This East Village 24-hour eatery is equal parts diner dive, hipster hangout and old-style Russian staple. Not glitzy, but generous, it remains a warm, inexpensive oasis on the continuously gentrifying Avenue A. Many of us parents go for your basic diner burger or grilled cheese and shake, but the full menu reads like a diner in Odessa: kasha varnishkes, blintzes, borscht and more cabbage incarnations than you can count.  

Solicited by Linda Kenny