Articles about Delis
Why Doesn’t Dallas Support New York-Style Delis?
Pastrami sandwich at Deli-News. (Photography by Kevin Marple.)
On January 25 I reported the closing of Gio’s Café and New York Deli. In the post I wrote: “What a snake-bit location for deli. Ed’s Deli closed in December 2008 , Roasters and Toasters lasted less than a year after replacing Deli News Too.”
People are still commenting on why Gio’s, and other New York-style delis in Dallas, failed. Tina Wasserman, author of Entrée to Judaism and teacher of all-things-kosher, left this comment:
“It has very little to do with location (unless you can’t find parking). Delis’ biggest competition is people’s memories and memories are very hard to reproduce. Additionally, the manager of Katz’s in NY told me that he has made his special pastrami recipe all over the country and the same recipe doesn’t re-create in other cities mainly due to water.”
Hmm, that’s the common excuse for why bagels can’t be reproduced outside of NYC. Really water and pastrami? Interesting. I thought the pastrami served at Gio’s was imported from New York. So does that mean the water the meat is steamed with?
Another reader took the time to email me with his thoughts which I also find interesting. My new friend Joe says:
Most deli food is not healthy. Most deli food comes in huge ridiculous portions. Most deli food is fattening. My mental association with deli food is an image of fat sedentary people eating stuff that is literally killing them similar to traditional southern cuisine. It’s old hat and pretty uninteresting. Reminds some of what our grandparents ate and thought was wonderful. Most delis are very noisy and some of us don’t care for the noise. I’m probably saying more about me than anything else since I happen to be Jewish and grew up in small town Texas, but maybe others have the same thought.
I happen to be a shiksha who grew up in the neighborhood behind Preston Forest and attended Arthur Kramer Elementary school. I remember standing in line outside of Wall’s Delicatessen in Preston Royal Shopping Center. I appreciate a good deli and hit Katz’s when in New York. Perhaps Dallas prefers their brisket barbecued. I think Tina and Joe have made some interesting points. Would love to hear yours.
23 Comments »
Gio’s Café and New York Deli in Dallas is Closing on January 31
Why does Dallas continue to kick pastrami to the curb?
Bad new for deli lovers: Gio’s in North Dallas is closing on January 31. Manager Mark Walls just confirmed. “This construction just did us in,” Walls said. “The guys who fund this place aren’t restaurant guys and they are tired of funneling money in.” Gio’s will not be relocating.
The construction he refers to is the tangle of rebar and concrete at LBJ and Preston Road. Preston Valley Shopping Center is also home to Stein’s Bakery,India Palace, Shanghai Restaurant, Fuji Steak House, Café Greek, and Penzy’s Spices.
A SideDish reader tells me the landlord already has two clients with deli concepts lined up to open. Walls couldn’t confirm this but said potential renters have toured the property.
What a snake-bit location for deli. Ed’s Deli closed in December 2008 , Roasters and Toasters lasted less than a year after replacing Deli News Too.
Almost two years ago, I posted:
The stretch of Preston Road that runs south from LBJ Freeway to Royal Lane has seen its fair share of delicatessens come and go. Many of us remember Wall’s Delicatessen, which opened in 1951 in Preston Royal Shopping Center. Then, of course, there was Gilbert’s in Preston Forest. Wall’s closed in 1990 and operates only a catering facility, and Gilbert’s ceased its cranky operation in 2004. Ed’s Deli, Deli News Too, Zinsky’s, Bagelstein’s, and Roasters’ n Toasters have all opened and closed in the last few years.
Why can’t Dallas support good delicatessens? Gio’s, we’ll miss your hot Italian sausage with grilled peppers and onions and your half sours.
36 Comments »
Somebody Help This Poor Boy: Great New York Cheesecake in Dallas
He’s a lean, mean, non-fighting machine with his eye on the future and a nostalgic stomach. He reminisces:
Hi, Nancy. Do you remember Phil’s Delicatessen on Oak Lawn? I think it was in was where Lucky’s is now. The sandwiches were piled high and the cheesecake was delicious—the blueberry sauce dripping all over it. Is there any place in Dallas that even compares to Phil’s? Particularly the cheesecake? Thanks.
