m not sure what’s in this box lunch these four girls are sharing on the beach at Coney Island in 1905, but it doesn’t resemble Coney beach eats like hot dogs or Mrs. Stahl’s knishes. […]
August 11, 2016 at 10:07 pm |
I know the original store closed. But does anyone know if Mrs. Stahl’s knishes are still being sold in stores around the Manhattan area? I mean I can’t believe a person wouldn’t be profitable by using Stahl’s original recipe. Can’t they open a new store somewhere? I just can’t understand why the whole Stahl Knish recipe has to die. Can’t somebody revive it, like a family relative or any clever businessman? All other knishes are awful. I’ve never had a Kasha or potato knish that remotely rivaled Mrs. Stahl’s knishes. I’ve been wanting one for years now. And no other maker’s knish will suffice. I only want a Mrs. Stahl knish.
August 11, 2016 at 11:21 pm |
Joe Blow, I’m in your corner on this one. I had my last Mrs. Stahl’s knish on a November afternoon in 2004. Kasha, potato…if only I could taste one of those heavenly doughy concoctions again!
September 10, 2016 at 5:02 am |
If you go to WNYC.com of JWeekly.com, there are recipes for Mrs. Stahl’s Knishes. Now, I’m not swearing these recipes are the genuine article, but for you bakers out there, give it a try. I’m dragging out my KitchenAid mixer tomorrow and I will let you guys know how it goes. Feeling optimistic.
January 2, 2017 at 5:42 pm |
My father and uncle (The Weingast brothers!) owned Mrs. Stahl’s from I believe the mid 60’s to the late 70’s. There were many varieties not mentioned above – sweet potato, mushroom potato and the ever popular Pletzel! Anyone remember that one? I worked there as a kid when a cousin owned it and when my dad owned it. The most fun was watching the characters that inhabited the place. Anyone remember a man who played the ukulele? Came in all the time with his mother. I could go on and on. What great memories.
May 6, 2017 at 2:46 pm |
I grew up a couple of blocks from Mrs. Stahl’s. I was a child of the sixties and Brighton Beach was a very different place. Back then, you could get a knish for 30 cents. I would take my two brothers , cross Coney Island Ave and with the 1$ my mom gave me, would would buy a potato knish for me and my youngest brother and a kasha knish for my twin brother. Sometimes mom would give me a couple of dollars, a big deal when your father only brings home about $65 a week, to buy all of us knishes. Dad like the kasha and mom would only eat the cherry cheese. I married in 1989 and my husband and I moved to NJ. When we visit friends and family, we always stopped and picked up a ton of knishes to bring home and freeze. By then, I also developed a taste for the cabbage knish. The store had changed hands by then a it was only a matter of time. While I was not surprised that it closed, it was one of my he last pieces of my childhood that was gone. I have tried to make it myself but maybe it was the water . It just rated different. I don’t go into Brooklyn much anymore. Friends and family are long gone in different directions and Brighton Beach, the one I grew up in, has changed so much. Besides, it would cost me $32 just for the bridges. Kinda makes me sad but happy. My kids never knew how wonderful that kind of freedom that I had.
May 7, 2017 at 11:01 am |
My father and Uncle owned Mrs. Stahl’s from sometime in the early sixties to the late 70’s, I think. If you remember above the sign outside was the name Weingast Brothers. That was them! I would kill for a cabbage knish, kasha, cherry-cheese, WHATEVER!!! Also tried making them. I have a cookbook called “The Brooklyn Cookbook” and we tried that recipe. You are right – probably the water. But if you liked Ebinger’s fabulous blackout cake, the recipe is in there and is “to die for!”
