Sweet Willie

What is your favorite Deli in the Chicagoland area?

anonplz

I used to like the Dill Pickle downtown, though that was more of a restaurant, but had good sandwiches.

I like those Italian delis out by Oak Park, with the olives and prosciutto and parmesan wheels. Again, Meyer's on North Lincoln is great, and what about that Jewish deli across from Treasure Island? they have good Reubens...

Sweet Willie

Another good deli IMO, Max & Benny’s in Northbrook.

The Grandpa’s Special, half corned beef, half pastrami with chopped chicken liver served on rye, is a terrific sandwich.

http://maxandbennys.com/

Sweet Willie

Another good corned beef sandwich is Kaufman’s in Skokie. The downside IMO is it is small sandwich for the price. The upside are the usually very fresh bagels due to their bakery on premise. I REALLY like the chopped chiken liver at Kaufman's, some of the best in the area.

Kaufman’s Bagel and Deli
4905 Dempster, Skokie
(847) 677-9880
Everyday 7am-8pm

Sweet Willie

Due to open in late March, the 6,000 sq foot Eleven City Diner aims to to it all.

Plans to be open almost all night for those late night bites. A soda jerk for the family. Also a coffee barista.

The interior conceived by Art Minor of Playboy Club fame.

Eleven City Diner
1112 S Wabash Ave
312.212.1112

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cliff_rock

#1 Manny's Deli @ Jefferson/Roosevelt - - best all around for sandwiches and other meals

#2 Perry's Deli near Wacker/Lake has great sandwiches if you don't have time for Manny's

ILuvParis

I never quite understood the fascination with Manny's, but then I have never been impressed with food that sits in a steamtable. However, a lot of people love it, so what do I know? And I would go there in a New York minute if invited there by my good bud, g_leyser!

Perry's has good sandwiches. However, I can make MUCH better potato salad, cole slaw and macaroni salad than they serve - IIRC, you get a choice with your sandwich and they are bad, bad, bad. Get a bag of chips.

flying junkie

I've never seen the fascination with Perry's myself either. Some interesting concepts that sound good in theory, but not particularly good in actuality.

cliff_rock

To me, part of the draw of Manny's is the overall scene as much as the food.

Wrt Perry's, I'll concede those salads are underwhelming. At least you won't go hungry with the sandwich size!

Jakebeth

I liked the attempt at a cult of personality with Perry, and the lunchtime quizzes for those standing in line. But, for a place that spent so much energy designing sandwiches to look enormous and inviting, I never ate anything so tasteless.

I write the previous based on a thought that when I went by there recently it wasn't there -- can anyone confirm? If not, I'll be there Monday and take a look.

It's almost blasphemous to say it in the same breathe, but Manny's is a world better. I don't know if it would really stand up to what I know they've historically had in NY, but the beauty of the Manny's steamtable is really the pace at which food moves off of it. I doubt 'fresh' is the right word, but you can generally eat something steaming hot i.e. just cooked, etc. And the pastrami and corned beef are solid. As much as I've always loved the Northside places others have mentioned, they can't stand up to Manny's.

jockdAAddy

Perry's is there!

fried.food.is.good

It's been a couple years since I've worked downtown so I've forgotten the name of the place but it is North of Madison on Franklin on the East side of the street - near Harold's Chicken. It's a deli run by Asians and though it doesn't have the personality of a Perry's, it does a good job.

BTW, has anyone won a free sandwhich at Perry's by correctly answering a quiz question?

Jakebeth

It's been a long time....I know I answered one once, but I don't think I got a whole sandwich (?)

fried.food.is.good

The first time I went there, my co-worker and I just started blurting out answers after some guy (Perry?) asked a question out loud. I didn't realize that there was a proper way of answering the question and we almost got kicked out. Needless to say, the guy withdrew the offer for a free sandwhich and said there would be no more questions for the day due to the two idiots in the back. We got nasty looks the whole time we were there.

Sweet Willie

Just had lunch at Eleven City Diner. Had a sandwich of both corned beef and pastrami.

This is for sure my new favorite pastrami in Chicago but still not as good as Katz's in NYC.

Corned beef was decent but nothing special, although much better than what most restaurants serve.

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