What has happened to The New Yorker Deli?
Michaela den | Wikimedia Commons
More than once on this blog I’ve sung the praises of The New Yorker Deli, the venerable and quite inexpensive landmark restaurant on Williamson Road.
It is still venerable and inexpensive and popular (and cash-only … hmmm). The joint was full Friday night. But after an awful dining experience there, the place is going to be difficult to recommend again. The food and service at Hardees are better.
There is no ambiance to the New Yorker, but few of its fans expect any. What they expect are delicious, overstuffed sandwiches prepared and served efficiently.
They have to be quick because the food is so cheap the only way they can make any real money is via turnover. And that was only one of the problems my wife, son and I noted Friday night.
It took 20 minutes to get a pitcher of beer and a glass of lemonade. And then another 20 minutes for the food to arrive. My son’s Italian sub was fine and just as expected. The wife’s turkey sub was big and tasteless as it always has been.
I ordered the New Yorker Special, a concoction of ham, corned beef, pastrami and salami on overly starchy rye. I ate two bites and then couldn’t stomach any more. It was so salty it was inedible.
Our harried waitress scratched my sandwich off the check and took it back to the kitchen. She asked me if I wanted something else. I did, but I didn’t want to wait half an hour for it. So I ate half of Donna’s bland turkey sub instead.
I left wondering if, in an effort to control cost and keep prices down, the management is substituting lower-quality cold cuts for what used to be higher-quality ones. If that’s the case, they should raise their prices a bit and use meats that actually have some flavor. Boars Head, perhaps?
The good news is, we only got nicked for $25, not including tip. I reckon I’ll give the place another chance, sometime. But unless I’m in the mood for a salt sandwich, I’ll stay away from the New Yorker Special.
September 28, 2012 - 8:35 PM
I could, but I won’t. I am not giving up on them, but I hear you. We just do take out now.
We bought a sandwich press a couple of weeks ago and now I’m wondering how I have lived without one before.
At 12 bucks a pound for pastrami and 9 bucks for cheese a sandwich made with Boar’s Head can cost you a day’s pay. The drought is only going to make things worse, now they’re talking global bacon shortage. Maybe Romney can score points with voters by promising them pork belly.
I ordered the New Yorker Special, a concoction of ham, corned beef, pastrami and salami on overly starchy rye. I ate two bites and then couldn’t stomach any more. It was so salty it was inedible.
That was exactly my experience when I first at there 20 years ago, so I never understood the hubbub about how great it was. I have eaten there since, however, and it was better.
hey dano, ya know, boar’s head might be just the ticket for the New Yorker… you might offer to buy’em out also, ya know? Those folks have only been in business but for so long, and can have only a certain knowledge of their customer base and wallet, ya know? while I’m sure that the proprietors want to make a buck, after all, …maybe they should just use Boar’s head, absorb the cost, and suck up the difference, ya know? kinda spread the wealth around, ya know?
by the way, i feel your pain and really like to see my hard-earned money go for a for a good, rather tha sub-standard, meal.. However, un’like you, and since I don’t have the power-of-the-pen to REALLY screw the proprietor…i normally make my dis-pleasure known, and wait for a sub-stitute order. Since you chose to not take that route, and instead chose to FRY an otherwise good business with your ONETIME displeasure….well, you are being pretty sappy, eh?
Yeah boy! just let any ol’ establishment which YOU have previously extolled the virtues of to screw up your dining experience up JUST ONE TIME, and it’s curtains for THAT business…. and BUSINESS OWNER. you are one bad a – -, aren’t you, ‘ol dano-man?
proprietors all over the Roanoke Valley will now shake and quiver in their boots whenever they see YOU burst through their doors! “oh no, the restaurant assin is here! How can we please thee, ol’ dano-man”?
Service drives me crazy it’so rude. NY delis in NY don’t treat people that way. We threw our sandwiches away after our last takeout. The cheesecake crumbled into tiny pieces. Food is not good & we gave it several chances. Used to love it & their parking lot looks more & more empty. I drive by 5 times a week at dinner time.
I think they have a special brand of cold cuts for liberals; I always end up with top of the line meats when I eat there. Just sayin’. I think this is one of those eating establishments that was not built by Obama.
Art, true. But if the food at a restaurant is inedible, it’ll soon go out of business anyway.
Frank, thank you, but you’re giving this humble blog WAY too much credit. I like the place, it’s been around for decades, and what I think about one bad sandwich there isn’t going to affect anything.
I’ll go back one day, and if they redeem themselves you’ll read about it here.
