Too late for the news roundup, Kenny & Zuke’s Deli has come in at number seven in Bon Appetit’s top 10 sandwich list.
“From a café in Des Moines to a deli in Baltimore, these 10 spots serve the country’s best sandwiches.”
#7
Portland, Oregon
This Jewish-style deli has a reverence for all the classics—pastrami on rye, chopped liver, chicken soup with matzo balls, and even egg creams.
1038 SW Stark St.; 503-222-3354
kennyandzukes.com
You can see the whole list at Bon Appetit.com (note the link is no longer valid, so I just put in the general url)
I go for the tongue sandwich, which – in my 7 or 8 visits – has been available about half the time.
i was excited about this place opening, but i’ve been repeatedly disappointed since. their salami was more like salami-shaped pastrami (and rather gross) and their bagels leave a lot to be desired.
The salami is one of the few things we don’t make from scratch. It’s Empire National Kosher Salami — certainly one of the top few respected brands in NY and used by many top delis there.
I think their bagels are pretty great, maybe even the best in town. Just the right size and not too doughy inside.
Love their bagels. Not grossly oversize like some in town. Boiled than baked. Nicely chewy. I’ve had great bagels in NY and these compare well.
Sorry to say that K&Z has been a disappointment for me each time I’ve been there. Way too greasy and service has not been up to par.
service is sooooooo spotty, but i think their quality is great. i love their bagels, great cream cheese (gina marie – the best!), and the fact that they smoke their own salmon and make their own pickles.
Have eaten there about 15 times. Service has always been great and I’m really picky about that. Great baked goods all made in-house, same for pickles, salmon, pastrami etc. I hate cole slaw yet love theirs, perhaps because it is more like sauerkraut?
I have been a half-dozen times. On one visit, pretty much everything sucked – food came out completely different than on every other visit. Every other time I have been there, the food has been great. I think I could live on the Ken’s Special and Latkes. mmmm…. latkes. Have been meaning to get there for breakfast, and just never have.
I’ve never been impressed.I was hoping for much more. They make a big sangwich but it just tastes like BBQ brisket.
the writer of that article for bon appetit is a total ninkumpoop (sp?). Anyway its fluff, I’m sure that guys never been to iowa, just doing what food writers always do, work in the americana angle people love that crap. more like kenny and pukes
I love a good sandwich, especially rubens. Having heard so much buzz about K&Z I pedaled over there for lunch. Long lines, so I got my order to go. First, $12.50 for a sandwich? Oy! I will say that it was plenty large and came with a nice potato salad.
Back at the office, I unveiled the holy ruben. First bite very tasty, but no enough kraut. Missing the zing of a ruben. The pastrami was very tasty, I liked the thick cut. I loved the potato salad. I don’t like mayo, so this one was perfect.
Now on to the bad part. Too much grease! The amount of grease/butter they used to grill the sandwich was just way over the top. I went through 3 paper towels just to get the grease off. The worst part was the body effect. I was sick to my stomach about 30 minutes after eating it and continued to be so all night. I felt like I could have thrown-up at any time. I don’t care how time consuming the prep of your meat is, if your food makes me barf, forget about it.
I didn’t like it either. After all the hype I expected something really good or at least good.
I had the Chicago Italian Beef. Nothing special and definitely didn’t compare to even the lowliest hole-in-the-wall in Chicagoland.
Service was slow and forgetful, they got our sides wrong and the room looks crummy. This place is totally overrated. I won’t go back.
I think you may be confusing Kenny&Zukes Deli(on 10th and Stark)and K&Z Sandwichworks(on NW Thurman).
Where is this “review on Yahoo”? Can you summarize it here? What did you have, how many times did you go? A legit “review” would mean you tried a large number of dishes and visited at least three times.
Having lived in Boston and New York for most of my life I was completely appalled at the food here. There was nothing that I would go back for and it was all over priced. The biggest dissapointment was the knish. I was so excited to see it on the menu as I miss my food cart knish’s like crazy! But alas…I didn’t get it until the end of my meal. It tasted freezer burnt and overall nothing like a knish. The sandwiches may be overstuffed but if what’s inside those sandwhiches isn’t any good then what’s the point.
I’m really sick of people mentioning how much a rueben costs at Kenny and Zukes, I checked some menus and found that K&Z is slightly cheaper than Langer’s in LA and much cheaper than most NY delis like Carnegie and Stage. Feel free to think K&Z isn’t in the same class but it pretty much is…end the ignorance!
I would be shocked of ‘crammit’ wasn’t Kenny, Zuke or some relative therein. However, comparing menu prices between Portland, OR and LA/NY is absurd.
Anyway the price wouldn’t be an issue if the sandwhich was actually good.