LA - Pastrami Capital of the World!

Part 1 : Fast Food Pastrami

Los Angeles is the Pastrami capital of the world. I was born in San Pedro, went to high school in Palm Desert and I'm proud to say no other city in America can compete to the number restaurants that serve pastrami in the Southland. Take this into consideration: I looked up the word pastrami on one of my favorite sites - yelp. SF yielded 317 results (I swear it's not just me, but I may have skewed the SF #s), Chicago lagged out at 79, Philly a mere 22, NYC only 289. Los Angeles beats them all out with a whopping 476 results. That's over one hundred more than the Bay Area and More than NYC/Philly/Chitown combined. How could this be? Why does LA have more pastrami than any other place in America?

Johnny's Pastrami

The simple, correct answer - the pastrami dip. The Hat is probably the most notorious place to serve this type of sandwich. The first "Hat" was in Alhambra, CA and my dad go there often as a high schooler to go down cheeseburgers with his buddy Bill. He currently works in Alhambra (only for another year old man! tough it out!) and today there is one about 5 minutes from my Dad's house on Atlantic Ave in East Los Angeles, however I did not visit the Hat on this journey - I wanted to try some different takes on the pastrami dip. I made it to Johnny's Pastrami after a night of chilling with my college buddy. I took the 110 South to the 10 West and got off on Crenshaw, pulled into the parking lot and approached the small grated window. "How may I help you." a lady asked, I could tell she had a bit of a chip on her shoulder. "May I get a pastrami sandwich." then she asked the key question "Do you want it dipped?" "Yes, please Ma'am. Thank you, Ma'am." I told her minding my Ps and Qs while being in Mid-City on an unusually chilly, windy LA night. She took out a medium sized roll put some mustard on and proceeded to PILE the pastrami mile high on it till it was bursting out of the bun then she grabbed more and put extra on the top, just so it was beyond bursting...I'm talking alot of meat here. I took it to my car in the parking lot and took a bite.

Johnny's Pastrami Sandwich (only about half pictured!)

Mmm...that's pretty good. The pastrami was fatty, very fatty....the taste bordered on hot dog and that's what my hand smelled like when I was done - like a hot dog. Still pretty damn good - no way they leave you hungry - by far the largest pastrami sandwich I've ever encountered under 10$ and yes they have very good pickles. The Hat and Johnny's Pastrami are probably the most popular fast food pastrami dip joints, but one place has been turning some heads with their take on pastrami.


I had to do some business in Pasadena and finished around lunch time. I thought to myself, "Eagle Rock is pretty close from here." Oinkster is located in an old Wienerschnitzel building in the Eagle Rock Neighborhood of Los Angeles, which is currently thriving after once being a rougher part of town.

This place is very much a fast food joint as they also serve burgers, chicken, shakes, and even some sneaky good cupcakes, but their true passion is their in-house cured pastrami. "We're the only ones that sell this pastrami" the manager behind the counter told me. The Oinkster pastrami is smoked over applewood and cured for two weeks then sliced and served into a roll - fast food style. There is one version that is served with gruyere cheese- how gourmet! I ordered the regular with the Belgian fries which were crispy and delicious.

Oinkster Pastrami W/ Fries

Applewood Smoked Pastrami

So how did the Oinkster taste? Imagine the texture and smokiness of pastrami crossed very much with the taste of applewood smoked bacon you get on some high price burgers. It had a lovely brine and perfect color. Oinkster has truly perfected the fast food pastrami sandwich.

Many fans of Jewish delis just gagged at the first part of my LA post. This version of the pastrami sandwich had to be represented for Los Angeles. It's unique to the area and I have not seen it outside of LA - sorry to say to my new reader Mr. Kirsonis. If you're looking to match this in the Bay Area - I'd say the closest I've had so far would be an AK sub pastrami or Tommy's Joynt (Tommy's review coming soon). They'd probably even dip it just tell them you want a roll and mustard only. It'd be your best shot to get this style pastrami in the City of San Francisco until I find or hear of a pastrami dip in SF.

