Junior’s Deli Boys
Tuesday, February 21, 2006 15:45A little while ago, Neal wrote up Junior’s Deli in Westwood. Junior’s opened a new outlet in the South Bay, called Junior’s Deli Boys. Deli Boys is part of a new development in Manhattan Beach, anchored by boutique hotel, Shade.
Just outside the hotel is a courtyard with a fountain, surrounded by three restaurants. Petros, an upscale Greek joint, Le Pain Quotidien, the French bakery with the name that no one can pronounce and Junior’s Deli Boys, an offshoot of the 50 year tradition.
Admittedly, I have never been to the Westwood location; and truthfully, the first time I ate at Deli Boy’s I didn’t know that it was related to Junior’s. While Junior’s holds on to a traditional look, Deli Boys has gone full modern. Starting with the menus, which are displayed above the cashiers on large plasma screens. The resolution is good, but not as good as printed menus would be, I’m not sure why they went the plasma screen route, since the display is static. An octegenarian couple in front of me were having a terrible time making out the menu items. I will say that the bold colors are attractive, but I would have opted for a printed sign over the digital version.
On to the important stuff — the food! To me, deli means sandwich and a true traditional choice is the pastrami on rye. The sandwiches at Deli Boys are not cheap, but in the end, I think that you get value for what you pay. I opted for the “small” 1/4 pound sandwich and the mini potato pancakes and coleslaw on the side. In addition to fountain drinks, Deli Boys also offers two different types of brewed iced tea (brewed iced tea is very important to me) as well as lemonade. At the self serve station, I whipped up a tasty Arnold Palmer to sip while I waited for my food.
I grabbed a table outside and enjoyed the nice weather. I did notice that the servers were having a lot of trouble keeping the customers satisfied. I will chalk a certain amount of it up to opening pains, but even when I went back a couple weeks later, there were problems. People getting incomplete or wrong orders, requests for mustard going unanswered, multiple servers coming up to the same person asking if “everything was ok” and then bolting while the customer was trying to make requests. I did see a manager-like fellow taking this all in and making suggestions and talking to another guy about where they needed to improve, so it does look like they are working on it.
When my sandwich did finally come, I knew I was in for a treat.
The pastrami was so good that I thought about it not only for the rest of the afternoon, but for the rest of the week. The meat was cut rather thick and was juicy, with a perfect amount of fat. Enough fat to keep it moist and flavorful, but not so much that it was like bacon. The pepper spices were equally as balanced, adding tremendous flavor but not punching you in the mouth.
The rye bread was soft and tasty. With each bite I was falling more and more in love with this sandwich. I should also come clean that I rarely eat red meat. I could probably count the number of times I had beef last year on one hand. I might save my meat indulgences just for this sandwich.
The coleslaw isn’t worth much of a mention. Not bad, but not remarkable. The mini potato pancakes were a nice alternative to french fries. They certainly packed all of the grease of fries, with a little different flavor, and a softer texture. I would definitely order them again.
Since having the pastrami, I have been back and I tried the turkey with a cup of Manhattan Chowder on the side. The chowder came out right away and had a delicious fish stew taste. I’m not sure if they make their soups on site, but it sure tastes like it. Large slabs of clams were swimming in the red broth which I slurped up with gusto. The turkey was great, it obviously didn’t have the flavor of the pastrami, but it was fresh and not one of those pressed loafs.
Deli Boys is a much needed addition to the Manhattan Beach food scene. There is no ocean view, but the pier is just blocks away and parking is ample in the structure beneath the courtyard. Check it out.
Junior’s Deli Boys
451 Manhattan Beach Blvd
Manhattan Beach CA 90266
By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.
Economist says:
June 25th, 2006 at 11:58 pm
Feh! Vat do you know from Jewish Deli. There are only 4 decent delis in the Southland mit the real taam–Langers, Brents, Pico Kosher Deli, and Nate and Als. The rest are from central casting and the Paramount prop department. Ok, Ok, maybe for fish Barney Greengrass, eppes.
And about Canters you shouldn’t even ask.
