Less than a year ago, Viva La Dough was a seasonal stall outside Macy’s Herald Square, selling croissant pizzas to holiday shoppers who had no idea a viral kosher brand was being born. Now the French-inspired patisserie is opening its fifth storefront, and this one lands in the middle of Midtown Manhattan, one of the busiest and most underserved corners of the kosher dining map.
A Midtown Gap Worth Filling
The blocks around 7th Avenue in the Garment District pull in enormous daytime crowds. Office workers, commuters funneling through Penn Station, and shoppers moving between Bryant Park and the Fashion District pass through here by the tens of thousands, yet sit-down kosher options in the immediate area have always been thin. A quick slice or a falafel counter covers the bare minimum. A proper cafe with pastries, breakfast, coffee, and lunch has been missing. Viva La Dough is stepping directly into that vacuum.
From Pop-Up to Five Storefronts
The expansion pace here is the real story. After the Herald Square pop-up went viral, the brand opened its first Brooklyn storefront on Avenue M in Midwood, then added locations in Lakewood and Borough Park. This past summer it opened a fourth location in the Financial District, taking over the long-empty former Milk N’ Honey space. Midtown makes five, and it confirms what was reported back in June: a second Manhattan outpost was already in the works. Few kosher brands have scaled this quickly while keeping the concept intact.
The Croissant Pizza and Everything Around It
The signature item is the croissant pizza, a laminated, buttery dough base baked fresh and topped in formats that range from croffles to half pies to whole pies. Flavors rotate through options like Margarita Basil, Vodka Sauce Pasta, Mushroom Roasted Garlic Truffle Oil, and Cheese Truffle Oil. The pastry case is where the brand earned its social media following: chocolate-shell fruit creations layered with mousse, cake, jam, and real fruit, including mango under a white chocolate shell and a raspberry version built on fresh fruit.
Midtown will not run on pastries alone, and the menu accounts for that. Beyond the sweets and croissant pizzas, Viva La Dough serves gourmet sandwiches, salads, omelettes, specialty coffee drinks, and breakfast staples. That mix is exactly what a downtown lunch crowd needs, and it positions the Midtown shop as a full daytime destination rather than a dessert stop.
What to Know About the New Location
The Midtown storefront is still under construction with an opening date to come. Every Viva La Dough location is Kosher Dairy and Cholov Yisroel, and the supervising agency for Midtown will be confirmed closer to opening. We expect a late summer / early Fall opening date.
The new Viva La Dough is coming to 525 7th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Until it opens, the brand is operating four locations: 160 Broadway in the Financial District (Under OU Supervision), 501 Avenue M in Brooklyn (Under Rabbi Gornish Supervision), 1700 Madison Avenue in Lakewood, NJ (Under KCL & OU Supervision), and 4805 13th Avenue in Borough Park (Under Tartikov Supervision, soft opening). All locations are Kosher Dairy and Cholov Yisroel.
Looking for kosher restaurants near you? Download the KosherNearMe app at YeahThatsKosher.com/app.
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