Five Delis and More in Two Days - Best of the Best

We talked to Don on both trips, and each time we learned how seriously he takes his work and his deli. His long work hours and involvement in every facet of the restaurant are dedicated to making sure his customers get the very best. This kind of dedication wasn’t nearly as obvious at any of our other stops. Before we left, we said goodbye to Rabia, who was wonderful. Jennifer came by and mentioned that she had recently made a trip to Katz’s in New York to try their pastrami. She knew we were coming and remembered that as much as we liked Goodman’s pastrami, we all considered Katz’s to be the gold standard. She needed to see for herself. Katz’s may have great pastrami, but it can’t compare with the warm, relaxing and inviting atmosphere at Goodman’s. See this wonderful video interview with Don Parkin talking about Goodman's.

Our next stop was Katz’s Delicatessen in lower Manhattan. Larry had complained that in our previous trips, Katz’s was one of the last delis we visited, and that by the time we got there, he was completely sick of deli. So we made Katz’s stop number two this trip. The traffic into New York was heavy, so we were hungry by the time we got there. We found a metered parking space around the corner, and again this year it took us at least five minutes to interpret the parking sign. $3.50 per hour as best as we could tell—and legal.

It was 3:30 pm and Katz’s was crowded and frenetic. At Katz’s, you get a blue ticket when you enter, and a guy at the front door explains to frustrated customers that they’d better not lose the ticket because they would be charged $50 if they did. If you’ve never been to Katz’s before, you will find it to be very confusing. The not-particularly friendly Katz “host” told us that there would be a 15-minute wait if we wanted a table with waiter-service, or we could stand in the big lines at the counter to order our own food and find our own table. We chose the second option. Malcolm and I grabbed a table among the crowds while Gary ordered the sandwiches and sides, and Larry went for the drinks. As with all the other delis, we ordered and split, one pastrami, one corned beef, and one brisket sandwich (cut into fourths), along with potato salad, coleslaw, pickles and seltzer.

The pastrami—the reason we go to Katz’s—was again outstanding. I had visited New York over the summer at a less crowded time and had treated myself to a Katz’s pastrami sandwich. I’d been dreaming about a repeat visit ever since. I considered that sandwich to be one of the top five I’ve ever eaten. This fall’s sandwich was just as good. Everyone agreed. However…. with crowds and noise and hustle-bustle, some of us just did not enjoy our visit. Gary felt that the enormous room and crowds were part of the experience at Katz’s, and he wasn’t bothered by any of it. The brisket sandwich was similar to previous years, though some of us thought it was surprisingly good; over the years we’ve discovered that excellent brisket is exceedingly hard to find. The corned beef was not a winner – chewy, a bit dry and oddly flavored. On previous visits, the pickles were outstanding and worth taking home. This year, not so much, though the half sours were still high quality. Goodman’s were better overall. Our standard drink is seltzer. It’s the only drink that can go along with 5 deli visits (let alone 8) in two days, without causing significant digestive issues. Katz’s seltzer, bottled in glass bottles, was among our favorites. Larry bought a case of 24 for $36 which is a bargain, vs. the $2.75 we pay for individual bottles at the restaurant. Our advice, confirmed by multiple visits: If you go to Katz’s, go for the pastrami. Not for peace and quiet. Katz’s may be where Harry met Sally, but if they went there when we did, any witty conversation would have been lost in the din.

Another issue we had at Katz’s, and all the delis, was plate weight. At each deli, Larry pulled out his super-duper scale and weighed the sandwiches so that we could determine the cost per ounce. Ideally, we’d just weigh each sandwich on the plate. Again this year, we discovered that identical-looking plates can have significantly different weights. That meant that we had to transfer each sandwich (cut in quarters and piled high) to the same plate. It became a messy affair and bothersome as we all eagerly waited for our first bite. However, it is necessary for us to accurately weigh the sandwiches. See this spreadsheet for sandwich weights and prices.