May 8, 2017 at 2:11 am
And I worked my behind off there for a couple of years till I moved on to chicken delight across the street! Josh
June 11, 2017 at 3:05 pm
Hi Cousin MAXINE, cousin BARRY here…
May 7, 2017 at 7:43 pm |
Hi There, Cynthia. I too remember Stahl’s knishes. My favorite ones were the ones that your dad and mom ate but I would never refuse if I was offered the potato knish. I visited Brighton Beach last year and you are correct, it is not the same as when I lived there. If you remember the 40 Thieves (store directly across from Stahl’s, it is now gone. I was born at 3118 Brighton 4th and attended PS 253. From there I went to 100 and then moved to Ave X where I attended Booty Junior High School. I graduated from Lincoln in 1965. I now live in North Carolina and Maxine (the person whose letter is above yours, also lives. Although I like stuffed cabbage, I never got a taste for the cabbage knishes. Keep those memories, they are worth a million. Roberta Wolf Rubinstein
July 26, 2017 at 6:09 am |
Hi y’all, I just ran across this looking to see if Mrs. Stahls still had anything going … but no. Hey I remember the original and omg the onion pletzel … just wanted to mention since I don’t see it here, that they also opened a branch out here in Los Angeles, for a short while, must have been back in the 1980s … knishes but no onion pletzel.
August 7, 2017 at 6:24 pm |
You’re making me cry (and hungry)
September 24, 2017 at 3:32 am |
What’re your thoughts on Gabila’s Knishes? Back in the day, they were the only kind my Dad would eat.
September 26, 2017 at 1:21 am |
does anyone know if the recipes are in the hands of the family or lost forever?
October 2, 2017 at 12:41 am |
Find “The Brooklyn Cookbook” by Lyn Stallworth and Rod Kennedy Jr. On page 47 is a recipe for rs. Stahl’s Potato Cocktail Knishes. My daughter, daughter-in-law and myself tried to make it and it was OK but maybe you will have better luck. Especially if you can find a stout Russian baker to make the dough.
Also, and this I had great success with, is a recipe for Ebinger’s Blackout Cake – to die for.
October 2, 2017 at 11:28 am
I’ll try to find it and give it a shot…thank you!
October 25, 2017 at 2:43 pm |
I miss the CABBAGE knishes 👍😟
October 25, 2017 at 9:31 pm |
Mrs Stahl’s was the absolute best. I was very sad when it closed. To date, I have never had anything as good as them. When you bit into one you took a step back in time. They were perfect. Even if you didnt like certain flavors you kind of still like theres. I hated kasha but when I tried a kasha knish, it was so good. The thought of a cabbage knish turned me off until my grandmother insisted I tasted hers and it was magical. The mushroom potato w a dollop of sour cream was my #1 favorite.
October 27, 2017 at 2:20 pm |
Do you remember the Pletzel? Kasha, dough and onions mixed together and shaped in a big oval. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!
November 3, 2017 at 3:58 pm |
I always ate the kasha knishes after going to bay 7 when in high school in 1953 to 1956
February 7, 2018 at 3:00 am |
I have a few photos of the store from 1984, but this site will not let me upload.
videobyjosh@hotmail.com
April 20, 2018 at 4:15 am |
I too remember fondly Mrs. Stahl’s. I lived on Brighton 11 street from the 40’s to the 60’s. Mrs. Stahl’s was a “must stop” when leaving Bay 3 in the summer,and at least once a week on the way home from Lincoln. The bagel store on Neptune Ave., near Ocean Parkway was another great stop as was Irving’s Deli on Brighton Beach Avenue. Knishes were always treat for relatives who always came over to go to the beach, have knishes, and then buy cocktail knishes knishes to take home. We were lucky. We had Lundy’s, if you could find a table, a great bakery with fantastic corn bread,rye bread, kaiser rolls, half moons and great chocolate cakes. I’s still trying to make knishes with the dough flavor that we all miss…….
September 12, 2018 at 5:32 am |
I lived in Brighton for many years, and if you can find out how to make the dough on those knishes I’ll give you a winning system on Baccarat.
September 12, 2018 at 9:59 am
I think the only way to get he dough right is to import some NY water.
August 17, 2018 at 8:34 am |
anyone knowing the recipe for Mrs. Stahl’s knishes please send it to elgarlv1@cox.net. Thanking you in advance.
August 18, 2018 at 10:44 pm |
See if you can find a copy of “The Brooklyn Cookbook” by Lyn Stallworth and Rod Kennedy Jr. It has dozens of recipes from famous restaurants in the Brooklyn area. Remember Ebinger’s Blackout Cake? I had great results with the Blackout Cake but not much luck with the knishes – page 47. The recipe is for Cocktail potato knishes. Maybe it was the Brooklyn water and/or the fat Russian hands that made the knishes. Please let me know how you make out.