Part II: The San Fernando Valley

When I was a young child living in the South Bay of LA, I remember my parents referring to the Valley as if it were another country. Things have changed - for one I have a good friend who lives in Woodland Hills - so I had to get over my Fernandophobia. Also, several more very trusted sources have told me great things about Brent's. Save the Deli spoke of their unique homemade kishke dish and Al S. told me "For overall quality on everything - I think Brent's is the best deli of all." As I looked into it more and more I've realized the San Fernando Valley has become a deli Mecca. Brent's has expanded into a new huge location just down the road in Westlake Village. Almost as a direct response, Nate n' Al's of Beverley Hills expanded into the Valley with a location in Thousand Oaks rounding out the already saturated deli scene.

I went to Brent's on a Saturday afternoon with my dad. We met up with his friend and former co-worker, Melinda, who exclaimed to me "I haven't been to Brent's in years!"

Cabbage Soup

She ordered the cabbage soup, which I had the pleasure of finishing. It had small pieces of beef in it and it tasted very good at first, but then seemed a little too sweet as I continued. I still finished the thing down to about nothing because the small pieces of beef were quite succulent.

Stuffed Kishke

The kishke made my dad squirm. You mean you'd eat this over lobster? I'm not a big seafood eater - sorry. My thoughts on the kishke - it was alright, but I don't think I would order it very many times, maybe to show someone who hasn't tried it, but not as a regular thing.

Half Sandwich - Brisket

The #1 - Pastrami, Tomatoes and Russian Dressing

As I looked over the menu I saw that my favorite way to have a pastrami sandwich (pictured above) was the first way they offered it. They read my mind! I found out at Brent's they use something called "black" pastrami, which is extremely lean. Our waitress told us "We can even cut it leaner if you'd like." To be honest I wanted more fat, more flavor. The bread, the dressing, everything else was perfect, but for pastrami it was very good, but short of perfect because of it's lack of fat content. This is however my opinion, some more health-conscience delis might find this information useful. Let me ask a question though - if you wanted lean meat, why didn't you just get the corned beef, a naturally less fatty cut of beef? Despite the leaner pastrami, overall I had a great experience at Brent's and I would definitely return. My dad said his Reuben was "the best he's ever had" which was surprisingly quite easily admitted by an LA guy like himself. I thought the dishes and sides were up there with some of the best traditional Jewish items that I've had - so Al was spot on about overall quality of Brent's - it's top notch!

The next day was Sunday and I headed out to Woodland Hills to meet up with my friend Chris D to watch the football games. After the games, we made it to Nate N' Al's new location in Westlake Village.

As we pulled in the mall parking lot adjacent to the AMC theaters, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this deli - located in the shopping mall center in the SFV. Before we ordered they brought us pickles and rye bread.

Nate N' Al's Rye Bread

As I took my first bite of the rye bread, I gasped - it was some of the best rye bread I've ever had. It had a nice crispy crust, chewy, but not too chewy with just the perfect amount of warmth and rye flavor. I ordered the New York (pastrami, Russian dressing, and coleslaw) and my buddy ordered half corned beef with french fries. He kinda grumbled at the fact they charge more for fries instead of a side salad.

The New York

Potato Pancake

Half Corned Beef w/ Fries

Nate N' Al's pastrami was lovely. It had the right amount of fat content with a smoky brine. The presentation as a whole with the superb double-baked rye was something to behold. Both my friend and I agreed - it was pretty damn amazing!

The next place I went to was on a solo mission - Fromin's in Encino. It's a pretty cool spot I think may have fallen through the cracks in the Valley because of the prolific number of spectacular jewish delis.

Mile-High Pastrami W/ Coleslaw

The sides at Fromin's were damn good! The potato salad pictured above was very creamy and rich. Out of all the potato pancakes I had - I liked the Fromin's one the most.

Fromin's Potato Pancake

The pastrami at Fromin's was proper. Thinly sliced - good flavor. The only thing I can know a point for would be the rye bread. It was good on the softer parts, but the crust was very lacking that chewy goodness that Nate N' Al's had. I still highly recommend Fromin's for lunch. They have a very large menu that could accommodate lots of tastes - sort of like Canter's in West LA. I did visit Canter's but I did not have a pastrami. I only bought things from their bakery, some more of those poppy seed rugelah. My dad and I ate the bag slowly of about 20 small bakery items. It might have lasted about 3 days! Their bakery is one of the main attractions, don't miss it on your way out - you'll thank me.

