There may be little surprise that the street ranked the coolest in the United States is in New York City. Famously walkable, delightfully dense, the streets of NYC have enough to keep anyone busy for a lifetime: High-end boutiques neighbor pizza-by-the-slice windows, coffee shops double as art galleries, and every turn you make reveals surprising vignettes, street performers galore. Time Out ranked the best streets around the world based on the evaluations of their global travel team, and the highest-ranking for America was NYC’s Orchard Street. Though only extending eight blocks, Orchard Street is packed with great dining, unique galleries, and historical allure.
Orchard Street is located in NYC’s Lower East Side neighborhood, known for its history of tenement housing and multiculturalism. In fact, on Orchard Street you’ll find the NYC Tenement Museum, which is itself housed in a former tenement building (where working-class families of the 19th and early 20th centuries were crammed into crowded, makeshift living spaces). It’s one of New York’s underrated but memorable museums, with a 2025 Traveler’s Choice award on Tripadvisor and historically reconstructed apartments you can tour. Another unique museum opened on Orchard Street in October 2025: Autophoto, which is dedicated entirely to vintage photobooths. Stop by the museums in between doing something that Orchard Street is also celebrated for: bargain hunting.
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Digging up bargains on NYC’s Orchard Street
The Tenement Museum located on Orchard Street in Manhattan – Wdstock/Getty Images
In a feature naming Orchard Street as one of the best of the Lower East Side, mobile tour guide Carpe City called the street the “commercial spine” of the neighborhood and a historic “bargain hunter’s paradise.” When the Lower East Side received an influx of immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Orchard Street became the epicenter of merchants to supply the newly surging population with food, clothes, and wares, as the Tenement Museum describes. Up until the 1930s, you’d see the street lined with pushcarts that vendors used as improvised market stalls. A combination of tightly knit merchants and vigilant haggling kept prices low for buyers from all over the city.
The reputation of Orchard Street’s frugal spirit lingers today in thrift stores and family businesses that have their origins in the street’s early tenement era — Moscot, for example, is an iconic eyewear store on Orchard Street that started with one man selling glasses from a pushcart in 1899. The street has some standout secondhand clothing stores. One Google reviewer praised the Orchard Street location of 2nd STREET Lower East Side: “Probably the best prices for 2nd street thrift stores. Very cheap and wide sunglasses selection too!” The Vintage Twin, another secondhand clothing store, also gets good reviews.
Of course, the street has become much more upscale than it used to be, with luxury stores and millionaire apartments sandwiching the vestiges of its discount legacy. But if you truly want to see Orchard Street as it might once have been — and enjoy a budget-friendly outdoor NYC activity — come on a Sunday, when it’s closed to vehicular traffic, as restaurant seating spills out onto the street and it takes on the feel of a lively, open-air market.
Food and night life on Orchard Street
Russ and Daughters storefront in Lower Manhattan – Kennedy Photo/Shutterstock
The Lower East Side has made a name for itself for diverse bites and drinks, which reach their pinnacle on Orchard Street. Next to Autophoto, you’ll find the Russ & Daughters Café, an outpost of the restaurant Anthony Bourdain once included on his list of “13 places to eat before you die.” Like the bargain district, Russ & Daughters has its roots in the neighborhood’s tenement years, evolving from a herring pushcart started by a Jewish immigrant to its formal storefront in 1914. Another of the street’s culinary claims to fame is that it’s home to the pizzeria named not just the best in NYC (which would be a triumph in itself), but the best in the whole country for 2025, according to the website 50 Top Pizza, which lists its findings based on evaluations by Italian pizza experts:Una Pizza Napoletana.
For drinks, Orchard Street’s Las’ Lap is a rum-focused bar and a mouth-watering New York eatery owned by a celebrity. Close to the street’s lower leg, Reception Bar is a unique, Korean-influenced cocktail bar that might be one of the most visually pleasing in the neighborhood. If you’re interested in live music, the area around Orchard Street has a strong legacy preserved in some long-standing locations, like Arlene’s Grocery (technically on Stanton Street, but right at the intersection of Orchard), a legendary venue that’s launched the likes of Jeff Buckley during its multi-decade tenure. The best part: All shows at Arlene’s still cost $10 or less.
To reach Orchard Street, the Delancey Street/Essex Street station, just two blocks from Orchard, has the most subway line options. With the F or M trains, you could reach it in about 15 minutes from Midtown, or, coming from the Financial District, 15 minutes on the J train.
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Read the original article on Islands.