Shopsin's General Store is a diner in

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, known for its extensive menu and the personality of its namesake chef/owner, Kenny Shopsin. It first opened in the 1970s in the city's

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neighborhood, but is now located in

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in the

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Neighborhood grocery

Shopsin's first iteration was as a neighborhood grocery at the corner of Bedford Street and Morton Street in Greenwich Village. It, the stock and good will, but not the building, was purchased by Kenny Shopsin for $25,000 in 1973, using money from his father. He was undergoing intensive

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at the time and lived in the neighborhood. The previous owner had prepared and sold roast beef, a practice Shopsin continued.

The restaurant

Shopsin's is known for both its extensive (900-item) menu of unusual dishes concocted by chef/owner Kenny Shopsin, including items such as "Slutty Cakes", pancakes with peanut butter in the middle, and "Blisters on My Sisters", similar to

huevos rancheros Huevos rancheros (, 'ranch-style eggs') is a breakfast dish consisting of eggs served in the style of the traditional large mid-morning fare on rural Mexican farms. Basic dish The basic dish consists of fried eggs served on lightly fried or cha ...

, and for Kenny Shopsin himself, described by ''

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'' as "the foul-mouthed middle-aged chef and owner". Among Kenny Shopsin's quirks were his very specific rules, including that the restaurant will not accept parties of more than four people. "Pretending to be a party of three that happened to have come in with a party of two is a very bad idea," wrote journalist and restaurant regular Calvin Trillin. The restaurant and Kenny Shopsin were the subject of articles in ''

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'' by Trillin, and of the documentary film '' I Like Killing Flies'', directed by Matt Mahurin. An effort to re-create Shopsin's "Slutty Cakes" was described in a January 2009 ''Slate'' article. In 2008, Shopsin wrote a cookbook, ''Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin''. In 2017, one of Shopsin's daughters, Tamara Shopsin, published a memoir, ''Arbitrary Stupid Goal'', about her father, his friend Willy, and growing up at the restaurant. Shopsin died on September 2, 2018, at his home in the West Village.

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* {{Restaurants in Manhattan Restaurants in Manhattan 1970s establishments in New York City Chinese restaurants in New York (state)

Neighborhood grocery

The restaurant

See also

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External links