Pretty sad waste of the papers ink and your spot in it to write about your one bad experience at a landmark restaurant. Especially given the fact that 3 others have closed recently due to the economy and poor sales. We all get a bad meal on occasion, but, we don’t write about it in the paper as a story.
The new Yorker has always been a special place owned by a single family passed down from generation to generation. Hopefully this is an aberration and will be fixed. Good people that work hard. Hope the make a comeback.
no fears, dennis. I have followed your wishes and have NOT written about it in the paper!
hey dano, you must be one real content, well-served guy to take the NY to task for their combined one bad meal and service. stuff happens. and , i have no doubt you’d have gone back, and hopefully would have written about having had a better experience.
Being a big city boy, like you…, I could never really see what all the hub-bub is about The New Yorker. Certainly not like the corner deli’s in the old neighborhoods,…whether they be italian, jewish, or polish. nevertheless, i get to the NYer about 5-6 times a year, always get the greasy pastrami sandwich, and my spouse gets the 1/2 sub. She’s never said she’s had a bad one, and my pastrami sandwiches have always been greasy, so we’re both happy customers.
Anyhow, i hope they serve you more to your liking next time, and that you’ll then take them off your “target” list sometime soon. there’s real power in the pen, they say.
Dan, not for nothing, but did you ask about the corned beef? I am assuming that was the unpalatable meat and it might be the supplier. If you go up north and eat at some of the old German restaurants and have corned beef, it will literally gag you (I’ve seen it happen, I don’t eat meat). Maybe he got a particularly strong batch. Who knows if they eat it? Who knows if others liked it? It was worth asking when it is an old fav like that?
I have been trying to work up the courage to ask my own questions so I can well understand not wanting to. But it might have revealed some more info.
We still get sandwiches a couple times a month. I understand you are miffed at having recommended them, but they are a Roanoke staple for a reason. Make a call or take down the post. That is my advice.
Sandi, I don’t know which of the four meats it was. Whichever, it was so salty it was inedible. I gave Zach a little hunk and he tasted it and said “Oh God!”
I also told them at the register that it was awful. I didn’t ask questions. The line was real long.
What do you order there? A tuna sandwich?
We had a great experience tonight at T Flynn’s Pub in Blacksburg. Live music, a great pint of cider for me (sidecar for the wife), and a good dinner. Plus, the folks who run the place and work there are great too. Parking is a bear at times, but everything else is totally worth it.
Well no Dan, being a vegetarian, I order the cheese sub with slaw.
Anyhoo, the person who gagged over the German corned beef, said it was extremely “salty” and very “strong”. That was why I wondered if you could tell.
Gomer (er Frank) becomes more rabid and spiteful with each passing post. Maybe he needs a return visit to Mayberry to soak up some of that good old fashioned southern hospitality and manners before he continues to post. Bless his heart.
The New Yorker has been around for decades, I doubt one blog about one visit will sway Roanoke public opinion, and nevermind the ‘trollers’ and their rants. And it doesn’t surprise me that someone out there just had to identify their (and apparently your) political beliefs. I try something new at New Yorker each time I go, I’m definitely against bland tradition. And as for the vegetarians, don’t expect a warm welcome. You’re definitely the minority when you grace the deli (or any deli) with your presence. Anyone who can’t stomach meat, aside from a dietary standpoint, hath no say here. I’m sure you sneak a deviled egg or two at the family gathering. We know who you are. I plan on visiting The New Yorker tomorrow evening with friends and family and I expect to be polite and patient to my host and server. I find it goes a long way each time I visit any establishment. If the food is bad, I do not shoot the messenger, I just make my case known and allow thee to accomodate. Keep up the blog, Dan. Gives us Roanokers something to talk about…
It does seem extreme that you wrote about this as though it were an isolated incident, yet you blogged about it. Then again, you mention your wife got turkey and it was bland, like always. If it is always bland, why keep ordering it? It sounds like this is a semi-regular spot for you guys to dine, perhaps she should try something else.
As to the quality of the meats & cheeses served, I do know that restauranteurs of all types are struggling the past 4-5 years with rapidly increasing food costs. I’m sure the NYer is the same.Also, perhaps the allure of the place has run its course for your family, Dan. Sometimes it happens. You have a restaurant you frequent for years on end, and one day you look around and notice that it is a dump! I’ve never been to the NY Deli, so I’m not calling them a dump, I’m just saying maybe the magic is gone for you there. I do think it was too extreme for you to slam them on your blog.
dan, on behalf of the new yorker, the deli has the best pastrami sandwich south of the mason dixon line. the meat has been smoked, seasoned with salt, pepper and other spices. it has a nice fat cap on top for superior flavor. have it served hot on a onion roll. add switzer cheese and slaw. now that i’ve made myself hungry you can bet i’ll be there for lunch today
Ate there once when we first moved here…didn’t resemble a NY deli in the least. Dan’s right about Boar’s Head, but don’t understand why it’s so pricey here. Up in Brooklyn, a pound of Boar’s Head ham goes for $3.99!
hey gdidly, …or gdummy, whatever, …have YOU ever felt compelled to publicly slam a restaurant for ONE bad meal? …particularly a restaurant with which you were very familiar and had been satisfied during all other occasions? Have you?
ol’ dano just wanted to take a cheap shot at a popular food purveyor which, on ONE occasion, left a sour taste in ol’ dano’s mouth.
