No thanks. I’ll eat where I want and donate to whom I choose when I choose to do so.

Sounds like an interesting idea, but it will fail (see also Cafe Patrique).

TLS – glad you like the chopped liver! I was totally channeling my Dad when I insisted on “Just one bite, young lady.” That was my second favorite dish of the evening, after the beef & barley soup. Bagels were tops, and the chive cream cheese absolutely rocked.

I also share TLS’s thoughts on the cole slaw, however – it lacked character. Other sampled items including the stuffed cabbage, tossed salad, egg salad and corned beef were all great. More to come on DallasEats – and why did I forget to take pictures???

Ok…so the food:
I loved the Beef and Barley Soup, the rugulah, the hot dog with sauerkraut(and that bun is freaking fantastic!), the Zinsky’s sandwich is A++, the potato kugel was perfect, wonderful potato salad, the most tender and flavorful pastrami and corned beef I’ve ever had, and the stuffed cabbage was very nice. The Bagel and Chive Cream Cheese….OUTSTANDING!!!

Oooh, I hate to complain in this case but I did not care for the Egg Salad. It needs bigger pieces of egg and more Dijon and pepper. It was too smooth. I imagine eating an egg salad sandwich and the egg flying out between bites hitting your table mate in the face. The Coleslaw was certainly fresh but very salty and blah. Maybe add some celery seed and some vinegar? And lastly, the Black and White was a big no. It needs to be more cakey and soft, with a hint of lemon. This was more of a sugar cookie.

I am very excited for Zinsky’s to open. Besides my large family going there, my husband’s office of 100+ employees will be ordering lunches after I told him how great the food was. The Baron’s and Mr. Brezinski were so welcoming and Chef Berlin seemed appreciative of my comments so I’m pulling for the good guys to win here! Great Job!

Guess the first thing I should say: I was shocked there was no Matzoh Ball soup station and almost as surprised there were no knishes. Like Elena, I consider these things staples of a great deli. So, I’ll be real interested to try them once Zinsky’s opens.

I thought the meats had superb taste and were moist. I’m a corned beef man, myself, and found the corned beef and pastrami to be pickled and spiced perfectly. But like any good landsman, I can find something to kvetch about even in near perfection. I’d prefer a little thinner slices on the beef for sandwiches. Even if it dries out the meat a tad.

The signature Zinsky’s sandwich is something I wouldn’t be drawn to on a menu – too complicated for me. But when Nancy made me try it – Oy, vey, iz meer vas dat gut!

Now the matzoh ball soup omission was mitigated by the beef barley soup. You simply can’t get good barley soup outside of New York. I’ve tried the frozen (Tabatchnik’s) and the canned version (Streit’s) Mushroom Barley and they are edible, but this was good stuff. Thick, just salty enough, lots o’ barley.

As for misses, I was disappointed in the cole slaw. It lacked a lot of stuff that I like, sugar and a little vinegar and it had too much mayo for me. My little table of meshuganahs agreed with me.

Wasn’t blown away by the lox or the chive cream cheese, but by that time I’d ingested a whole lot of smoked meats, so may taste buds may have been pickled.

Let’s put it this way, though, Zinsky’s tasting made me anxious for Zinsky’s opening so I can go and try all that stuff all over again and sample the Matzoh Ball soup and a knish.

Favorites: potato salad (not too mayo-y), the bagels (great job Empire! the were fresh), the lox was delicious (fresh and not salty), cabbage rolls (taste just like my moms!), chive cream cheese was SUPERB! The deli meat (pastrami and beef) were very flavorful and made in-house. The mashed potatoes were heavenly! The rugelach were nutty and fruity, almost as good as my mom’s (but I am biased!). The beef and barley soup had a very good taste, mushrooms, barley and huge chunks of meat.

Things that could use improvement: kugel needs to be a little crispier and adding raisins could add to the flavor and texture. Overall, the flavor was great.
The egg salad needs some tweaking: chunkier, less creamy.
The cole slaw was quite creamy.

Rating at the top: pastrami, corn beef ( lots of flavor), the pickles were delicious, just as good as the ones at the Carnegie Deil in NYC, home-made yummy potato salad, black and white cookies, and bar none, the best ever rugelah in the universe. From now on, all other rugelah will probably pale in comparison.

Rating at the bottom: the cole slaw had no flavor, and was soggy.

I did not see any chicken soup, or matzah ball soup, and these things are staples at many of the great delis. Will they be on the menu?