Piccolo Pete's Pickled Reuben

Walking into Piccolo Pete's was seemed like stepping into a picnic lover's armory. They seemed to have everything one could ever want for an indulgent day of eating stocked from floor to ceiling in every corner. There was no shortage in what they had to offer. A basket of bread towered on the deli counter, their deviled eggs consisted of three egg halves cupping an ice cream scoop of egg salad - even though I split one with AW, I was unable to even eat half - a long counter shelved multiple crock pots of soups, a wall was dedicated to the most well organized chip selection, and I can't even begin to talk about the drink selections (alcoholic and non).

I went wall-eyed, froze and chose the most basic sandwich I could think of, a Reuben. I should have been prepared for the what I got, after all, all signs pointed to over-the-top indulgence. The tang of the sauerkraut could not be enough, a layer of pickles had to be added for a bigger taste-y sourness. Or at least this is what I can assume, I would be remiss in my journalistic duty if I failed to admit I do not eat pickles and shortly after taking photographic evidence of my sandwich I passed them along to AW.

Once cleansed of pickles, my Reuben was ready to be devoured. Unfortunately, looking back, I believe the pickles were the key ingredient which set this Reuben apart from others, because in the end it was just a regular Reuben. This isn't to say that I would sway sandwich goers away from Piccolo Pete's. To the contrary, I think meat eating sandwich lovers need to experience this place for themselves! Set aside a day, because afterward one will want to revel in his or her bloated belly food-coma, grab a Cactus Cooler or broski and enjoy the meal in Piccolo Pete's cozy back patio.

canter's rueben

canter's delicatessen, north fairfax avenue, los angeles

In my last post, I described Canter's pastrami as A+. This is true- it's one of the finest pastrami sandwiches I've ever had. That being said, when the reuben arrived, I forgot the pastrami had ever existed. Canter's reuben is maybe one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten in my life (true this time, true the last time). I took one bite of this and almost melted in my seat, it was so good. I'm pretty sure I would have fainted if I had been standing. "Dearie me, I do believe I have the vapours!" I would have exclaimed, then bang-o, laid out on the ground. If you aren't speaking like a bourgeois Victorian-era woman while eating this, you are probably speaking in tongues. LA is full of wacky cults and New Age methods of attending universal knowledge and spiritual fulfillment, but this right here is the only true path.

st. francis reuben

st. francis diner, 24th & york, san francisco

This was the first sandwich I got upon returning to SF for the first time since moving to LA. It wasn't the first time I'd gotten a reuben at St. Francis, but St. Francis makes awesome reubens. In fact, I could eat nothing but reubens every time I went to here, and I'd be pretty happy. The corned beef is very salty and good, there is plenty of dressing and sauerkraut, and the rye bread is always buttery and delicious. My only complaint is that this time that I went, I was told that they don't serve potato salad anymore!! What kind of self-respecting diner doesn't serve potato salad?!? St. Francis had particularly good potato salad too, so this is quite disappointing. At least their fries are good.

corned beef reuben

sherman's deli, tahquitz way & calle encilia, palm springs

anyone going to coachella this weekend? if you are going to be in the area and are a lover of sandwiches, I humbly suggest stopping by this deli. man oh man was this a tasty reuben. its kind of a weakness of mine that I always try the reuben when I go to a new deli- i'm sure i'm missing out on all kinds of great sandwiches- but I can't help it. and it in this instance, I don't regret it at all, because this was easily the best sandwich I've had in awhile. even though it was a monday afternoon, this restaurant was packed. and once JoJoJoJo and I were seated, we were confronted with what i'm now starting to suspect is a standard of good jewish delis- a menu with dozens of items available. and yet despite the crowd and the plethora of options, this sandwich arrived promptly and pipping hot. I'm not actually sure whether or not there was any russian dressing on this- if there was it was used sparingly- but it didn't really matter because the corned beef was so moist and delicious. the sandwich was so good that I didn't even eat a single cottage fry before I had eaten the whole thing.

corned beef reuben

canter's delicatessen, north fairfax avenue, los angeles

this was the second visit to Canter's Delicatessen for me and JoJoJoJo. this deli is totally awesome- the menu has a billion items, and it all looks tempting. the owner's son was buddies with Slash, and they sell a book about the early days of GNR. I got the corned beef reuben, which I think is what I got last time. it was just as good as last time. the rye bread was buttered and grilled very nicely, crispy on the outside but still soft on the inside. I found it interesting that the 1,000 island dressing was served separately, which worked well- it was very creamy and tangy, and it wasn't necessary to add too much to the already flavorful sandwich. the sauerkraut was not terribly noticeable, and the ratio of meat-to-sauerkraut was more in favor of the meat than most reubens. but then, the corned beef was definitely the centerpiece of the sandwich. the creamy dressing, the bite of the sauerkraut, the buttered rye- all were merely window dressing for the delicious corned beef. it was fairly dry, as the meat on a reuben should be. and it had a delicious flavor, peppery and perhaps with a hint of cinnamon? I couldn't really figure it out, but that was my best guess.

brisket reuben

artie's delicatessen, upper west side, new york city

this thing was a monster! never before had I encountered a sandwich so intimidating. this was the second visit JoJoJoJo and I paid to Artie's Delicatessen, and neither time did we leave disappointed (or hungry). we did, however, experience the most woeful of post-dining events: realizing that we'd forgotten the leftovers at the restaurant. the brisket itself was quite flavorful, although I did somewhat regret that I had not ordered the traditional corned beef instead. in addition to the sandwiches, we were presented at the outset of the meal with a bowl full of pickled vegetables, including sour tomatoes and pickled red peppers among the dill and half-sour pickled cucumbers.