August 21, 2018 at 6:23 am |
Thanks for the info!
May 27, 2019 at 6:00 am |
[…] Mrs. Stahl’s Knishes and the Oceana movie theater, the world of the Baths disappeared—replaced by a pricey condo […]
April 3, 2020 at 9:41 pm |
Don’t know if this stream is still running because all the comments are from many years ago. But here goes.
Grew up in Manhattan Beach, but my grandparents lived at 96 Brighton 11th Street. Stahl’s was the Holy Grail of knishes! Nothing was better then them! Yonna Schimmel….FAH!
For the last 6 months I have been trying to duplicate those knishes.
Got the filling down pat, but the dough is unattainable. If anyone can help, would love to hear.
Yes there was a little person working at Stahal’s at one time. He was pretty mean. Saul Permutter also work there. Anybody know him???
Think he passed away.
Every Tuesday, my father would get paid. We would go out to dinner.
The choices?
Hebrew National (mean and nasty owner)(hope it wasn’t your grandpa)
New Deal Chinese restaurant on Brighton Beach Ave
Irving’s on Brighton Beach Ave
Maria’s Italian restaurant on Coney Island Ave right off BB Ave
Nathan’s
Stahl’s knishes
Lundy’s
Rosoff’s in NYC
My mother would take my friends and I to the Oceana, Sheepshead
or TuxedoTheatres and we would stay there most of the day and see endless Abbot and Costello Movies and cartoons and continued to eat knishes. Rode my bike with BF Leslie till evening in Manhattan Beach along the Bay. There were tons of kids on the block.
Went to Abraham Lincoln HS and continued to eat knishes.
Went under the boardwalk (can’t do that now) and hung out.
Hung out on Kings Highway every Friday night with the other hordes of people just walking up and down and taking rides in Syrian guys’ Cadillacs. Going to fireworks on Tuesday nights on the Boardwalk and enjoying the beach when weather permitted. Made mischief at the Golden Gate Hotel (nothing really bad) with Bruce Graber.
Ate Pizza at Delmar in Sheephead Bay (still there) and shopped in Grants five and Dime on Sheepshead Bay Road.
Bought my grandma Kosher meat at K&S on Brighton Beach Ave
and shopped at Alfredtig’s grocery store
Could go on, but would not have enough space or time to talk about all the wonderful times and precious moments I spent in Brooklyn.
To the person who says Brooklyn is a slum…..you should be so lucky to have lived or now live there. Wherever you are, may it be LA, Florida, Arizona or NC or wherever the dumbfuck and lame place it is……you will never find a better place to live than Brooklyn.
April 4, 2020 at 6:04 am |
Thank you so much for posting this! I know someone who would undoubtedly know all of the references you included: restaurants, the Oceana, Lincoln High School, and of course Mrs. Stahl’s.
April 4, 2020 at 2:16 pm |
Nancy,
I lived at 3035 brighton Beach Ave across from the Brighton Cleaners and on the same block
as Mrs. Stahl’s . I grew up there in the 50’s and 60’s. I went to P.S.225 and Lincoln.
Best years of my life!
Roy
April 4, 2020 at 8:46 pm |
Hi Nancy! Don’t think we know each other but my memories are the same as yours. Lived on Oceanview Ave. between 5th and 6th Sts. Used to sit in the balcony (remember those) at the Oceana, My father and uncle owned Mrs. Stahl’s from around the mid sixties to the seventies, I think. They also owned a little luncheonette next to the Oceana theatre for a few years. My brother and I both graduated from Lincoln. Also went to 225. Cousins owned the haberdashery on the corner of Brightgon Beach Ave. and Brighton 12th (?) st. near the luncheonette and theater. Yeah, I could go on, too. So many good memories. Did not know you couldn’t go under the boardwalk anymore. So sad. BTW, lived in Brighton Beach from around 1958 until 1969.
April 5, 2020 at 9:19 am
My dad and uncle (May they Rest In Peace) graduated from Lincoln and I went to ps225
Lived on 12th st. Loved those knishes. Kasha was my favorite Such great memories. You can never go back that’s for sure ❤️
April 5, 2020 at 11:14 am
Remember the Onion Pletzel from Mrs Stahls? The Forty Thieves?