Two years ago, we talked about this. And SideDish readers constructed the perfect Dallas Delicatessen.
4 Comments »Chef Julian Barsotti Makes Some Big Changes at Carbone’s in Dallas
Julian Barsotti
After six weeks chef Julian Barsotti is making some changes to Carbone’s, his Italian-American Deli. Most of you know, it’s not unusual for any new business to bend and stretch original plans once customer feedback starts pouring in. Barsotti is dedicating to improving. “In the first few weeks we were figuring out our identity and it drove me crazy because we didn’t have a clear concept to evolve within,” Barsotti said. “Now I have clear vision and I am excited about how we can deliver hospitality and create delicious Italian American food. I also learned that working in a set menu format is contrary to my ingrained cooking philosophy.”
Some of Barsotti’s new plans call for more Texas produce, a menu that will change with the seasons, lower prices on dried pasta ($8), and increased the size and filling of pasta ratio in their raviolini. “I am making and effort to source more American artisan dry goods for the market component,” Barsotti said. “I recently sourced heirloom dried runner cannellini beans for retail sale.” He also says: “We are putting up a bunch of salumi and will have some unique salames at both restaurants in the near future. Stuff like cresponi, felino, fegatino and hunters loop that you rarely see outside of Italy.”
His also altered the deli’s concept:
We will keep our counter service model during lunch and serve a menu that consists of sandwiches, salads, and soups. We may add a few pastas in the future. I have changed dinner to table service. First come, first served. From 2:30 to 5:30 there is a limited menu in addition to the market items. On Sunday we open at 10:00 and will serve brunch until 2:00. Sunday dinner, the family style tasting menu, will start at 5:30. We will take reservations for that dinner and the cost will be $45 or $50 depending on the menu. All menus are available to view on the website.
Smiling Moose Deli to Hit Dallas Like a Pack of Mules
I’ve seen a lot of moose and, guess what, they don’t smile. They’re ornery, awkward and introverted. Like most animals, the male gets the better outfit: bulls are adorned with spectacular racks (antlers) while the cows (females) look like ugly donkeys. But I’m off target.
A Smiling Moose has been spotted in Carrollton. It is a deli and the first location of the Colorado-based sandwich shop in the DFW area. If Dallas-based real estate broker and managing partner of Racalico, llc, Jennifer Frank has her way, there will be 12 Smiling Moose in Dallas and 50 in Texas. Here’s the menu.
UPPITY DATE: Fun procrastination! Find out if you are a moose! I took the test and I am a crocodile. You?
10 Comments »Oliver’s Gourmet Food Store to Open This Fall in Downtown Fort Worth
Contributor Julissa Treviño sends us this report about Oliver’s opening in Fort Worth…
The storefront sign is now up at soon-to-open Oliver’s Fine Foods, a family-owned local and gourmet food market in downtown Fort Worth. The store will provide a selection of foods, wine and beer, as well as a deli, a butcher shop and catering to downtown residents.
“The number one most-requested use is a grocery,” Johnny Campbell, President and CEO of Sundance Square, told NBCDFW last month. According to Campbell, Sundance Square had been looking into putting a grocery store in the 6,600 square-foot space in the Sanger Building on Throckmorton and Fourth for two years.
jump to read more… Continue reading "Oliver’s Gourmet Food Store to Open This Fall in Downtown Fort Worth"
5 Comments »Somebody Help This Poor Boyfriend Out
Panicked 4th of July requests are coming in fast & furious. Here’s one of my favorites from this morning:
Help! I just started dating a very cool woman. She happens to be vegan (or is it a vegan?). Regardless, she invited me to her 4th of July cookout which is, yes, you guessed it, all vegans except me. I want to be respectful and make a good impression on her friends & family (I really like this girl). She asked me to make a side, preferably potato salad. I could look up some recipes but I’m kind of a lost cause in the kitchen. Does anyone know if there’s a deli that sells vegan sides?