SYD says:
July 13th, 2006 at 9:49 am
I had lunch yesterday great food and sevice .I will be back
D. Tucker says:
July 17th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
I have been to the new Deli Boys many times. And yes as with every “New� restaurant, there were growing pains. My experience has been very satisfying ever since they went to full service. The customer service is excellent, and now with full service I can enjoy my meal as desired in the south bay. I go in for breakfast mostly, and what an amazing, and huge breakfast they offer. The French Toast is huge, and very much more than any one could ever eat. My kids always get the kids meals, which are again, way to much food for them to eat. I truly think this deli has been very much needed in our area, and is coming along very nicely.
Jonah says:
July 17th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
I have been there a few times since they switched to full service, I personally don’t notice a big difference in the quality of service, but you don’t have to wait in line to give your order.
I did like to mix my own Arnold Palmer and I usually get a to-go cup so that I can refill on the way out.
I haven’t been for breakfast, since I’m usually not there in the mornings, glad to hear that they have some good options. I almost went a couple weeks ago, but we ended up at The Kettle.
Andy Gilchrist says:
August 27th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
I had the Pastrami recently at Junior’s Deli Boys in Manhattan Beach and it was the WORST sandwich I’ve had in 60 years of dining!
Plus I was up with diarrea all night. This place was vacant for lunch so that should have been a “sign”! It will be out of business within two months!
People in Manhattan Beach are way too sophisticated to accept horrible food.
Ken says:
October 2nd, 2006 at 11:49 am
The food and the service are both good. But the menu is generally overpriced for what you get. I’ve been back a couple times because it is convenient but at their current prices do not see it as a good value.
Devon says:
October 18th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Food was ok. Got the roast beef, asked for rare and got medium. My food got there ok, but people i was with had to wait an hour. They seemed a little unorganized, instead of bringing people their food someone would come out with a plate and ask everyone who’s it was. Too pricey for average food and average (at best) service.
Jonah says:
October 18th, 2006 at 7:20 pm
I have noticed that sort of chaos quite a bit, with mismatched orders, things coming out at different times for the table and spotty service.
I think that Deli Boys is no longer associated with Junior’s too, I don’t know what the details are, but I did notice that the Junior’s name isn’t on their signs any more.
coco says:
November 8th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
great place! where else can you find a bakery with pastries, cakes, and candy…and deli food! plus now they are serving beer and wine!
Marshall says:
December 22nd, 2006 at 11:15 am
I can’t read the comments due to a database error, but I’ve got chime in on this place. Excuse me if I repeat what someone else has already stated.
I took my mother and my roommates there for a Chanukkah dinner and my entire party was disappointed with every aspect of the restaurant. Deli Boys is no longer associated with Junior’s (midway into our disappointing meal, my mother asked the owner and got the curt response “We’re not Junior’s, we’re Deli Boys”. I’ve eaten at damn near every deli between here and New York, and I’ve never had a more disappointing experience, myself. We ordered before we found out that they are no longer associated with Juniors, so we were stuck eating (and paying for) one of the worst meals of our lives.
In addition to the bizarre sports bar decor, the food is unpalatable. The meat is th same sliced meat you or I could buy at Vons, the rye bread is bland, without anything resembling a proper crust, the brisket and corned beef both sucked. The brisket is smoked, not cooked in any way resembling traditional deli brisket. The sauerkraut was fresh from the can.
I had the Reuben - although it wasn’t as bad as the “worst Reuben on Earth” that they serve at Pea Soup Andersen’s, I would have rather hand an Arby’s Reuben. Their latkes are little fried balls of latkes - soft and pathetic, they somehow both mock the hush puppies thy resemble and the latkes they are supposed to taste like.
My roommate ordered the mac and cheese (Junior’s mac & cheese is mindblowing) and it was a sad affair, with too-small noodles hidden underneath greasy panko.
They didn’t change the $12 per sandwich that I expect to and am happy to pay at a real deli, either. They even are selling a $20 1 pound sandwich. You’d be better off going to the aforementioned Vons,buying a pound of the meat of your choice for $7.99 and eating it in your car.
The service was sub par, forgetting parts of our order, and then forgetting to bring various necessary condiments with our food, too.
Basically, the word is - don’t go to Deli Boys. It’s not Junior’s, and the food, service and atmosphere is a joke.
