Once Upon A Deli

TBR, The Brutal Review, an eat-and-tell about a really good deli whose soups I can't wait to try. 6/14/2022: First visit. I only bought some nice, soft, big, doughy, pleasingly mild-flavored onion and garlic bagels. They were very-very-good enough for a return. Staff was genuinely great: polite, honest in their recommendations, and overall nice people. Quip: printed catering menu was available but regular menu was only displayed (a) on the chalkboard behind the workers and (b) the website, via pdf. Staff apologized for not having hard copies out. 6/16/2022: Second visit. The following were ordered: Hot lean corned beef on a pumpernickel bagel and Hot turkey pastrami on rye, each NY style, specifically with mustard packets but sans slaw, salad and pickle; Breakfast sandwich with egg, ham, bacon and the default American "cheese" (I forgot to ask for cheddar, or Swiss, or Muenster, or...); Potato pancakes which came with a side of applesauce; and Cajun curly fries. Service just as excellent as the prior visit. Quips: mustard packets were missing. But s'alright: we have our own mustard at home, and I'm the only one who ever wants it. So that leaves the menu, which was still only available on the chalkboard and pdf. Wattayagonnado. I planned my order from a laptop on the 15th, anyway. The NY sandwiches were truly NY style, packed tightly and very thick with loads of meat. Those and everything else tasted very good, especially the rye bread, which had a wonderfully robust flavor. N.B. not all rye is created equal and this rye definitely makes the cut. That rye was pretty soft due to sweating during the drive home. As for the meats, we prefer lean beef despite the extra fatty flavor one gets from regular. And the turkey pastrami was a bit dry but maybe its seasoning made it seem that way. Maybe it was just more genuine turkey than what Hillshire Farm offers because it's from a deli, and more genuine turkey is dryer. All of us preferred that turkey to even the corned beef because we like our meats light and its flavor was best, which is funny considering that fattier corned beef is /supposed/ to offer more flavor. S'all personal preference. The Cajun curlies were well but not really Cajun seasoned, which is what I would expect if I were ordering something like that from the Carnegie in the aughts. That was a nice, '70s-style joint. It had apple juice! The potato pancake was what I truly enjoyed. It's the thickest I have encountered in my lifetime. And it's crispy on the outside and smooth and fluffy(!) without potato chunks on the inside. I just never had it like this before. I'm used to thinner items from the grocery freezer or pancake houses, in each case with tiny, chunky potato cubes inside a crusty exterior. That makes them more like hash browns, but hey, fooling in advertising.... I got used to this real version real fast and thoroughly enjoyed it. Leftovers, i.e., how does the 6/16/2022 order hold up after the fridge: 6/17/2022 day and eve: just as good. Microwaved those Cajun curly fries with our home mustard - putting the mustard on top before, not after, microwaving - and they were better with than without. Tip: by adding the mustard I did away with the need to re-fry or -bake these curlies. The last of the sandwiches was a bit of the corned beef, which was also good and went great with that mustard which no one in my household likes but me. (So to the ketchup cage for you, Boo.) 6/18/2022 breakfast: last of the order, one potato pancake with a side of applesauce. Placed two fried over-medium eggs over that last pancake, which I had microwaved. Great and maybe even better if I fried or baked the pancake. This was not a cooking show; I just wanted to eat. The applesauce was pretty sweet. It complimented the pancake's flavor nicely.

Great place for deli food and other items. A little slow but overall really good and consistent!

So so so impressed by this deli! Went for lunch one day since it's near my work and I got the corn beef sandwich. I got it New York style and there was so much meat. Very lean too which was an added bonus. Everything was fresh and it didn't take them long to make it. Maybe ten mins tops. Would definitely recommend and go back!

A little bit of NYC in the north burbs. Absolutely delicious hot pastrami sandwich that is big enough to split. I can't sing this sandwich's praises enough. Nice side of potato salad or Cole slaw comes with your sandwich. Uber friendly staff and a small seating area.