A challenge, to say the least. Let’s help this poor schmuck.
21 Comments »Ate it for $8: Cindi’s N.Y. Delicatessen in Carrollton
Ho-hum pastrami on rye at Cindi's New York Delicatessen.
Our cheap eats correspondent Kristy Alpert has been scouring Dallas for some great tasting deals. Today she finds a deal, but feels her $8 could have been spent better elsewhere. Here’s Kristy:
For my $8 lunch this week I headed out to Cindi’s N.Y. Delicatessen in Carrollton. I’d heard rave reviews about the Reuben, but unfortunately you can’t get that for eight bucks, so I was hoping to try the “poor man’s version” of the sandwich. Although there’s a location right down the street from where I live in Dallas, I ever-so-graciously decided to meet a good friend for her lunch hour near her office in the ‘burbs.
Partly because I’m an amazingly skilled driver (READ: fast) and partly because I was jonesing for a good sammich, I showed up a bit early. The place didn’t totally give off that “deli” feel that I’m used to finding in New York, or even Dallas for that matter, but I took a seat in a booth near the rest of the lunch crowd bunch to get some good eavesdropping in while I waited for my friend to show up. While the atmosphere of the place didn’t scream deli, the clientele sure did. In true form, most of the crowd was made up of elderly people dining alone and disgruntled co-workers bashing bosses and ex-husbands (I swear I heard the same conversation bounce around three different tables: “my ex-husband never took me dancing,” “for once I want a boss who doesn’t micro-manage,” etc.).
But I digress. Jump for the rest. Continue reading "Ate it for $8: Cindi’s N.Y. Delicatessen in Carrollton"
6 Comments »Breaking News: Gandolfo’s Deli Food Truck Finally Rolls in Dallas
Today was opening day for Gandolfo's Truck in Dallas.
Randy Wolken, the regional franchisee for Gandolfo’s Deli Sandwiches has been working hard to get his food truck on the road. In April, he drove the truck from Florida to Texas, got his permits for multiple cities, and started searching for sites to park the truck for service. He wanted to be on the road yesterday, but an electrical problem in the commissary stalled the first truck roll by a day.
Today he parked the truck and started serving. The first location was in an out-of-the-way parking lot behind an AT&T office building off of Empire Central, near Harry Hines. By having a less visible location, Randy could effect the truck equivalent of a soft opening to work out the kinks.
Gandolfo’s is a New York deli style menu, with a wide range of sandwiches–lots of pastrami, hot dogs, and a few salad offerings. Sandwich pricing is in the $6-10 range. For my first outing, I had the Rockefeller Reuben ($9.29) and a Joey’s black and white cookie ($2). The cookie is cake-like with half-vanilla and half-chocolate frosting which is packaged and shipped from NY. I could do without the cookie next time. There are just too many outstanding local bakeries.
Jump for details.
Continue reading "Breaking News: Gandolfo’s Deli Food Truck Finally Rolls in Dallas"
2 Comments »Food Attack From the East Coast: Murray’s Cheese Shop is Hitting Dallas
A little bit of Greenwich Village is headed to Dallas.
With our ferocious invasion of the In-N-Out‘s double-doubles under control, we turn to face our next assault: conjugated linoleic acid from Murray’s Cheese on Bleecker Street in New York City. No, we don’t need any rope, conjugated linoleic acid is a good thing. It is one of the healthy fats (love it!) found in cheese. There are many New Yorkers who think Murray’s Cheese shop is the best in New York. And, like so many New York businesses, Murray’s had humble ethnic start. From their website:
“Murray Greenberg was a Jewish Spanish civil war veteran and communist who opened a wholesale butter and egg shop a few doors up Cornelia street in 1940. The old timers tell me [current owner Rob Kaufelt] that even though he was an old leftie, he was still a street smart capitalist who used to buy cheese cheap and trim it and sell it. In the 70′s he sold the shop to his clerk Louis Tudda, an Italian immigrant from Calabria.” Grab a Kleenex and continue here. (I’d cast Dustin Hoffman as Murray and Helen Mirren as Paula Lambert in the movie War of the Cheeses.)