April 5, 2020 at 9:00 pm
I went to ps 225 and Lincoln HS. Lived on 8th & Neptune. I worked at Mrs. Stahl’s and remember Sam & Morris really well. Josh
April 5, 2020 at 9:17 pm
What years did you work at Stahls? I don’t remember anyone named Josh. But we might have met.
April 5, 2020 at 9:18 pm
What years did you work at Stahl’s? I don’t remember anyone named Josh but we might have met.
April 7, 2020 at 1:44 am
Hi Maxine. I do not remember you. I worked there when Sam and Morris owned the place. Late 1960’s. I left nyc in 1971. Now in Canada.
April 8, 2020 at 1:25 pm
We had to have crossed paths at some time but maybe were not introduced. I graduated from Lincoln in 1965, then went to Kingsborough in 66 & 67. I was definitely in the store a lot. Worked sometimes on the weekends. Makes me sad to think of the knish place replaced by a Subway.
April 9, 2020 at 6:14 pm
I guess Sam was your father. Cannot remember you but I remember Barry & his sister.
I was on Lincoln HS track team for years. Later went on to SICC Staten Island community college & later to Pratt institute. After Pratt I decided to join my brother in Toronto Canada & never looked back although I’ve visited many times & still have a few friends in the NYC area.
April 8, 2020 at 1:25 pm
We had to have crossed paths at some time but maybe were not introduced. I graduated from Lincoln in 1965, then went to Kingsborough in 66 & 67. I was definitely in the store a lot. Worked sometimes on the weekends. Makes me sad to think of the knish place replaced by a Subway.
April 6, 2020 at 3:41 pm
Hi JOSH, I of course remember you.
How is it going up in CANADA?
You guys doing social distancing…
April 7, 2020 at 1:38 am
Exactly as in the u.s. but our numbers are much much better. Yes long lineups at supermarkets, cheap gas, lack of masks, spending lots of time indoors etc etc. No fun but staying healthy and well fed especially for passover. Feds paying $2000 a month due to my lost wedding bookings.
Decided to start s huge project of digitizing all my old photo prints. Today I came across a photo from over 20 years ago of 2 of my kids
Standing directly across from your dad’s place with the sign clearly showing in the background. Not sure if the brothers still owned it then but this is an historic photo. Not ready for uploading yet.
Stay safe. All the best.
April 7, 2020 at 8:29 pm
Please send me a copy, too. If it says Weingast Bros. On the top of the sign then it’s the right era.
April 8, 2020 at 12:16 am
can’t seem to attach a photo. Send me your email address.
April 8, 2020 at 7:45 pm
gujackmax@gmail.com
April 9, 2020 at 8:18 am |
Nancy: Can you send me the recipe for the filling? I was told that Mrs. Stahl’s used strudel dough, but that doesn’t seem right to me.
April 9, 2020 at 3:16 pm
See if you can find a copy of “The Brooklyn Cookbook” by Lyn Stallworth and Rod Kennedy, jr. It has a recipe for Mrs. Stahl knishes and many other Brooklyn favorites. And actually I’m not sure if it was strudle dough used for knishes, or knish dough used for strudle. But it was the same dough.
April 11, 2020 at 5:24 am |
Nancy: My daughter’s name is Nancy also. Here is the recipe for the dough for Mrs. Stahl’s. 2 c flour, 1tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt. 1 to 2 tbs oil. 2 eggs, beaten lightly. 4 tbs, water.
April 8, 2020 at 6:00 am |
Does any know if it was strudel dough that Mrs. Stahl’s used?
April 8, 2020 at 11:22 pm |
The dough was made in the back of the store. They used the same dough for knishes and strudel. And thanks, now I’ve got a craving for strudel. 😉
April 9, 2020 at 6:04 am
Maxine Are you sure about that?
April 9, 2020 at 3:10 pm
I spent enough hours in the store to know that for sure. Even the onion pletzel. (And for those who are wondering, it is PLETZEL not PRETZEL) Now there’s something else I’m craving for.