I truly doubt ol’ dano would have written about having had a bad experience at some lessor known, less popular, restaurant…ya know? he gets his jollies by attacking the well known, conventional, places. he IS an opinion journalist, by the way.
hey dave, i got you confused with that old guy, gdad. sorry about that. my comments still stand.
#25 Frank, not that it matters, except perhaps to you and some of your ageist right-wing buddies, but I’m pretty sure dave is older than I am.
Thats ok Gomer (er frank ). all your posts are confused .we are all used to that by now. We just consider the source
A lot of comments over a couple of sandwiches. I guess there must not be much to do on cloudy Saturday.
For New Yorker Fans try David’s good food on Peters Creek Rd. The guy who owns it now used to work at the New Yorker (name with held). Try it for lunch as David’s is not open for dinner. The food is better than the New Yorker’s and reminds me of how good the New Yorker used to be.
Re: Comment by Art Hill — September 28, 2012 @ 9:21 pm
Relax Art. That “panic” was manufactured by Britain’s National Pig Association to justify increasing prices in the UK — then went viral. Another example of “media” spreading misinformation w/o check the facts. I don’t know which make me madder: those with agenda v. those too lazy to check out self-serving Press Releases.
http://tinyurl.com/brwz238
**
Relax, bacon lovers, pork shortage won’t affect U.S.
SNIP
Britain’s National Pig Association issued the earlier warning, predicting a “world shortage” of pork due to drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, however, said the fears across the pond are overblown, and U.S. pork producers say there will be plenty bacon available for frying.
“There may be some shortages of pork in Europe, but there will be no shortages in the U.S.” economist Erin Borror of the U.S. Meat Export Federation told Iowa’s Des Moines Register. And Borror (probably pronounced boar) would know.
Future pricing, however, remains uncertain. The summer drought and rising corn prices have had an impact on prices. Averaging $4.61 per pound, bacon prices were up 25 cents in August from July, according to the Department of Agriculture. The price also partly reflects demand.
SNIP
**
Re: Comment by Dan Casey — September 29, 2012 @ 12:44 am
… it was so salty it was inedible.
—————-
LOL,
I grow up of salt meat.
After years of travel, I tried a very special treat from my past — fried home salted herring for breakfast. The dish others were enjoying that morning had become inedible, for me.
.
Comment by Other John — September 29, 2012 @ 12:51 am
Plus 1 on T Flynn’s Pub, albeit the corned beef & cabbage is more of a stew than a flat plate dish. However, it is good.
Their Chicken & Leek Pie & their Bangers and Mash are right on.
BTW their Raisin Bread Pudding & their Brown Bread Apple Cobbler are outstanding. If served with a custard rather than ice cream, you question if you were still in the US.
gdad@10:56
I suspect you are correct. I may be pushing 70 but I’d clean ‘ol Frank’s clock in a legitimate debate any day of the week. And that goes for his little brother matt too. Or is it cousin Goober?
By the way Frank, in case you missed it, here’s your chance to get back to your roots:
http://articles.wdbj7.com/2012-09-28/snappy-lunch_34153918
Allen, you might be confusing “vegetarian” with “vegan.” Some people that don’t eat the meat of an animal still eat products produced by the animal. They might eat cheese, eggs, mayonnaise, etc. Some folks are vegan, and won’t eat any animal related foods. And some are pescetarian, and will eat fish and other seafood, but no other meats. From what Sandi said, I would surmise she is a vegetarian, not a vegan. And if she eats the tuna sub, as Dan has asked, she would be pescetarian.
BTW, I’ve always loved the New Yorker’s cheese sub with slaw, but the last time I had one it wasn’t as good as usual. I thought it was the bread. Must not have been fresh bread day. The slaw was awesome.
thanks gdad, i thought you’d have taken more offense to being confused with dave without age being the reason.
Dan, have you tried R.T. Smith’s Deli on Campbell Ave.?
