When I visit Los Angeles there are some things I look for when I arrive and when I am preparing to go back to my home in Massachusetts or my ranch in Montana….. Great Food! A few days before we all left it was a trip to ART’s Delicatessen Restaurant since 1957, located at 12224 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, California 91604 818-762-1221.
Years ago I would speak to Art (he had a spark of life and you could tell he loved what he was doing, running one of the best Delis in the country) who owned and ran the place and just as it was then it is today, nice and clean and the best Pastrami sandwich in the city .. in my opinion. ( Langer’s is good too, but you need an armed escort to go to where you left the car to get to the door of the restaurant). I generally order the Pastrami Sky High, $31.50 on egg bread, so soft and delicious. The pastrami makes my teeth happy and my palate goes berserk for the incredible flavor… Perfection on a roll! The potato salad is delicious and I always go for a side of slaw, both mouth watering satisfaction. My son ordered a Cheese Steak sandwich that was also delicious with the meat falling off. It is so stuffed with steak $35.00, and we always get a side of Onion Rings. They arrive fast and are served hot, but I have to be honest here, TOO MUCH BREADING! just too heavy with breading. Please do not forget to have a Reuben, my fav is the Super Reuben $38.00 and send me a $20.00 for telling you about this incredible sandwich! And Cole Slaw at 6 bucks is so good… so good!
The service is always the best, attentive and yet not annoying, just the best of everything and the place is so clean….. Being a clean Deli is not an easy task. Look at Nate and Al’s in Beverly Hills… that place was so filthy the city had to close it down for a month years ago just so they could clean the bugs off the ceiling and in the hallway of the restrooms. And Canters on Fairfax was one of my fav’s going back to the 70’s, is just so FILTHY….. everything looks dirty, floor sticky. The counters, the tables, the nasty booths, the condiments and did I mention those nasty disgusting floors? Too bad actually, but it is a fact, and the food too is totally mediocre…. get the shovel, we need to bury this stinking beast of a turd!
Now, Art’s is clean and smells like a deli should, tough to explain if you never been to one as you walk in it cuddles you. In Montana if you ask about a Deli you might get a smack! Sounds like a sex act in this state. Now my place on the island has some great restaurants but for a good deli, you got to go downtown. A place for everything, I will also take lobster and fried clams over almost anything…. great tartar sauce, I am beginning to feel faint.
This little outing, to Art’s Deli cost us a little over $100.00, two sandwiches, side of rings, two black and white cookies ( huge ) and two soft drinks….. not like it was once (never cheap, but this is getting, no such thing anymore for cheap eats! However, when I say this I will eat Art’s Pastrami anytime I can get near the place! Sandy and Harold Ginsburg currently run the restaurant and are on site and it shows!
Standby for more upcoming Critiques on GOOD EATS.