July 11, 2020 at 11:48 pm |
Oh for an onion pletzel!!! My father had a deli-grocery store in CT and we had all these goodies galore! Onion pletzels were one of my favorite breads…
July 12, 2020 at 10:20 am
It was the same dough that was used in making the knishes
July 12, 2020 at 10:20 am
It was the same dough that was used in making the knishes
April 12, 2020 at 6:29 pm |
Stu Hoffer says:
It is said that as you get older your long-term memory sharpens, and being in my early eighties I’m not surprised that I had a dream last night of visiting Mrs. Stahl’s Knish store. I was immersed in the wonderful smells emanating from the entire store. As I waited in line I tortured over which kind of knish I would buy (usually kasha or potato, in that I never developed a taste for the cabbage…to my regret), or sometimes potato nick. It was a privilege to have grown up in such a diverse community, with the communal atmosphere of the BBB and Bay 1 or 2, Sheepshead Bay for fishing and sailing, Coney Island for a minimal cost day of fun (3 rides, 1 Nathan’s hot dog and a large orange drink all for a quarter), Charlotte Ruses, half-sour pickles direct from the barrel, Saturdays at the Oceana theater and a great education at Abraham Lincoln. In homage to Mrs. Stahl I attempted to make some potato knishes once, but while the flavor was there, it lacked the genuine Mrs. Stahl quality. Oh well, you can’t go home again…but the memories are certainly wonderful.
April 12, 2020 at 8:08 pm |
I’m in my early seventies but my memories of Brighton are all the same. Only one other popped up. I knew a guy at Lincoln that had a job at Nathan’s and he would give me the quarter bag for 15 cents.
There are at least a dozen other stores on the avenue I like to reminisce about. Forty Thieves to name a favorite.
July 11, 2020 at 11:45 pm
I graduated Lincoln in 1964 – great memories of Mrs. Stahls – just saying hi!!!
July 12, 2020 at 4:47 pm
Hi Sheri,
Don’t know if I know you, but I graduated Lincoln in 1964 and have strong a fond memories of the best Knishes ever made!!!
Live in Manhattan Beach and my grandparents lived in Brighton 11th Street so I was always
On Brighton Brach Ave. cruising in the stores and of course eating in the many food establishments. I still go back (pre-COVID) to stroll on the boardwalk, shop and eat in the Russian restaurants. Hopefully, when this is over, I will be back. One if the many problems laced I will miss is the delicious knishes, potato and kasha being my favorites. Have tried making them a home, but nothing comes close.
If someone could possibly get a similar recipe and start baking them in those big “pizza” ovens, I’m sure they would make a fortune.
July 12, 2020 at 6:45 pm
I went to PS225 moved to Ca.after one year at Lincoln. I lived on Brighton 10 th. st. One block away!
[cid:3B05F058-3CBF-4C24-9465-93065B23927D][cid:B5F8CC0E-9290-4CAE-AC3C-4011386BC13B-L0-001]
Sent from my iPhone
July 11, 2020 at 11:41 pm |
I graduated from Abraham Lincoln HS in 1964. Mrs. Stahls was an after-school destination for lots of kids – wonderful knishes – I most remember the cherry cheese!!! Long walk down Brighton Beach Ave but worth it – somethings you just can’t forget!
July 12, 2020 at 6:53 pm |
Hi Nancy – looked you up in the yearbook just now. No, we never knew each other at Lincoln but no surprise there with 5000 kids in our graduating class. Yes, those days don’t seem as long ago as they really are. I only lived in BKLYN for my HS years. My mother continued to live there – moved across the street from Lincoln to the Warbasse houses after I graduated. Remember the old SWEET SHOP on the corner? We used to live on Ave Z. So I’m not a die-hard BKLYN kid like most of our classmates but my memories are strong from those days. Best wishes to you – hope you get to have some more knishes. I live far far away so my dreams of having a nosh like a knish are pretty unlikely to come true!
July 12, 2020 at 9:51 pm |
You are lucky to still have the yearbook. So many moves in my life and who knows where it is. Yes, those graduating classes were so big. Of course I remember the Sweet Shop. My mother (deceased),
sister and I attended Lincoln, so we are old time residents of Brooklyn (Manhattan Beach) There is still something about the neighborhood that keeps me coming back, although very different now. But, some things are still the same. The Boardwalk and beach will live on forever and Sheepshead Bay still has its boats.
Some things will never change.
August 5, 2020 at 1:16 am |
Hi Maxine, it’s Cheryl from Brighton TV.