Unfortunately, on this trip, we were unable to join up with my creative and oft deli-deprived son Mark—who usually meets us for a much-appreciated free deli lunch and leftovers. He was busy planning his new venture – a Harlem independent theater and coffee house, “the HIT.” He had previously received fame (if not fortune), when he produced and starred in the independent comedy movie musical, “Welcome to Harlem” now available on Comcast On-Demand and Amazon.

After leaving Katz’s we took a short drive to 2^nd Ave Deli on 33^rd and Lexington Ave. (It used to be on 2^nd Ave until the rent became too high.) We found a parking space nearby. (Malcolm, who was driving, has parking karma, and we always find parking spaces nearby.) But this left us with a big decision. The parking space had a two-hour limit. We could leave the car there, eat at 2^nd Ave and Sarge’s (our fourth deli), and then walk to our Broadway show. All for the $7 total parking fee, which is an extreme bargain in NYC. However, it was 4:50 pm and parking did not become free until 7 pm. If we put money in the parking meter at 4:50, it would expire at 6:50. What was the chance of a ticket? Or we could go for a 10 minute walk, risking a ticket, and come back at 5 pm to fill the meter. Malcolm wanted to go for the walk, but cheaper heads prevailed and we waited with the car until the clock on the meter showed 5pm. Then, we put money in the meter.

On our first trip years ago, we had our first “wow” moment at 2^nd Ave. As each of us bit into our brisket, corned beef, and pastrami sandwiches, we couldn’t help but say “wow,” they were all so good. This visit didn’t disappoint. The pickles were a bit salty (surprisingly, since I had always counted on them for take-home). But in general you can’t go wrong here. As an extra treat, they gave us a shot-glass size chocolate soda to finish the meal. All good stuff.

At 6 pm we headed up Broadway and on to the bleachers behind the TKTS booth—a standard visiting place for us. On the way, we passed an excessive amount of costumed characters, along with two nude models—both having their bodies painted. New York! On the bleachers, we climbed to the top of the stairs and enjoyed the view. It’s among my favorite places anywhere. You have to go to the top; you can’t go just halfway up and sit down. At 7:30 we headed down for the theater on 42^nd to see “On the Town.” We barely made it on time due to the excessive crowds jam-packed to get around the construction. I thought On The Town was entertaining, fun, and had great dancing, but not particularly memorable, although Gary loved it. This year we purchased tickets before the trip rather than risking whether the TKTS booth would have tickets that day. I expect that this will also be our plan in future years.

The show ended close to 11 pm and we made the no-longer crowded walk back to Sarge’s for our final deli stop of the day. On two previous trips, Sarge’s came out on top of our rating scale. (See our previous trip descriptions and numerical ratings.) Then Sarge’s burned down. Two years later, after Sarge’s was completely rebuilt, it’s as good as ever. Corned beef and pastrami were outstanding and the brisket is on a par with the other four delis. However, we noticed this time the bread didn’t seem as fresh as on previous visits. Their outstanding bread was one of the things that made them stand out. I mentioned this to the waitress as we were leaving. She lamented that we should have told her earlier. I’m not sure what that would have done. Like 2^nd Ave, the sour pickles were surprisingly too salty. Still, Sarge’s is a top choice.

There was no traffic getting to our hotel in Secaucus, NJ where we bedded down at the ridiculously late hour (for us geezers) of 1:30 am.

On Sunday morning we were in the car again at 8:30 am on the way to Coney Island. Our first stop, for breakfast, was the original Nathans. Nathan’s was deserted at that early-morning hour. As Gary and I stood at the counter , both salivating, I asked him what he considered to be the stupidest question of the trip. “Do you want fries with your hot dog?” “Of course,” he answered. “You have to have Nathan’s fries with the dog.” We each “restrained” ourselves though by only having only one hot dog. Larry also indulged, but Malcolm abstained. Hot dogs for breakfast? Having consumed our hot dog and fries, Gary and I decided one wasn’t enough. We did restrain ourselves somewhat by splitting another dog rather than each ordering one. Gary wondered whether our wives would consider this a sign of restraint. The hot dogs were outstanding.