Part 3 : Langer's Hot Pastrami

With Norm Langer

Langer's is the pastrami institution of Los Angeles. As my friend James put it "How many restaurant's have a square named after them?" For their 60th anniversary an area right outside Alvarado and 7th just adjacent to the restaurant was given to Langer's by the City of Los Angeles. Sax said it was the best pastrami sandwich anywhere - many have expressed the same opinion. I made two trips to the famed deli on my vacation to Los Angeles.

The first time I went was with my friend James, just before christmas. When we walked in the place was packed, barely enough room for us to stand in there to put our name down on the list. We went outside of the restaurant to kill some time, take some pictures and grab a soda. When you exit Langer's, you enter a war zone. It's loud, heavy foot traffic, and rather unappealing, definitely not the most glamorous part of Los Angeles. After about 15 minutes we entered and our table was ready.

As my friend James and I sat down to me he continued to talk about his fondness of Langer's "Katz' has nothing on this place. They herd you in there like cattle, here you sit down at a nice, roomy table and waitresses call you hun." It was true, the scene inside was much nicer, friendlier than what's going on just outside the front doors. "You're getting the #19, right?" James asked me. Normally I get the #29 which comes with just tomatoes and Russians dressing, but I was obliged to do the most popular, famous sandwich at Langer's the #19 which comes with swiss cheese, cole slaw, and russian dressing on rye.

Most Famous Sandwich in LA - Langer's #19

As we scarfed down our pastrami I just thought to myself about all the delis I just had tried. Nate N' Al's really does come close, but nothing in LA beats Langer's pastrami. It's a deeper red than all the others and the bread is a killer double baked rye, crust is perfect. I said to James "You know they hand slice the meat here?" He didn't believe me, "The pieces are way to uniform". On the way out we looked into the window and a guy hand slicing the meat James was stunned. We went back up to his place on the top of Figueroa and started watching Jeopardy. The last question came up and the guy that was in the lead was far ahead and bet 0$ on the last question which he did not know the answer - he simply wrote "Hot Pastrami Sandwiches". I think that made my day even more than the #19.

The next time I went to Langer's was with my father the day after christmas. We drove from his house in Monterey Park to the new Gold Line stop at East LA Civic Center. The red line stops just by Langer's - the first time I went to Langer's was on the train with my Grandfather and I swear to you I remembered the right way out of the subway fifteen years later because of that. I ordered the #29 and a cel-ray. My dad said he would have whatever I was having. I guess I've earned his respect, he now trusts me to order for him. He actually said "I think you may have something with the #29 - I think it's better than the 19." I think it is too. You simply don't need cheese on that tasty pastrami. Russian dressing, tomatoes, and some Gulden's mustard smeared on when you feel and you're perfect.

Ted's LA Favorite - Langer's #29

If you read this whole post (it got a bit lengthy) you've earned a very special thanks from me. There's still lots to explore in Los Angeles and the Bay Area (Wood Tavern, Manhattan hub, and lots of Irish spots)! I'm going to NYC at the end of the month and I hope it can live up to the hype. It couldn't be as good as Langer's or The Refuge my favorite California pastrami - could it?

Al and Pastrami King do Miller's

I recently had the pleasure of meeting a fan of the blog for lunch. His name is Al - I got into contact with him on yelp and he made it up to my office to talk about architectural products. To be honest, we talked business for about 2 minutes and the rest of the talk was a great deli lunch at the best, most complete deli in San Francisco - Miller's East coast Deli.

We arrived around 11:40 to beat the lunch rush, as I was entering I saw the owner Robby Morgenstein working hard someone's order. I had read about Robby in the Save the Deli book and I made contact with him on Facebook - so I was ready to finally meet the man, the legend. I pointed him out to Al as were went to sit down at our table "That's the owner. Let's go say hi to him when we get a chance". I approached Robby and handed him my pastrami king card. "Oh yeah, it's you! You looked a little different in the pictures." Al and I had a nice conversation with him about opening of the deli years ago and also about his meat suppliers. "I rotate between Sy Ginsberg and Robert's Corned Meats. Every week we get palettes of meat!" I know of Robert's Corned Meats - the office is actually one whole block away from my office and I walk past it daily on my way to get a soda from the Shell Station. I did a little more research and they also supply Tommy's Joynt and Brennan's in Berkeley - one of my favorite spots in the East Bay. I shall have to get a tour/interview in the near future.

