Manny's Deli: A Chicago Tradition, or Rumination on the Culinary Heritage of the Jewish Diaspora

When we sat down to write out a list of international cuisines, we weren't sure about how to address Jewish cuisine, and in particular where the quintessential Jewish deli fit in.  But since we had been wanting to visit Manny's Cafeteria and Delicatessen for a while, we decided it wasn't too much of a stretch to include them in our project.  Plus, yet another unsuccessful trip to the DMV (don't ask) left us with a rented I-GO car and some time to kill.  We already knew all about bagel and lox, matzo ball soup, and a good deli sandwich from excellent sources--Woody Allen and Larry David--but we wanted to learn more and learn it first hand.  With its cafeteria line and ample seating, pictures of visiting presidents on the walls, and tables full of old men shooting the breeze, Manny's feels like what you want an old school deli to feel like, so let's take in the wonders of Jewish delicatessen cuisine!


Drinks
The drink options are standard cafeteria offerings.  The color comes with getting some water to wash down the undoubtedly salty food you're having.  Rather than have a water cooler or some kind of regular spigot, they have a machine that at first I suspected served soft-serve ice cream.  Upon closer inspection and looking at the instructions, we figured out this was the least easy to use water dispenser ever.  Water is served in paper cones, like you might expect to get at an old fashioned water cooler.  They even have red plastic holders that can hold up to four cones for you to fill!  Despite the instructions that you have to push hard, people continually struggled with the machine, with one guy even getting a worker to come over because he was sure it was broken.  Nope, just wasn't pushing hard enough.  I never knew that getting a glass of water could be so difficult.

Food
What drew us to Manny's were the sandwiches.  I'd heard that they stack them high there, and we weren't disappointed!  When you walk in, you work your way through an old fashioned cafeteria line, pointing at what you want until you get to the sandwich area.  There you can order up your choice and they cut the meat fresh and pile it ridiculously high.  Neil went with the corned beef, one of his personal favorites.  It was served on rye that wasn't up to the task of containing the world's largest pile of corned beef, but then again, no bread would be up to that.  The beef was sliced with a medium thickness but wasn't as moist as some of the corned beefs we had sampled in Milwaukee.  The mustard on the table helped make up for that with it's great spicy, horseradish flavor.  On the side, there was a giant pickle and some sort of potato fritter that looked kinda like a funnel cake, but made of potato rather than batter.  It was interesting as a side and a nice addition to the meal.  On the side, the matzo ball soup was really tasty, with a very nice broth and matzo just like mom used to make, at least in an old Woody Allen movie.

Beth went with the pastrami.  Neither of us could recall ever eating pastrami, so this seemed like a great place to start!  We checked and found out that pastrami is aged differently from corned beef, but they share some obvious similarities.  This pastrami was very tasty and the dry aging gave the meat an extra bit of peppery taste and texture.  Beth went with the kreplach soup, which featured a dumpling filled with what we think was ground chicken and some seasonings.

Overall
Manny's has that great old school feel that you like in a good lunch place.  The seating goes on for multiple rooms, the regulars look adequately salty, and the place seems to have rules that have been developed over years and years that they assume you'll figure out on your own sooner or later.  The range of choices is pretty impressive, with a variety of hot foods to go with the sandwiches and all the soups, salads, and desserts that you would expect.  The sandwiches are huge and we both took home a half to get another meal out of it.  The soups were especially good and had that homemade taste that you would expect.  Once you learn to navigate Manny's, it seems like the kind of place you could have lunch in forever!

Foreign Factor
1 out of 10.  While having a definite Jewish-American feel, Manny's was more American than Jewish.  Hell, they even filmed a movie with Matt Dillon and Tommy Lee Jones here in the 80s!  With pictures of two presidents going through the line to get lunch, Manny's is the kind of Chicago treasure that needs to be experienced in person.

What We Learned
The visit sparked much debate as to exactly what "Jewish" food is, and whether or not deli food in the U.S. can count as international cuisine.  This Saveur article "Roots of the Deli," provided some enlightenment.  We also learned the difference between pastrami and corned beef, and that Milwaukee seems to have a better corned beef recipe (check out Jake's or McBob's for some amazing corned beef).  Neil learned that matzo ball soup, aside from lending itself to lots of jokes, is really good.  The most important lesson may have been that when you eat at Manny's, plan on getting two meals out of it!

More
For more on Jewish food and culture, try the blog The Jew and the Carrot