August 5, 2020 at 2:49 pm |
Cheryl, I am speechless. Can’t tell you how many times I have thought of you over the years. Where are you living now? Just give me a little time to get over the shock and I’ll think of more intelligent things to say. Wow. I’m not even going to try to guess how long it’s been.
August 6, 2020 at 11:41 pm
Maxine my friend, have you had enough time to get over your “shock” yet ?
Well, I can’t speak for you, but I am still completely gobsmacked ! (is that a word?……yeah, it is)
Really, the odds of us meeting again, like this, were not in our favor. And considering that I stumbled into this chatroom quite by accident, maybe it was fate.
I guess, in a way, we’ve come full circle. And, this all happened, by chance, in a knish chatroom?
Who would believe it.! Oh, BTW, I’m in Florida (hey, everyone makes mistakes, right?)
And you? Gosh, the memories and smiles are coming fast and furious. Ya know, I needed a
glass of wine to get through this post, What a pleasure.! (if you see any typos, it’s the wine)
August 11, 2020 at 3:04 pm
gujackmax@gmail.com
Can’t wait to hear from you. What part of Florida are you in?
August 14, 2020 at 9:29 am
Have not heard back from you. Hope all is well. How did you wind up in Florida? Please keep in touch. Max
August 8, 2020 at 11:04 am |
Don’t know what I’m doing wrong but this is my third try to answer you. Whatever i’m typing keeps disappearing. Can we correspond by email? gujackmax@gmail.com
There has got to be a ton and a half of goings on we can tell each other. For me, briefly, 2 children – twins, 3 husbands, 6 grandchildren. Moved a lot but have been in Raleigh NC for about 45 years. What’s new with you???
August 8, 2020 at 12:06 pm
Can we correspond by email? YES!
I am currently in the process of “composing” my next communication.!
August 9, 2020 at 1:53 am
Those knishes do amazing things!
February 5, 2021 at 6:12 pm |
I lived in Brighton Beach, first on 7th St. then on 12th St. from the time I was age 7 until I returned to the Bronx at age 15. I loved Mrs. Stahl’s knishes and ate them every chance I had. Whenever we visited back in Brooklyn, we always carried a box home with us. In 1962, I moved to Boston and occasionally visited NY and made it a priority to pick up a box or two before returning to Mass. I just had a knish from Costco, but unfortunately it doesn’t hold a candle to Mrs. Stahl’s. Decided to check it out on the Internet and found all the comments and further decided to put my own thoughts to paper. Incidentally, I will turn 85 in 3 weeks.
February 6, 2021 at 12:11 am |
Thanks for your Mrs. Stahl’s memories. I miss them too; they were a staple from my childhood.
February 14, 2021 at 6:02 pm |
I was a lifeguard on Manhattan Beach when I graduated Midwood I used to take the subway home and would buy a knish in the am then buy one on the way home to Ave H
February 27, 2022 at 7:47 pm |
i remember the wonderful taste of Mrs. Stahl’s potato knish….after a day at the beach…a wonderful treat.
Does anyone know where to buy these knishes?
how does Katz’s or Yonah Schimmel’s knishes measure up.
March 14, 2022 at 7:35 pm |
Mrs. Stahl’s Knishes started in a little shop on St. John’s Place and Utica Avenue in Crown Heights, directly across the street from Sam Ash Music Stores in the early 60’s. Mrs. Stahl’s moved to Brighton Beach and Sam Ash went to Kings Highway.
August 9, 2022 at 8:29 pm |
I was reminiscing about the legendary Mrs Stahl’s knishes and trying to describe them to my daughters, when I stumbled on this site.
I truly enjoyed the comments…. and memories from the early 60’s.
Full disclosure: I am not Jewish. I lived in Manhattan Beach, went to 225, and Lincoln HS from 1959-62. I lived on Quentin St., Does anybody remember it? It was taken over by the government and was at the very end of Manhattan Beach. Quentin St. was used for military housing at the time. . My father was a warrant officer in the USN, and stationed at the Brooklyn Navy yard during those years.
After we left
for the west coast in 1962, I learned Quentin St was razed and
Kingsborough College built on the land.