Before entering Miller's Al gave me a small pep talk - "Anything you haven't had the guts to order here - order it today!" We were on a mission to sample as much as we could for his introduction to Miller's. We got three appetizers - tongue polonaise, stuffed cabbage roll, and stuffed derma (kishka). All appetizers were very good. The tongue had a sweet and sour cabbage sauce that accented the cured meat excellently. The stuffed cabbage rolls reminded me of the cabbage rolls my Polish Grandma used to make. It had meat with small bits of rice in the cabbage roll - very traditional style. I had read about the derma before I ordered it. Someone called it "Old school even compared to New York standards". It looked like small brown hockey pucks smothered in gravy. The taste reminded me of a very rich stuffing in gravy within every bight. These are all great, unique dishes that truly make Miller's the premier Jewish-Style Deli in the Bay Area.

As we were ordering our sandwiches I told Al about the grilled New York style the Miller's does. "The way they grill the bread is outstanding - you have to try it." I sold Al on it and he got a 3-way combo pastrami, corned beef, and tongue while I just stuck to the pastrami. As you can see, both sandwiches look so large they could humble even the hungriest fresser. As soon as Al bit into his 3-way he exclaimed "This is just as good as my favorite spot in LA (Brent's in Northridge)". Coming after the smorgasbord of appetizers, Al and I were only able to finish half of our sandwiches, but I was very happy to take them home. Al wanted me to take his half as well because he was headed to Saul's in Berkeley that night to check out the digs of the East Bay chic deli - What a true deli lover! I took the sandwiches back in my car to work. When I left my office at 5 PM, I stepped in my car and the smell of Miller's hit me in the nose...hmm that makes me think - Deli air freshener's for cars? I looked it up and they do have bacon flavored air fresheners but not deli. Who would buy them? Probably Al for one! I want to thank AL so much for coming to lunch with me. He gave Miller's such a good review on yelp, Mr. Morgenstein himself asked me to thank him. Check out Al's yelp reviews here. He's very through with his reviews and he does a great job with his photo spreads - an awesome yelp profile! Thanks once again to Al for the photos!


This is a nice corned beef sandwich I made at work. It's just Primo Taglio corned beef on Corn rye bread with Beaver's hot mustard. I used a whole package of the meat to make it proper size. All in all, it was better than the sandwich I had at a place in Berkeley called the Stuffed Inn. I read about the Stuffed Inn and made the trip with my friend the brisket baron. When I ordered the double pastrami with cheese I was upset to learn they were out of rye bread, and on top of that the pastrami was some lunch meat equivalent to the one above. The saving grace of the Stuffed inn was their vegan split pea soup and their cookies. I told my buddy "This is like a 3 star on yelp, but a complete fail for the pastrami blog." I have some pictures which were hi-jacked by the brisket baron on his trip to Florida - I'll post them later on.

I just found out that I have all of next week off of work. I previously said I was going to be in the Bay for the next for posts, but this looks like the next one is going to be in LA. I have 9 days to roam my old home and check out some spot's I haven't gotten around to trying, as well as the obligatory trip to Langer's.

Seattle Pastrami!

Pike's Public Market

Seattle is a lovely place! I went the weekend of November 20th to the 22nd and I did my best to try as many pastrami places as I could, but there were a few miscues that led to me not getting to all the places I wanted to for the blog. However I enjoyed my trip very much and made it to the Seattle Center, University of Washington, the Fremont neighborhood, and various other cool locations. Above pictured is Pike's Market from Pike and 1st Ave.

I was staying at the Green Tortoise Youth Hostel which is a block away from Pike's Market. You can't really beat the location! I checked in around lunch time and headed out to Pike's to find a map. Before I could even find a map I unintentionally stumbled upon the I Love NY Deli. I approached the gentlemen and told them about my blog. "Oh, Jon (the owner) would love to meet you then. You have to go to the spot up by the University. He's normally there." The nice young man pulled out his card and handed it to me. I proceeded to order. "May I get a pastrami sandwich on marble rye with Russian dressing. I would LOVE to try one of you potato knishes. And can I get a cel-ray to wash that down?" The guy proceeded making my sandwich, the slicing machine pumping. He said to himself "This guy knows how to order." I smiled to myself and sat over in the small public seating area just to the left of the stand. The meal that came out of that small stand was a real treat!


