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I am so behind on both my blogs, but I have especially been neglecting my Food Blog of late, but I just got a new computer and finally decided it is time to update you on what could be the best Delicatessen I have ever been too. Now I am a regular reader at the Chowhound boards, and read a ton of food magazines, so I have of course heard of Brent’s. It did after all win the award from Los Angeles Magazine for best Deli, but it always seemed so far away. Well my lovely wife Kelly and I recently bought a house in North Hills, so we are close, and we finally decided to try it, and we were both completely blown away. The food is spectacular, and I can say we had the 2 best Reuben’s I have ever had! Wow, I was blown away! And such great service as well. We will be returning, and often (baring the diet I need to go on very soon). IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN HERE, RUN DON’T WALK HERE, BECAUSE YOU WILL BE BLOWN AWAY!

Now I am normally not a Pastrami fan, I like my reuben’s made out of Corned Beef, but I decided to try the house special Black Pastrami Reuben served with Grilled Rye Bread, melted swiss cheese, a ton of Sauerkraut, a big thing of russian dressing, and some delicious fat french fries as well as some very sweet cole slaw.

The Reuben was a thing of beauty, and tasted better than it looked. Wow, I never liked Pastrami so well. It melted in my mouth, though by the end it was a bit much pastrami for me, but it was still amazing, easily the second best Reuben of my life. About the size (and price) of those at Victor’s (my previous favorite, now pushed to number 3), but better in some indescribable way. Just delicious!

My wife went for the corned beef, which was love at first site, my favorite corned beef of all time! Amazing. And she was able to get Sweet potato fries, which she loves (blech) and I think you can also get onion rings! Ha! So much selection. This corned beef reuben was sublime! Amazing!

These are easily the 2 best Reuben’s I have ever had!

Here is Kelly enjoying hers!

The service was to die for, and there was a huge amount of people there, and waiting, because this place is just that good. I got my iced tea refilled constantly, which I love (not sure why I can drink so much iced tea), and the staff was friendly.

This is easily our favorite restaurant in the area, and the best deli in Los Angeles!

This place is amazing, and gets my highest recommendation! You should not miss it!

Truly my only complaint is that I will never get to try all the other amazing thing on the menu, because the Reuben is so damn good that I have yet to be able to order anything else! And it all looks so good, but I will just keep getting their sublime Corned Beef Reuben!

AMAZING!

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Sue Clark and I were looking for someplace for lunch, and drove around, and couldn’t find the place we were looking for, but ended up here. The place is pretty damn good, and inexpensive for a deli, $10.50 for a sandwich instead of the usual $15 at most Jewish Delis. The service was OK, they seemed tired, but it wasn’t bad, and there is adequate parking.

I of course had the Corned Beef Rueben, and it was pretty good. The meat was tasty, though it could have used more sauerkraut, but other than that it was pretty good. And the fries were tasty as well. Not the best Reuben I have had, but still a pretty good one, and at a better price than at most places.

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I would certainly be willing to try this place out again, and they did have large iced teas as well.

419 N. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 651-2030

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This amazing New York Jewish Delicatessen that is open 24 hours a day has been a cornerstone of food in Los Angeles since it opened in 1931, and is always a good meal. There is some parking just south on Fairfax with 2 hours of validation, and the wait staff is always efficient, and some of them seem like they have been there forever. And the menu goes on, and on and on. I mean there is so much choice here that making a decision may be the hardest thing of all.

Now I grew up on Marthas Vineyard without a real deli, so I never had a Reuben until a couple of years ago (thankfully or I would be a whole lot fatter), well now my test of a deli is their Rueben, and this one is amazing. One of the best I have ever had. Just look at all that Saurkraut! And the dressing on the side is very nice. Certainly one of the best in LA. And I love the big fat fries. Actually a lot like Victor’s, and I can’t call one better than the other.

Kelly had a Monte Cristo which she loved, though I skipped on trying because the Rueben was really enough food for me.

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Canter’s is an amazing place, not only for the food, but for people watching at all hours. They even have a bar, and bands play sometimes. Canter’s is always fun. And there bakery is quite impressive as well.

