Tongues for the Memory
October 2, 2016 2:19 PM Subscribe
After 80 years, the original Carnegie Deli is closing this December. A bit more background information on the NYC landmark at Smithsonian.com.
George Shrimpton, share a Milton's Smorgasbord, or nibble a Nosh, Nosh, Nanette.
If there is one thing I can't abide, it's cutesy menu names for sandwiches. It disrespects the seriousness of the subject.
posted by thelonius at 2:28 PM on October 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
If there is one thing I can't abide, it's cutesy menu names for sandwiches. It disrespects the seriousness of the subject.
posted by thelonius at 2:28 PM on October 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
Serves them right for pronouncing their name wrong for 80 years.
posted by octothorpe at 2:29 PM on October 2, 2016
posted by octothorpe at 2:29 PM on October 2, 2016
2016 is really trying to take everything from us, isn't it.
posted by ardgedee at 2:34 PM on October 2, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 2:34 PM on October 2, 2016 [4 favorites]
.
I had a pastrami sandwich there, not really knowing the wall of meat I was getting myself into.
posted by Artw at 2:41 PM on October 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
I had a pastrami sandwich there, not really knowing the wall of meat I was getting myself into.
posted by Artw at 2:41 PM on October 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
Losing Carnegie is sad, but it's not the gut shot that losing Katz's, or the 2nd Avenue Deli, or (lord forbid) Yonah Schimmel's would be.
2016 is really trying to take everything from us
I think you mean 5776 is trying to take everything from us. Good thing it's almost over! if you think I'm waiting another two months for the secular new year to declare this year over then you are shitting yourself
posted by phooky at 2:48 PM on October 2, 2016 [35 favorites]
2016 is really trying to take everything from us
I think you mean 5776 is trying to take everything from us. Good thing it's almost over! if you think I'm waiting another two months for the secular new year to declare this year over then you are shitting yourself
posted by phooky at 2:48 PM on October 2, 2016 [35 favorites]
Carnegie's is OK but it's a tourist trap. Katz's is wayy, wayy better.
posted by jonmc at 2:52 PM on October 2, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 2:52 PM on October 2, 2016 [8 favorites]
Eh, losing Yonnah Shimmels may not be the worst thing in the world. They've been coasting on the name for years.
Now losing Russ and Daughters; that would be pistols at dawn territory. Luckily they own their building, so they'll probably be there for a good long while.
posted by Itaxpica at 2:53 PM on October 2, 2016 [6 favorites]
Now losing Russ and Daughters; that would be pistols at dawn territory. Luckily they own their building, so they'll probably be there for a good long while.
posted by Itaxpica at 2:53 PM on October 2, 2016 [6 favorites]
About five years ago, when I was living in Queens, my parents came out to visit. It was one of my dad's wishes to go and get a pastrami sandwich from a Real New York Deli, so we went to the Carnegie Deli and were *deluged* by the servings. (I had several days' worth of leftovers from those mountains of meat.)
posted by Guy Smiley at 2:55 PM on October 2, 2016
posted by Guy Smiley at 2:55 PM on October 2, 2016
The Carnegie Deli is an awful place that charges $20-$30 for a sandwich and tacks on an extra fee for sharing. And yet I am sad that it is closing.
posted by zachlipton at 3:13 PM on October 2, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 3:13 PM on October 2, 2016 [6 favorites]
One of my favorite memories of Carnegie Deli was from around 1992, I was an intern whose job duties included picking up sandwiches during the madhouse lunch hour. This duty pretty much sucked, as you can imagine, but it was all worth it on the day Mr. T. was in the house.
Mr. T., fully decked out as "MR. T." with his gold chains and mohawk in full effect, no entourage or guests, just himself in all his wise-cracking glory. When I saw him he was finishing up a sandwich and everyone was taking pictures, he was very friendly and chatty, joking with the tourists and the staff.
The best part though, was when he finished and half-jokingly expected that he didn't have to pay, pointing at his autographed picture on the wall. I think that's part of the deal of being "Mr. T", you probably don't have to pay for lots of things. But not at Carnegie's Deli, they made it pretty clear that the bill was expected in full. That's when he pulled out the biggest roll of cash from his pocket that I've seen in my life and peeled off a few tens.