When I opened the box the smell was very familiar. It smelled like a deli smells...right in the middle of Pike's fish market and flowers displays the smell from the box tantalized my nose just before I sank my mouth into the epic sandwich. The pastrami had a lovely brine and excellent flavor, up there with some of the great delis I love in California. The potato knish seemed to fit the environment perfectly and was good enough. I'd like to try the other flavors, but I played it safe and went with the potato, next time it's the sweet potato or garlic potato knish! As I was sitting there I struck up a conversation with a gentleman who was a transplant from Massachusetts. He was enjoying his turkey on dark rye while I was telling him about my trip plans in Seattle. I told him the next place I wanted to try was Tat's deli on Occidental and he gave me fairly good directions on how to get there "go down to Pioneer square area and make a left then Occidental is the next right."

I took one more picture and then did some sight seeing for a few hours to let my stomach settle before I try to get to Tat's deli. I started the walk after getting off the monorail near Pike and 4th Ave. I got to the Pioneer Building and a statue of Chief Seattle. As I was taking a picture of Chief Seattle it started raining....no pouring. Was this an omen sent from the Chief himself?

Chief Seattle

I pulled out my umbrella and made the right turn on Occidental. As I made the turn I saw a bicycle cop kinda just wave his finger at a group of 6 or 7 menacing looking vagrants smoking crack in the middle of the rain....This place is a lot like Frisco! As I came to the door of Tat's (around 2 PM on Friday, they normally close at 4) a lady was standing in the middle of the doorway. "Yeah, we're closing...we ran out of bread." I pleaded with her "I came all the way from SF just to try Tat's pastrami, could I just sample a piece of the pastrami and I'll be on my way?" the one lady who was leaving from I presume finishing the last sandwich of the premature day backed me up "Aww, come on, let him try a little piece." she said to the woman. She kinda looked back at the interior and then back at me and finally said "No, the grill is off, we're closed. We'll be open on Sunday for the Seahawks game though come back Sunday." and then shut the door in my face. I continued back up 1st street in the rain, upset...as I got back near Pike's market area the rain cleared up and the weather was nice enough for me to enjoy the rest of Friday evening. Sadly, She was wrong about being open Sunday as the Seahawks were out of town and they were closed. I never got to try a tatstrami in Seattle.

The next day I woke up early and had a plan to try Barney's pastrami in Everett, Washington about 20 minutes North of Seattle. I had talked to the owner about 10 days prior to my coming up there and he assured that he would be "open to 4 PM for lunch on Saturday." I got started early and tried to make it for opening, so I didn't call....causing a huge detour for no reason in my trip to Seattle.

Frustration and disappointment all from a yellow piece of paper taped up to a storefront. I called when I got back to the bay to get an explanation. I asked the guy that answered the phone "Hey, why were you guys closed last Saturday?" To which the man responded "Oh I was rotating on a stick, but I'll be open till 5 today for lunch." Oh great (seething sarcasm)! Did I scare him by calling him about 10 days prior saying I wanted to try this place for my blog or was it just a slow day in Everett? I'll never know.

At this point I was pretty frustrated, I got shut down at 2 places and I had to take a bus back to the city which took about 30 minutes. I don't regret taking the ride as the scenery outside of Seattle was interesting and beautiful to see, however I greatly regret not calling the day prior.I decided that after this fiasco I was headed to the University District to check out "The Ave" as well as the I Love New York Deli location on Roosevelt. The bus pulled off I-5 and let me off somewhere on the other side of the U district at 45th Ave. I remembered the area from looking at the maps on google and proceeded on the overpass towards the University. I pulled out the card the guys gave me at the Pikes Kiosk...5200 Roosevelt I looked up and I was at Roosevelt and 45th, perfect. I had my umbrella out as it was drizzling as I pulled up to the deli from the south end. I saw through the window a lady carrying what looked like to be a big pot of soup and a guy slicing meat away at the machine.