Fast forward to May 17, 2011. Murray’s has two locations in New York where they sell a gazillion cheeses. They have a books, cured meat, crackers, dried fruit and nuts, and an olive and antipasto bar. Phew! And a serious online shopping site. However, you won’t need to order Murray’s cheese if you like Murray’s cheese because Murray’s cheese has made a deal with Kroger and soon their cheese will spread across North Texas. (They are already in Houston. What else would you expect from a communist cheese maker? No emails please.) It looks like a Kroger store in Irving (June-ish, not sure which location) will be the first outpost for Murray’s Cheese shop. I say shop because they are building little areas inside each Kroger to mimic the interior of the Greenwich Village store. (Twinwillow, I see a job opportunity in your future.) After that, it’s Katy bar the door– I hear the whole Upper East Side is relocating Frisco.
UPPITY DATE:
The first three shops to open in Dallas-Fort Worth are at the following Kroger locations:
-Irving 7505 N. MacArthur Blvd. Irving, TX 75063 (Opening Date: 5/25/11)
-Dallas 5665 E. Mockingbird Dallas, TX 75206 (Opening Date: 6/15/11)
-Fort Worth 3300 Texas Sage Trail Fort Worth, TX 76177 (Opening Date: 7/6/11)
More below. Continue reading "Food Attack From the East Coast: Murray’s Cheese Shop is Hitting Dallas"
8 Comments »Olé! Pasaporte España Kicks Off At Central Market Despite Torrents
Central Market kicked off Pasaporte Espana with a food & wine class in the Cooking School (left) and a prepared-foods case stocked with national favorites. (Photos by Sarah Reiss)
Central Market’s Pasaporte España—a total store takeover with Spanish seafood, wine, pastries, oils, canned seafood (a Spanish specialty), and so much more—kicked off last night in the Greenville Ave. location. For the ribbon cutting (which was supposed to be held in the tent in the parking lot but was moved to the entry vestibule due to rain), top brass filled the store with costumed team members, flamenco guitarists, flamenco dancers from the 2011 Dallas Flamenco Festival, Spanish wine producers, cultural liaisons, and more. jump for the pictures and a video of saucy flamenco dancers … Continue reading "Olé! Pasaporte España Kicks Off At Central Market Despite Torrents"
Restaurant Review: Gio’s New York Deli in Dallas
Pastrami from Carnegie Deli in NYC is served at Gio's. Photo by Kevin Marple.
The stretch of Preston Road that runs south from LBJ Freeway to Royal Lane has seen its fair share of delicatessens come and go. Many of us remember Wall’s Delicatessen, which opened in 1951 in Preston Royal Shopping Center. Then, of course, there was Gilbert’s in Preston Forest. Wall’s closed in 1990 and operates only a catering facility, and Gilbert’s ceased its cranky operation in 2004. Ed’s Deli, Deli News Too, Zinsky’s, Bagelstein’s, and Roasters’ n Toasters have all opened and closed in the last few years.
Recently, Gio’s New York Style Deli debuted in the Deli News-turned-Roasters space at LBJ and Preston. There is nothing special about the interior, but there is plenty to like on the menu. Pastrami, corned beef, and kosher dills and half sours are shipped in from Carnegie Deli in New York. Bagels and bialys are made on-site. I’m sure deli purists will complain that the sandwiches are wimpy. Click for more.
Have you been?
8 Comments »Three Gandolfo’s New York Delicatessen Trucks to Hit Dallas Streets
Let's hope his truck stops near.
Local entrepreneur Randy Wolken is jumping into the food truck business in a big way. He’s obtained the Dallas franchise rights to Gandolfo’s New York Delicatessen. He plans to get at least three deli trucks on the road before going brick-and-mortar. “I am going to open my first truck on May 1st, the week after Easter,” Wolken said. Wolken has completed his homework on the city ordinances and promises to keep us posted on his progress. I say we ask him to offer SideDish readers a first chance lunch. Hey Randy, we’re hungry. Meet us at the corner of Ross and Pearl. Here are the details of Wolken’s enterprise.