Will this trend be coming to America?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/bagel-head-forehead-injections-japan-saline_n_1916188.html
Dave Hicks,
At over five bucks a pound for Oscar Meyer bacon there might as well be a shortage, I’m sure not paying it!
The weakest thing at the New Yorker was always the bread. As good a value as the sandwiches are (or were) the bread was always ordinary as it could be.
“Dan, have you tried R.T. Smith’s Deli on Campbell Ave.?”
Debbie I have not. What do you think?
#36 Nope, Frank, since “old guy” seemed to be your only weak attempt at an insult in the post I referred to. I pretty much consider it a compliment to be confused with dave.
Is anybody else unsurprised that Frank is confused?
Frank doesn’t seem the least bit confused to me. He says everything in a pretty straightforward manner. I think it’s the folks he’s talking to who are confused.
I like it, Dan. Their Dogwood sub is good, and I like their Rueuben. You can also build your own sandwich, with a good selection of meat and cheese to choose from. They do use Boar’s Head meat. I know you’re picky on your Reuben’s, but give ‘em a try.
heyo, dave, you and your brother “dave” are a real pear! green on the outside, and a bit squishy on the inside!
hey sandi…, sheeesh! i think you hit the nail on the head. ol’ dano should hit the NYer with his complaint straight-up, and not hide behind his pen. looks like we agree on something! I hear bells ringing, birds singing!
I think the REAL problem is, ol’ dano’s afraid of real confrontation with real people.
I did hit the NYer with my complaint straight on. Twice. Once to the waitress, who took my so-salty-it-was-inedible sandwich off the check, and a second time to the cashier.
How many times do I have to do it to please you, Frank?
3? 16?
I’m honestly trying to help the place, you know. This blog post is never gonna hurt them. They have way way way too large a base of loyal customers, built over generations.
Letting them know when they get something wrong will help them in the long run. It’ll key them into to, something needs fixing. I could have said nothing and gone away and then they’d do it again to someone else.
That’s what Frank wants. It would hurt his beloved restaurant more in the long run.
david:
“A lot of comments over a couple of sandwiches. I guess there must not be much to do on cloudy Saturday.”
Well, you obviously have nothing better to do than comment about their comments and, during the VT football game commercial break, I have nothing better to do than comment on your comment about their comments.
Allen, thanks for showing your ignorance. As you can see, you are not alone.
As to your ridiculous “And as for the vegetarians, don’t expect a warm welcome” that is beyond laughable. The New Yorker has always been more than willing to accommodate my “no animal has to die for me to eat” stance and when I first tried to order the turkey sub minus the turkey, the waitress volunteered the cheese sub and it rocks. I have taken my daughter and her friend from Philly there and being hoagie fans and also vegetarians, they loved them as well.
More and more restaurants offer vegetarian entrees or at minimum, accommodate paying customers who do not eat meat. You must not get out much.
Dan, you did enough complaining (and rightly so!) and it was the waitress or cashier’s job to notify the owner and get to the bottom of it. If they BOTH chose not to, that says something too. They did not charge you and evidently they feel that is the extent of their responsibility. That kind of lack of service and explanation is not good for business and tells the tale.
If you were some really picky customer or someone who was not familiar with past success this might not matter. You KNOW the great sandwiches you have had there and you knew the difference. Their indifference will not serve them well if you are not alone in that. There is just too much competition for that to work for them. I hope this was just an anomaly.
dano, dano, dano. you don’t have to please me, man.
in my opinion, a business is only as good as it’s weakest employee. that’s why a good business manager will want to hear directly from customers concerning both bad and good, but particularly the bad, service. the way i always thought was, “i can’t fix the good, ya know”, but i CAN fix the bad.
you COULDA asked to see the manager (that’s part of the duties of a manager…), if you really wanted to do something for the NYer, as well as getting it off your chest.
since I haven’t seen any blog comments with similar NYer horror stories, I’m of the opinion that they accidently put a bad piece of meat in your sandwich, or salted the mixture all a bit too much. as far as the server…maybe she’s a… blogger? i’m certaily not making excuses for the bad meal and service you got, but i’m thinkin’ it was probably a one-off…, and hopefully not a conspiracy.
Although…, you never know who the cooks actually are in that back room, now, do ya?
I’ll second Debbie’s recommendation of R.T. Smith’s. I love their Griffin.
Gomer (er Frank) and his pals should put together a revival of the Andy Griffith Show for the local citizens, maybe at Showtimers or someplace Besides Gomer we have:
Goober (matt)
Brisce Darling ( pistol pete)
Charlene Darling ( pamallala)
Mayor Stoner (terps)
Otis ( steve nelson)
Earnest T Bass (leon)
The Darling Brothers ( MattDD and Henry)
Goober’s female cousin (Suzie)
Who’s gonna play Floyd the barber? And Barney Fife?
