Is Los Angeles the Best Jewish Deli Town?
Delis are a lot like religion and politics—be careful what you say or somebody will leave the conversation offended. People take a pretty serious stance on mustard type, knishes, and what city is the premiere deli city. David Sax, author of the blog Save the Deli (and the same-named book coming out in October) has chowed on pastrami in New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, Paris, London, and Poland, but thinks the magic is really in Los Angeles.
There has been no grand decline in the L.A. deli scene. Most are packed, sometimes around the clock…The delis out there are bigger, are more comfortable, and ultimately serve better food than any other city in America, including the best pastrami sandwich on earth. Los Angeles is both the exception to the rule of the deli’s inevitable decline and the example to the rest of the nation of how deli can ultimately stay relevant.
Sax's favorite Los Angeles delis include: Nate 'n Als, Arts, Canters, Brents, Greenblatt’s, Factors, Juniors, and Langers, as JewishJournal.com points out. So, are you throwing a pickle at the screen in rage? Or do you agree?
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25 Comments:
omgzz that picture. get some summa that!
akapluto at 8:09PM on 07/28/09
I may not be throwing a pickle at the screen, but having eaten at many of the delis in both cities, I have to say that most of the delis in LA besides Langer's are pretty mediocre. On the other hand, New York's delis are woefully inconsistent.
Ed Levine at 9:23PM on 07/28/09
Confession: I once drove 25 miles at 2am to Canters because I was craving that pastrami so badly. One of the only places I've had pastrami that gets close to Katz's!
nycjules at 9:32PM on 07/28/09
Did I mention I was hungry? Mouth-watering picture.
lexophile at 10:14PM on 07/28/09
Langer's is the best that I've had out here since Victor's closed a year and a half ago.
mangabanga at 10:38PM on 07/28/09
Feh! Take it from this east coast (now west coast) gal who has spent many years pining for the delis in NYC. Los Angeles is mediocre. New York, at its best, is grand. And San Francisco - where I now am - sigh...the less said the better.
Dcarl1 at 11:33PM on 07/28/09
I live in the LA area and I wish this was true... but its not. Ed has it exactly right (as usual) Langers is top notch and pretty much everything else is not of note.
Also, I thought it was kind of funny that the picture was of pastrami on a french roll in a story about Jewish delis.
ChrisHam at 11:47PM on 07/28/09
Haven't had other LA -- and it sounds like there's no need to -- but Langer's pastrami is better than any in NYC.
Hands down.
Plus the rye is from a completely different universe than what you get at Katz's, 2nd Ave, etc.
Jack_Barber at 11:55PM on 07/28/09
That looks so good right now! Yum!
jlewfoodie at 12:29AM on 07/29/09
brents is THE BEST!
smtanner82 at 1:38AM on 07/29/09
Langers is excellent. The bread is wonderfully crisp on the edges yet soft, while the pastrami succulent.. having visited Canters i must say that i am truly bewildered by anybody who even considers their pastrami on the same level...how is that possible? the bread is mediocre in comparison, and the pastrami is by no means distinguishable from the stuff you could get at any average diner/market. although as an institution that is 24/7 I enjoy it, the food...not so much.
acomment at 5:24AM on 07/29/09
although i will add i only tried canters pastrami once...perhaps somehow some inconsistency? but to attest to Langers' deliciousness, not once has their pastrami been anything short of delicious.
acomment at 5:27AM on 07/29/09
But do any LA deli's hand carve their pastrami? No matter how good the meat is, the slicing method can play just as much of a role in sandwich quality.
chopcg at 9:55AM on 07/29/09
I'm not sure I'd pick LA over NYC but LA does have some good delis. I'm partial to Canter's myself. A lot of the other delis are overrated in my opinion - Factor's and Junior's in particular.
football foodie at 10:42AM on 07/29/09
I've only been to Canter's but I was impressed. Their matzoh balls were excellent, a bagel with lox and cream cheese ethereal, and a black-and-white cookie rivaled Zabar's.
unpocojmoney at 11:05AM on 07/29/09
Well, I havent tried them all, but having grown up in NY, I'd say that Canters was probably the last deli I'd return to..Art's definitely nothing to write home about(or blog), Nate and Al's is better..Brents, though, definitely can compete with the best...Pastrami is delicious! I have to get downtown one day soon and check out Langers.
L.A. Pizza Maven at 11:40AM on 07/29/09
As a lifelong New Yorker, I hate to admit that I agree. Good, old style kosher delis are rapidly becoming an endangered species here. Ben's on Queens Boulevard is OK, but I still schlep from Queens to the Carnegie when I have a Jones for corned beef - a sad testament to the status of old style deli in the city. Growing up in the Bronx, there was a deli within walking distance just about anywhere near the Concourse. For anyone that might remember, Stenzler's on 198th Street was my family's favorite.
MMinNYC at 5:58PM on 07/29/09
What are you all, Galitzianers? The taste test for delis has always been corned beef sandwiches, but suddenly pastrami has come to the fore. When Woody Allen sent up Gentile tastes in Annie Hall, it was a corned beef sandwich he used for the gag (white bread and mayonnaise). MMinNYC is absolutely right, that the NY deli is disappearing, but a good NY deli is still head and shoulders better than an LA deli. There are exceptions, like the pastrami at Langer's, but the rest is pretty mediocre. In NY, it was always the bread and the water--and hand cutting. My last sandwich at Junior's in Westwood was inedible, so now I go up the street to the Persian restaurants. I've lived in both places for years and years, and my vote's for the Apple.
tricoastal at 8:19PM on 07/29/09
Sorry, but what the heck is a 'Jewish deli'?
Kmelion at 9:28AM on 07/30/09
I live in NY, and Langers is as good as anything in NY and certainly cheaper. So many of NY delis the are culinary equivilent of "I heart NY" t-shirts anyway, which is to say overpriced and uncomfortably stuffed with tourists. Langers on the otherhand doesn't suffer from too much walk in foot traffic...
thesteveroller at 10:42AM on 07/30/09
Well, I was born in L.A. so I have been to Canter's. My husband and I would go there all the time for everything. I have lived in Phoenix and they had a really good Jewish deli, but I can't remember its' name. I live in Raleigh, NC and they don't have anything that comes close. No kishkas,
no motza ball soup, no good brisket. Being a college town, one would think by now they would have come up with a decent deli here, but so for not so. Oh, and my mother was from Brooklyn so she was a deli maven herself!
queenbleu at 12:02PM on 07/30/09
I live in San Francisco. I have nothing to add. It's sad. A town steeped in a Jewish past, not one decent Jewish deli. A shanda!!!!!!!
ndulik at 12:40PM on 07/30/09
Langers tops NYC delis - i've tried them all
no whining from new yorkers - it's fact, sorry.
radman123 at 5:38PM on 07/30/09
Hmm. Arts is still #1, maybe Cantors.....Nate n Als? Juniors? No way...mass produced drek
Flighterdoc at 8:41PM on 08/02/09
I'm feeling a pretty heavy "basin bias" in these comments. Langer's and Canter's are certainly delicious. But it's tough to beat LA's #1 deli for the last 15 years -- Brent's in Northridge. Of course, it does mean braving the 405 (and the Valley). But trust me... it's worth it.
WCBiscuit at 11:12AM on 08/03/09