I was tired and cold when I took the picture of the Met's Country labeled front door then I entered a truly wonderful and warm place! As I entered the same smell that had emanated from my box yesterday filled room. This was truly the complete picture of a nice neighborhood deli complete with everything under the sun. The small stand at Pike's market only had a small number of items compared to the more complete location in the University district. I walked up to the counter and asked about Jon the owner, to my dismay he wasn't around, luckily I was to reach him and tell him over the phone how impressed I was with his deli!

Pastrami Egg and Cheese on a Kaiser

Pastrami Lox

The special of the day was 1/2 sandwich with soup which sounded great to me on a cold, rainy day. I also ordered a potato latke on the side.

Daily Special

I enjoyed this rye more than the marble rye because it had a crispier more flavorful crust. The split pea soup and latke warmed my inside. When I arrived, I was tired and weary and upon leaving I felt like a new man! I had the rest of the afternoon to check out University Ave known to locals simply as "The Ave". The whole scene really reminded me of Telegraph by UC Berkeley. Lots of Thai restaurants, pizza joints, smoke shops, and just funky side shops with odd items worth looking at just once. I also got to check out the Mercer Museum which had some intersting Native American Art from the Pacific Northwest. I highly recommend you take a trip to the U District on your visit to Seattle. Make sure to have lunch at I love NY Deli at 52nd and Roosevelt! They have a webaddress http://www.ilovenewyorkdeli.net/menu.html. Check it out for a full menu.

Center of the Universe

Sunday, my last day in Seattle, I planned to go to the Fremont district where a small diner named Roxy's was pointed out by many people on Yelp as the best pastrami sandwich in Seattle. Fremont has an interesting Farmer's Market and Hypermarket (swap meet) on Sundays which I checked out just before going to Roxy's Diner. The whole neighborhood district itself was very cool to check out. They have a large rocket, a statute of Lenin, and a self proclaimed center of the Universe just a block from Roxy's Diner.


When I walked up to Roxy's diner it looked popping! There were many people waiting on the outside, smoking cigarettes, talking about what they did on their Saturday night. I walked in the diner and the place was crowded! I found a small place at the bar in the corner next to the register. The lady who helped was very friendly and asked me what i wanted. I ordered the NY pastrami (regular size, you can get bigger for more $) with a diet coke and started looking around the scene of the diner. It looked like a cool, hipster place that young people go to after a hard night of partying.

Roxy's Diner

The pastrami melted in my mouth! I was truly impressed by Roxy's and it was a very cool, special spot in the neighborhood. They had characters doodled of the servers on pieces of pad paper saying funny things like "I need a drink!" I saw a picture of an Old Guy with glasses that kinda looked like the guy on the front of the Diner. I asked my server "Is that the man? the owner?" She giggled. "No, we found this in a picture frame at good will. We just like him." Roxy's seemed like a fun, cool place to go in the neighborhood, definitely check it out on Sunday along with the Fremont market. I got a cool shirt on as a souvenir that has the logo, at the bottom it reads "You can't beat our meat." I love the sense of humor! Roxy's has the very cool web address of https://pastramisandwich.com give it a look!

I had a really great time in Seattle. It's now one of my favorite cities along with SF and Paris. I just wish it didn't rain so much! When I got back to the Bay Area I got to try a place by my work Sage Lounge which has a Reuben for 8$.

Sage Lounge Rebuen and floor plans

I phone ordered ahead and when I got to the place about 10-15 minutes later I was informed that they were out of rye bread. I made an upset face and the lady said "you can wait, our other co-worker is out getting the bread. she should be back very soon." I sat down in the bright white, ultra modern chair and started reading SF weekly. A few minutes later a lady with a TRADER JOE'S bag walked in the restaurant and into the back. The pastrami didn't have a large brine and tasted a bit of hot dogs - the sign of bad pastrami. The "coleslaw" didn't taste like slaw and reminded me of the shredded lettuce you get at Subway - no tang or anything to it. I recommend skipping over this place and going to Ted's market or AK subs. You seem to pay a bit more for the atmosphere at the Sage Lounge.

I hope everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving! I'll be in the Bay Area for the next for posts. Looking foward to meeting some new people and trying some new sandwiches.