On our recent trip back to Annapolis to take care of my father’s dogs, my lovely girlfriend Kelly had been fiending for a Ruben, so when doing a little look at main street we saw the sign in the Market House, and decided to try it for lunch the next day. We were both expecting a restaurant, but when we went in we learned that the Market House is a city owned premises where various food places rent and have stands, and the Galway Bay was one of those stands, where you get your food and take it outside to sit at little tables around the building or stand up at bars around the inside in between the food stalls. We were a little put off, but decided to give it a try.

We each got a Rueben and one big bucket of Fries, but they also have Fish and Chips, which they batter right in front of you and cook on the griddle. The Rueben was also done on the griddle and they put the corned beef, which was in stringy, but tasty pieces on the hot griddle and added the sauerkraut and let it cook, before adding cheese and putting it on rie bread, but instead of Russian dressing, they just used yellow mustard. The sandwich does not touch Victor’s for size, and it is abotu as greasy as could be, but it was pretty tasty. Certainly not the best Rueben I have ever had, but a decent one, if you could stand the grease (and it isn’t like Rueben’s are not already bad enough for you).

If you are ever on the main drag in Annapolis and want a Rueben this is not a bad solution, but next time I would hope to try the Rueben place that is up the main street further out of town.

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Kelly and I were driving to get some lunch in Burbank today, and decided to try this place, because of the sign about how great the corned beef was, so we decided to try the Reuben’s. The Reuben’s I must say were pretty tasty, though not quite as good as Victor’s. Well worth trying out in Burbank though.

The Ruben’s are $10.25 and fries are another $2.75, and have a decent amount of corned beef, a lot of sauerkraut and swiss cheese on rye bread. And you can get dressing on the side (though it doesn’t come normally). A really good reuben, in fact it has been growing on me and I like it better and better every time I have it. I might like it better than Victor’s. Damn it is tasty! This sandwich is evil, I could eat it all the time!!

A small, strange little cafe, with decent food, and nice service. Well worth checking out in Burbank.

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Decided on something different today, and had the fish and chips, which were pretty damn tasty. I am sure it was worse for me than the Reuben, but damn was it good! 3 decent sized pieces of fish, fries and a side salad or soup. Yumm.

Damn I really do love this place. Went with our friend Rudy and he had the Rueben Burger with cheese and heeped with sauerkraut and it looked damn good too, though I am not sure it could tear me away from the Rueben.

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This place is at the corner of Franklin and Tamarind Ave, and has a liquor store that makes great (if expensive) sandwiches, and is also a restaurant next door with again delicious sandwiches, though the prices are way too high. You have to experience the food though, it is pretty damn good, and the sandwiches are huge (though they should be from $10 to $15).

I started going to this place many years ago as a PA, when my boss would let me get dinner and a bottle of wine at the Deli. I would always get a turkey sandwich with lettuce, avocado and Italian dressing and a Deli pickle. The sandwiches are huge with so much turkey it is hard to wrap your lips around it. And damn are they tasty.

What I had today was a Victor’s Reuben with Corned Beef, on rie with Russian dressing, sauerkraut and swiss cheese, and is fantastic. Sure it is messy, but damn is it tasty. In fact some of the best Corned Beef I have had in Los Angeles. The Sandwich is huge and delicious, and you will need extra napkins, because it is a mess, and will be allover yoru fingers and all over your plate (and your shirt if you are not careful.

For sides the sandwich only comes with Cole Slaw, but for an extra dollar you can get some decent big fat french fries, that go well with the sandwich, but just add the the cholestoral busting nature of the whole thing. Unless you regulary get your arteries cleaned, I suggest not having this too often.

This place is great and tasty, with huge portions, though is way too expensive. Still I do eat here quite a bit, and have always enjoyed it.

The liquor store and deli are also quite good. They have a good collection of wines, and are always very knowledgeable about the wines and what you should eat them with, so just ask then if you have any questions. The prices are a bit high, but not that bad.