Our first of several trips to Hobby’s was in 2010 and in our earlier visits, we ordered and rated Corned Beef, Pastrami, and Brisket sandwiches, as well as Pickles, Coleslaw and Potato salad. In fact, in our earlier trips, we ordered the same things at every deli we visited.  This trip, we decided to order just our favorite items.  We’d abandoned brisket because the brisket at too many of the 50+ delis we visited was disappointing – sometimes dry, and often not tasty.  At Hobby’s, we ordered and split a pastrami and a corned beef sandwich and latkes.  Pickles came on the table.  When we last visited, Marc insisted we try the latkes.  They were outstanding then, and they still are.  In fact, everything we had was first rate.  Our two favorites were the thin sliced juicy pastrami and the amazing fresh oatmeal cookies.  I also loved the sour pickles and took home a large container.  The pastrami and corned beef sandwiches were a bargain at $16.95.  (We found that crossing the Hudson, which is itself expensive, adds $5 to $10 to the price of a similar sandwich.)  Marc treated us to their version of pigs-in-blankets pictured below.  Delicious sections of hot dog wrapped in a pastry crust.  A great improvement from the pigs-in-blankets of old, which were nothing more than small hot dogs wrapped in refrigerated biscuit dough.  Gary thought they were terrific and ate far more than his share.  The onion rings, which they’ve always served us even though we don’t order them, were perfect – lightly battered and tasty.  Gary loved them so much, he finished off nearly half of the large plate by himself.

A highlight for us this year was a tour from Marc of the back of the shop.  They recently spent a lot of time renovating and enlarging their kitchen, using excess seating space.  We could tell how much pride Marc takes in his new kitchen, which was spotless and spacious.  He was especially pleased because it was a much more comfortable environment for his staff, whom he and Michael truly appreciate. They take care of their customers just like they do their staff.  If you go, be sure to spend time shmoozing with Marc and Michael! But be sure to check their hours.  Still recovering from the pandemic, and with a smaller staff, they’re only open Monday-Saturday 11-2:30 for eat-in and from 9 am for takeout.

(Side note:  Michael mentioned that his daughter was also a U.Md grad and very successful. With his help, I contacted her and she gave me some excellent tips for the students in the class I teach at U.Md, Designing Your Life After College”)

Our next stop was Liebman’s Deli in the Bronx.  Ellen Fried (aka “the pastrami queen” on Facebook) suggested that we be sure to order their “house-made” pastrami.  (Sometimes, Liebman’s runs out of their “house-made,” and then they substitute in Hebrew National.)  After several messages to the restaurant asking that they save some of the “house-made” for us, the owner, Yuval, called me back. He told me that Saturday is his day off, but he’d come in for us and would make sure to have “house-made.”  That was impressive.  We arrived at 2:30 pm and there was Yuval waving at us from inside as we took a picture of the Liebman’s sign.

We had a nice talk with Yuval, the engaging owner, about his 21 years at Liebman’s, which has been in his family for 45 years.  Even neater, the next day, we watched Yuval appear on national TV on the Fox and Friends morning show, where he had a 2-minute segment showing how he made his pastrami sandwich (it was National Pastrami Day). https://www.foxnews.com/video/6345077102112   In his “spare” time, Yuval is working on opening another “Liebmans” in Westchester.  It will open in the next couple of months and will be a stop on our next trip.

It was at this point that we did some budgeting.  We would have liked to have visited Goodmans Deli in Berkeley Heights, NJ and/or Sarge’s Deli in the city, two of our favorites, but in our advanced age, we no longer had the stamina.

So off we were to Times Square to see a Broadway show. We had snagged somewhat reasonably priced tickets to Six via StubHub on the drive up. It is a fun show, but as soon as we entered the theater, the four of us substantially raised the average age of the crowd.  Sitting in the upper mezzanine, we had trouble understanding a lot of the dialogue, but some of the other viewers sitting around us plainly knew every word. 

At 9:30 pm we decided to cancel our planned late-night visit to Sotocassa pizzeria in Harlem, in favor of an early bedtime at our hotel in Secaucus.  Since it was early, there was no traffic getting out of the city.

On Sunday morning we were up and out for our 9 am reservation at Clinton Street Baking Company in the lower east side for pancakes. (Reservations are hard to get, but worth it – there was a long line outside for those who did not plan ahead.)  Both the blueberry and plain pancakes were outstanding at $15 for a stack of three. They were light and fluffy with an amazing butter and maple syrup combo to top.  The bacon was good, but not remarkable.

On the walk to Katz’s we stopped by Russ & Daughter’s for some Halvah to take home.  I spotted a slew of Walter’s Seltzer bottles on the floor and with eager anticipation asked if they were for sale.  Alas, they were not. They’re only used to make egg creams.  Woe?  If we weren’t so full of pancakes, and on the way to Katz’s, that would have been a must.  We’ll get them on our next trip for sure.

Our next stop was Katz’s.  Wherever else we go, we always stop at Katz’s, home of what we considered our all-time favorite sandwich, Katz’s pastrami sandwich, which now goes for (GAAK) $27.45.  We decided to only order the pastrami sandwich because we just finished our breakfast, and still had a pizza visit ahead of us.  We ordered two sandwiches to split.  For the first time in 10 or more visits, I was disappointed.  There may have been inconsistencies in the four halves we split.  Malcolm thought his sandwich was excellent as always.  Larry and Gary liked their halves, but agreed, that although the pastrami was tasty, it was drier than usual.  I only had a couple of bites because my half was dry and not particularly tasty.  As I think about it now, I should have sent it back.  Note that when Malcolm ordered the sandwiches at the counter directly from the pastrami cutter, he gave him a tip in the hope that we would get the best of the lot.  His tip didn’t help with my portion. I enjoyed my Hobby’s and Liebmans pastrami sandwiches much more.  Katz’s pickles were good, and Katz’s store-brand seltzer was crisp and fresh.

 For our last stop, we arrived at L’Industrie Pizzeria in Brooklyn at 11:45 am.  There was a small line in front waiting to get in for the noon opening. They only have five counter seats inside the restaurant, but a large, comfortable enclosed heated seating area outside.  That’s where we sat. By the time we left at 1 pm there was a long line and all the seats in the outside area were full.  We ordered the half burrata and half margherita $33 pie. (Slices were also an option).  Our group had mixed feelings about our pizzas.  I thought it was good, but unremarkable.  As my cousin suggested, “It’s good, but not good enough to wait in line for.”  Malcolm thought it was excellent, particularly the nicely charred crust, and worth a visit.  Larry loved the crisp crust.  We all could have done without the burrata cheese on top. As Malcolm aptly stated, “The  basic tomato, crust, basil and cheese is great.  Anything on top is superfluous.” 

We had planned on one more pizza stop at the Brooklyn Sottocassa pizzeria since, the previous night, we were too tired to go to the Harlem branch after the show.  But age and our inability to eat as much as we had in the past caught up with us, so we headed home. 

I was surprised by the $126 in tolls for the trip.  Whew.   

We continue our search for the best deli food in the DC to NYC corridor, as well as pizza, burgers, onion rings and other unique foods. 

On our next trip in the fall, we’re thinking about Goodmans, Liebmans Westchester, Sotocassa and any other potential gems we hear about.  But we always know that just because something tastes great on one trip, doesn’t mean it will be as good on the next.  On the other hand, we’ve found that once we meet fun/hospitable owners, they’re always a treat to hang out with and patronize.