After all that food we wanted to get some exercise that would help us lose weight. However, Larry pointed out, “The only exercise that will help you lose weight is pushing away from the table.”

After walking the boardwalk for 30 minutes, we headed over to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn to visit David’s Brisket House. We ordered at the counter where there appeared to be only one person working. We sat at one of 8 tables in the small, but clean space. David’s is unique in that you can get three sizes of sandwich.

Our next stop was Di Fara Pizza in Brooklyn’s Midwood area– a mostly orthodox community. According to the internet it was the “#1 rated Zagat’s pizza eight years in a row.” I saw a food channel show where they seemed to agree. We had to taste for ourselves. We arrived 10 minutes before the noon opening time posted on their website, because we had heard they have long lines. There was no line, but alas, the sign on the door listed the opening time at 1 pm. Aaargh. What should we do? We had one more stop to make, the highly-rated Hometown BBQ, which was close to the bridge out of Brooklyn we use to go home. But we didn’t want to wait an hour for Di Fara’s to open. Should we go for the Hometown BBQ, and then come back for pizza? It was a tough decision. Honestly, we were all kind of tired of brisket, so we decided to skip the last food stop and wait for Di Fara’s to open. Malcolm didn’t want to take any chances, so at 12:15 we got behind the only person in the Di Fara line. By 1 pm there were 30 people in line behind us. Fifteen minutes later, an employee opened the window to take orders from the first three customers in line. We ordered a half plain and half “special” – with all kinds of meats and stuff. $38. They still hadn’t opened the doors. Finally, at 1:30 they let us in and we grabbed one of three tables for six in the cramped space. At 1:45 the pizza arrived. The verdict? Larry said it was one of his best pizzas ever. Malcolm also thought it was first-rate. Gary thought it was very good, but his favorite part of the 2½ hour pizza experience was talking to the other people in line. I thought that, despite the excellent crust, the pizza was too salty and just mediocre. Would we return again, given the wait? Only Larry, who thought he might bring his wife back said yes. For the rest of us? Definitely no return trips.

At 2:30 we headed home after another tasty deli trip. With only 5 delis, one pizza visit and the hot dogs, it was different from our other trips – we weren’t totally sick of deli food at the end. Skipping the extra brisket stop was a blessing. Our conclusions? These were our favorite five delis and our visit to each didn’t disappoint. We’d highly recommend all of them. Sarge’s is back and in fine form. 2^nd Avenue likewise has kept up its standards. Goodman’s was right up there with them. Don and the wait-staff are superb. Go to Katz’s for the pastrami, and David’s – well, I just love their corned beef. Unlike previous trips, we decided not to numerically rate each restaurant. You can’t go wrong with any one of these 5 choices. As for next year, we’re still debating options. Pizza? Kabobs and Hummus? Cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings and milkshakes? Still TBD. Probably not deli again, but perhaps the year after. We are however, planning a second DC-area deli trip in the spring.

2019 Update--Since we published this article, we have revisited a deli that we first visited in 2010: Hobby's in Newark, NJ. During our first visit, we loved the "deli" atmosphere at Hobby's, which we felt was authentic "deli," and we greatly enjoyed talking with the two owners, Marc and Michael. However, we found the food average at best. In 2019 we paid a second visit. Neither the owners nor the atmosphere had changed, but the food was dramatically better, and we now rate Hobby's among our top 6 delis. While we were there, we sampled Hobby's corned beef sandwich, pastrami, hot dogs, latkes, onion rings, pickles, and oatmeal walnut raisin cookies. Everything was outstanding. We asked Marc and Michael whether there was an obvious explanation for the dramatically improved food that we enjoyed on our second visit. They explained that they changed suppliers soon after our 2010 visit, because their supplier had changed ownership several times prior to our first visit, and their quality and consistency had gone down hill.