2 Comments »That Old Familiar Longing Strikes Again—Thank Goodness for Gio’s Half-Sours
Word on the street is that Gio’s Deli is importing half-sour pickles from Carnegie Deli in NYC. As someone whose relationship to half-sours is borderline fanatical, and whose cell phone screen saver is a picture of her husband eating a half-sour (follow the jump if you don’t believe me), I am scarcely able to contain myself. In fact, the only news that could make me happier would be if they were importing them from Katz’s. For newbies to the deli scene, half-sours are a hard-to-find form of pickle that is extra crisp, bright green in color, not dill, more salty than vinegary, and generally only available in a real New York deli or on Delancey St. (Some companies have tried to jar them for the mass market, but the results are always a disappointment.)
What about you? What’s the food from your past—particularly reminiscent of a certain city—that you pine for?
Continue reading "That Old Familiar Longing Strikes Again—Thank Goodness for Gio’s Half-Sours"
New Deli: Gio’s Café & New York Deli Opens at Preston Valley in North Dallas
You can go to Gio’s Café & New York Deli and judge if it is in fact an “authentic New York deli.” Gio’s is located in the former Ed’s-turned-Roaster’s space at Preston and LBJ. They will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Jump for the full story.
Continue reading "New Deli: Gio’s Café & New York Deli Opens at Preston Valley in North Dallas"
11 Comments »Gio’s Café and NY Deli to Open in Former Roaster’s Space on Preston & LBJ in Dallas
A new banner hangs across the space formerly known as Roaster’s Deli and before that Ed’s Deli (R.I.P) at Preston Rd and LBJ. Gio’s Deli and New York Deli is under construction and they have a telephone listing. Nobody is answering it yet, so details will follow. (h/t LW)
I happy to have another deli in the works in Dallas. (Although until the Rangers are in the World Series I am anti ANYTHING New York.) That said, still don’t understand why they don’t make it here–especially in that neighborhood. When I was growing up in Dallas Preston Road was home to many. I can still taste Wall’s. And Phil’s. Where have all the delis gone?
6 Comments »Let’s Build the Perfect Dallas Delicatessen
We’ve reminisced about old Dallas delicatessens (Phils, Gilbert’s, Wall’s) and we’ve criticized the new ones that failed (Roaster’s, Zinsky’s) and the one’s still in business (Deli-News). Let’s pretend that we have been hired by a company to build the perfect delicatessen for Dallas. Big sandwiches? Great bagels? Acme smoked fish? What? Whaddayawant?! I say, bring back the blueberry cheesecake from Phil’s! Spill it people, somebody with money is looking for your ideas.
37 Comments »Zinsky’s Deli in Dallas is Closing
The rumors mills are churning with the news that Zinsky’s Deli is about to close their doors. Makes perfect sense to me, we just took a lovely photograph of their lox and bagels for our October issue and shipped it to the printers! D Magazine cover story (Best Breakfasts) jinx continues. Anywhoo, here is what peeps are saying:
A friend had food catered into his office today from Zinsky’s.
The guy who brought it in told him, “We’re closing the deli, no later than
Monday. We might still do catering, though.” My source promptly phoned the restaurant, where someone answered and said yes, we’re open today, but probably not for much longer.
I got the same reply on the phone and have left an email and phone message for owner Liz Baron. Why can’t Dallas keep any sort of deli alive? Especially it the neighborhood of Preston Royal.
UPDATE: From owner Liz Baron: “Yes, sadly it’s true.”
64 Comments »Deli Talk: Kenny and Ziggy’s in Dallas? Maybe Yes, Maybe No
In March, Robert Willonsky reported Kenny and Ziggy’s, the popular NYC-style deli in Houston, was looking into opening a Dallas location. A couple of days ago, a friend of mine ate an eight-inch corned beef on rye at the very crowded restaurant at the Galleria in Houston. As he was leaving he asked one of the managers when they planned to open in Dallas. The guy, Andy, had this to say: “They [the owners] want to be up there [Dallas], but they sure are proud of real-estate prices.”
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