[2][3] As cited in The Underground Gourmet, a review of Yonah Schimmel's in a collection of restaurant reviews by Milton Glaser and Jerome Snyder, "No New York politician in the last 50 years has been elected to office without having at least one photograph showing him on the Lower East Side with a knish in his face.

By 1916, Schimmel operated knish bakeries at Allen St., 74 Rivington, 44 Ave. B, and 144 E. Houston (across the street from the present knishery location).

Around 1915, Schimmel went into partnership at the 144 E. Houston St. store with Josef Berger, who had married Yonah’s cousin Rose Schimel.

In the 1930s, a widening of Houston St. was undertaken in order to accommodate construction of the Subway system’s Sixth Avenue line.

[9] In recent years the restaurant has delivered its knishes nationally through Goldbelly, and has been featured in the site's YouTube series.