Jenny says:
February 24th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE from employees and Manager CHRISTOPHER GAIL! It was a beautiful day in Manhattan Beach; my friend and I decided to stop at Deliboys for lunch. It took the cashier about 15 minutes to take the order of the person in front of me. She was engaging in different tasks as she entered the order on the computer. When my turn came, after a confusing interaction with the cashier, I decided to take my order to go. I underwent the same experience from the previous customer; as she began to take my order, she kept being interrupted and instructed to provide napkins, utensils to different tables, and do other things that prevented her from finishing my order. As expected, she made a mistake when she took my order and gave me a wrong total. I had to show her the menu for her to get the prices right. With all the interruptions, it took her at least 30 minutes to take orders from 2 customers. As soon as she finished taking my order she took off and left me standing in fron of the computer without a “thank you”, without giving me a receipt or telling me what I was to expect next. She literally run to the soda machine to fill 2 glassess for other customers while I stood by the computer trying to figure out what to do next. I approached her and ask her if I was going to get my receipt and is she was finished. A man appeared in the scene and told her “move on, continue working, I’ll take care of this”. The girl run as if she was scared of him. As I tried to explain how confused and disappointed I was with the service, he told me that the employee did not do anything wrong. I tried to explain my experience without avail, her interrupted me and told me very rudely he was not going to apologize for anything. I requested to speak to the manager, he laughed and told me very arrogantly he was the owner/manager. I asked for his name, he told me Christopher Gail and gave me his card. I told him I wanted to have my money back. His behavior worsen, and in a very threatening tone of voice he told me, you ate your food and now you want your money back? I was speechless and felt completely harrassed and intimidated with his threatening body language and loud voice. I told him I had just order the food and I needed an apology. He told me, I will not apologize, we have not done anything wrong so you cannot do anything against me. I could not believe what I was experiencing. He then wanted me to tell him exactly how much I had paid, I was trembling and could not recall exactly how much I’ve paid.I told him to add up the prices from the menu. He questioned me as if I was trying to steal something. He moved back and forth from the computer to read the order by the kitchen. I told him to check his computer. He seemed to ignore me and questioned the person who took the order. She told him she did not give me a receipt because the printer was not working. I felt for a moment this man was going to attack me. Finally, he returned my money and I walked away, feeling humilliated, harrassed and totally disrespected. This type of people/business should not be allowed to make money in such a fine neighborhood as Manhattan Beach. I have lived in this city for many years, have raised my children here and have always been treated with respect and courtesy at any other restaurant in town; this terrible place ought to change the way they treat customers or go somewhere else.
Tommy Lovebottom says:
March 3rd, 2007 at 2:29 am
Frankly Jenny, That’s L.A. baby! Thank you Jenny! For those of you that don’t know… L.A. people ..(but not you) are the biggest assholes barnone on the fuckin’ planet. I moved here from New York and I have worked in Europe and Old Mexico as a waiter and L.A. people are by far the worst assholes on this Mortal Coil. Why? that’s another story. but don’t we all really know why…..? Sad but true.
Tommy Lovebottom says:
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:17 am
I remember eating a pizza on Pico say ……….Louises (gasp) Wekp, i was drunk and it tasted pretty good …at that time..Then my Hipster buddy…told m
Herb Beaver says:
March 5th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Took the g.f. and her mom to Deli Boiz this Sunday…good lord was the service retarded. The waitress forgot to place the order..then after 80 minutes came back and said someone deleted the order. Deleted the order?!? There was some guy w/blonde-red hair running around like he was the manager, and never apologized or said anything to us or the 3-groups who were still waiting for their food or check..that was requested long ago. This place blows-and overpriced. Too bad, cause MB needs a place w/good deli foods.
Redondo Mom says:
March 15th, 2007 at 10:34 am
The worst service, obviously bad management, so-so food. Can’t wait until this place goes out of business so this great space can be filled by a GOOD restaurant! So sad that such a waste of space is across the way from the best South Bay restaurant - Petros! This place is an embarrassment to Metlox and MB.
TUBSTER13 says:
May 5th, 2007 at 8:51 am
TRY THE BEST DELI AROUND……THE KATELLA DELI IN LOS ALAMITOS.
THE FOOD IS TERRIFIC AND THE BAKERY CAN DUKE IT OUT WITH THE
JUNIORS IN WESTWOOD ANY DAY!