Yeah, and dave is Floyd, the clueless old guy.
John Wilburn. is Barney Fife. LOL.
I had jeff the dodo in mind for clueless floyd the barber and mmm for barney sincera like the ocd deputy he knows it all but knows Nothing .
Is someone try to dodge Art Hill proclamation “Pflugrad’s toast!” ????
hey dave, if ol’dano was using Your picture on his blog, when would be the next time you go to the New Yorker? eh?
“hey dave, if ol’dano was using Your picture on his blog, when would be the next time you go to the New Yorker? eh?”
Awwwwwww, shucks! This is one thing I love about Frank. Frank believes that this humble blog has important and incredible significance. I however, have no such illusions.
Frank believes that because he spends a lot of time on it. Hello! It’s just a blog, man. There are 50 million of them, or more, in the great United States of America, most wonderful God-inspired nation that has ever existed on the planet. Frank thinks we are important because he spends time here. That is what we in the journalism business call “navel gazing.”
In other words, Frank thinks, therefore he is. And that is important.
You know what you would benefit from, Frank. A thumbprint. But you’re probably too ascared for that. Besides, it might unpickle your noggin. And we can’t have that, eh?
I’d drop ‘cid with Frank in a…
wait for it…
New Yorker minute. {insert rimshot}
We could split a turkey sub.
Sorry. I’m easily amused.
hey ol’ dano, I’m still getting on your last nerve…, I see. By the way, what does “ascared” mean?
hey J.M., I think my last time WAS my last time, if you know what I mean. by the way, we could always go to the NYer, knock back a few, and wait for ol’ dano to waltz through the doors… now, THAT would be a trip! I wonder what they’d serve… him? If we were smart, and I know you are, we’d have already eaten…
and, hey ol’ dano, I’m just haven some fun. lighten up.
hey Gomer (er Frank). If Dan was using YOUR picture on his blog, could we use it for a recruiting poster for the USMC? But wait, first we’d have to know if you can sing like Jim Nabors.
hey dave, it’s good of you to come to ol’ dano’s defense.
btw, dave, if ol’ dano WHERE using your picture on his blog, when would you next be goin’ to the New Yorker?
oh, and dave, whacha think about that up-rising by muslims today in Bangladesh? According to Reuters, muslims still pissed off about that anti-allah film made by the “unstable” American filmmaker (since caused by Dear One’s regime to be arrested…) whose film was heavily promoted in the middle east and pakistan by Dear One and the forsaken one (that would be bill’s hillary…), again…, MUSLIMS pissed off about the…film…. attacked, trashed and burned BUDDHIST places of worship! You can’t make this stuff up! Seriously. why’d they do THAT? Buddhists are about the most peace-loving religions on this earth!
ya think there’s no pleasing those people? whacha think about Dear One’s plan’s to pay the Muslim Brotherhood…, oops, the leaders of Egypt, $450 MILLION tax dollars? think that’ll buy peace for us? maybe Israel? eh?
oh, and Dave, I can’t sign a lick…unlike gomer.
Suzie:
“John Wilburn. is Barney Fife. LOL.”
LOL indeed. Yes, I’m the only one with sense enough to carry a gun, but Barney was way too much an authoritarian and we’re nothing alike on gun safety. In real life, I’m really more like Andy as a real estate broker and Goober as an auto hobbyist!
I love that show. That was before TV was a filth competition.
#68 “oh, and Dave, I can’t sign a lick>..”
You probably don’t need to unless somebody in your family is deaf.
I once knew a singer who could sign. And at least one blogger who appears to be both deaf and dumb (emphasis on the second part).. Gomer, I can’t sign either but I can sing a little.
hey you bobsey twins, regardless of what you guys may think, I can’t singe a bit.
Gomer (er Frank) . Maybe if you want to learn to singe you should stand a little closer to the fire. That might be a sign that your brain was functioning. And if you got close enough, the resulting conflagration might become legendary enough for some lyricist to write a song for somebody to sing. In that fashion, you might actually manage to provide
something useful and lasting for mankind , unlike the garbled nonsense
we usually get in your posts.
hey bobsey twin #1, sheesh, take your pack off and chill, little one.
by the way, i’ve already got a lasting one word expression for sheer joy, one which is already very well known to millions of Americans….i’ll let it be a mystery to you…
Gomer (er Frank)
Every post you make is a mystery. Why should that one be any different.
“by the way, i’ve already got a lasting one word expression for sheer joy….”
FREEBIRD!!
good one, contra!