Through the long and winding road of my life, I still consider myself a Brooklynite, even though I haven’t lived there 60 years. I try to tell my husband about the delicious food I enjoyed in Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay. I can almost conjure up the smell and taste of those knishes! I also remember the most wonderful WestEnd Bakery, the Italian Pizza place under the “el” where my favorite snack was a 15 cent slice of pizza and another 15 cent lemon water ice. Most satisfying, eaten right there, on the street. I especially long for that hot potato knish while sitting on the beach- living now in Delaware.
I learned a lot about Jewish culture, religion and food in those years.
I was quite the minority in the schools, but my friends were warm and welcoming. Wonderful memories!
August 10, 2022 at 1:16 am |
Thanks for your comment and your memories of growing up in Brooklyn. I too try to describe Mrs. Stahl’s knishes (potato and kasha) to people, and words just don’t do those marvelous knishes justice!
August 10, 2022 at 1:41 am
We went to the same schools. I went to PS 225 from 1939 thtough 1947 And entered Lincoln in September 1947 and graduated in 51. I was photo editor of the newspaper in the yearbook. My best friends were from Manhattan Beach. I still remember Amhurst, Beaumont, I forgot the C, Was it Coleridge?, Dover, Exeter ,Falmouth,Girade, Hastings, Irwin, Jaffrey(?),Kensington,Langham(?), Mckensey?,Norfolk,Oxford,P(?),Quenton. That’s as far as I can go but I do remember the Coast Guard base in Manhattan Beach the storm that wrecked the waterfront during World War II, staying on the beach at bay 3 and then at the beach in Manhattan Beach. Having loads of all of Mrs. Stahl’s different knishes,and missing them to this day. I never did like the knishes after she sold the store. I had many friends in Manhattan Beach on most of those streets.
You brought back some good memories. I’m now in 89 year old Brooklynite who’s in Washington State. Best regards, stay healthy, bernie
Sent from my iPhone
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August 11, 2022 at 9:00 pm
It’s warming to hear from past neighbors who went to 225 (’42-“49), Lincoln (’50-’55), and I went on to CCNY (“55-’60) engineering. Stahl’s knishes were central to my life, followed by very memorable days in high school. It was a unique experience combining sunshine at the BBB and bay 1&2, Sheepshead Beach, the Sweet Shop and persisting throughout college. It was all worth it! I had a blessed life.
August 11, 2022 at 8:44 pm |
That’s OK, Pat (re “not being Jewish”). Some of my best friends aren’t Jewish. You brought out some beautiful memories that I had forgotten entirely. Especially playing at the military camp as a 10-12 year old…swinging on the ropes on the obstacle course. It’s so nice to hear from someone who appreciates the unique aromas of Stahl’s. I even tried to duplicate them, but came out with hockey pucks instead. I found another recipe that I’m bound to try. We had an outstanding childhood growing up at the seashore, sailing and fishing out of Sheepshead Bay, and the melting pot of cultures.
August 10, 2022 at 4:41 pm |
Hi Bernard, my mom (96) went to PS 225 and then Lincoln around 5 or 6 years before you. She’s still with us, and I’ll try to prompt her memory with some of those you mention. Know the names of any teachers in either 225 or Lincoln? Thanx!
February 19, 2023 at 2:27 pm |
We are thousands of alumnae of Mrs. Stahls.Someone organize a zoom meeting.
9 cities ,5 states later,PS 91,Erasmus Hall HS.Jewish Hosp.Brooklyn School of Nursing,mrs. Stahls never forgotten!now in Philadelphia @ 93 years young.Great Brooklyn and Bay 4 👏👏👏memories.Barbara Chernak 🙋♀️👍😍
February 20, 2023 at 3:38 pm |
Did you have relatives @3130 Br 7th Street?
June 30, 2023 at 6:27 pm |
I grew up on ocean parkway and Brighton beach Avenue went to bay 7 saw trump village being built went to P S 100 greatest neighborhood ever we had the subway the buses right there walked to both my schools Lincoln high
September 11, 2023 at 7:28 am |
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Mrs. Stahl’s delicious Brighton Beach knishes | Ephemeral New York
March 4, 2024 at 4:21 am |
[…] Schimmel’s is the only one left on the Lower East Side. (Yonah Schimmel has even outlasted Mrs. Stahl’s knishes in Brighton Beach, which closed in […]