Mr. fuckin T in Carnegie's Deli, that's NYC for ya . . .
posted by jeremias at 3:14 PM on October 2, 2016 [28 favorites]
Mr. T., fully decked out as "MR. T." with his gold chains and mohawk in full effect, no entourage or guests, just himself in all his wise-cracking glory. When I saw him he was finishing up a sandwich and everyone was taking pictures, he was very friendly and chatty, joking with the tourists and the staff.
The best part though, was when he finished and half-jokingly expected that he didn't have to pay, pointing at his autographed picture on the wall. I think that's part of the deal of being "Mr. T", you probably don't have to pay for lots of things. But not at Carnegie's Deli, they made it pretty clear that the bill was expected in full. That's when he pulled out the biggest roll of cash from his pocket that I've seen in my life and peeled off a few tens.
Mr. fuckin T in Carnegie's Deli, that's NYC for ya . . .
posted by jeremias at 3:14 PM on October 2, 2016 [28 favorites]
Also, Eisenberg's is still a going concern, for visitors who want old school New York deli. They make a great Rueben and a Cherry Lime Rickey.
posted by jonmc at 3:16 PM on October 2, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 3:16 PM on October 2, 2016 [7 favorites]
Oh my god how could I forget Eisenberg's. I had an awful, awful cold a few years ago and my now-wife dragged me there for a pastrami sandwich and it just cured me.
posted by phooky at 3:37 PM on October 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by phooky at 3:37 PM on October 2, 2016 [2 favorites]
The past present and future of pastrami in nyc
posted by lalochezia at 4:06 PM on October 2, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by lalochezia at 4:06 PM on October 2, 2016 [4 favorites]
NYC's jewish delicatessens the ultimate guide
posted by lalochezia at 4:07 PM on October 2, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by lalochezia at 4:07 PM on October 2, 2016 [8 favorites]
What's totally weird is that I too once saw "Mr. T" about a block from the Carnegie Deli, in full regalia, surrounded by tourists presumably paying for autographs.
I think it was a skilled impersonator TBH. Not a bad gig if you have the celebrity lookalike genes working for you. And the TV Mr. T is pretty much a cartoon character, easier to pull off faking than a deeper one, all costume and swagger.
In conclusion, Carnegie Deli and Fake Mr. T, two great overdone impersonations that got by for years fleecing tourists.
posted by spitbull at 4:13 PM on October 2, 2016
I think it was a skilled impersonator TBH. Not a bad gig if you have the celebrity lookalike genes working for you. And the TV Mr. T is pretty much a cartoon character, easier to pull off faking than a deeper one, all costume and swagger.
In conclusion, Carnegie Deli and Fake Mr. T, two great overdone impersonations that got by for years fleecing tourists.
posted by spitbull at 4:13 PM on October 2, 2016
They cut back both their hours and menu when they reopened after fixing the gas issues.
posted by brujita at 4:29 PM on October 2, 2016
posted by brujita at 4:29 PM on October 2, 2016
This is fercockt. I'm verklempt.
posted by Splunge at 4:46 PM on October 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Splunge at 4:46 PM on October 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
(Emerges out of a manhole cover in frogman uniform, gasping)
David's Brisket House in Crown Heights, u dummies!!!!!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:23 PM on October 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
David's Brisket House in Crown Heights, u dummies!!!!!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:23 PM on October 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
And the TV Mr. T is pretty much a cartoon character, easier to pull off faking than a deeper one, all costume and swagger.
Careful, you don't want Mr. T to squeeze his stress ball too many times.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:50 PM on October 2, 2016
Careful, you don't want Mr. T to squeeze his stress ball too many times.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:50 PM on October 2, 2016
The Carnegie Deli is an awful place that charges $20-$30 for a sandwich
By the looks of the sheer poundage they pile onto a sandwich, I don't think their pricing may be that far off, especially in comparison to the brisket at BBQ joints.
posted by sourwookie at 6:01 PM on October 2, 2016
By the looks of the sheer poundage they pile onto a sandwich, I don't think their pricing may be that far off, especially in comparison to the brisket at BBQ joints.
posted by sourwookie at 6:01 PM on October 2, 2016
.
posted by mochapickle at 6:26 PM on October 2, 2016
posted by mochapickle at 6:26 PM on October 2, 2016
.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:14 PM on October 2, 2016
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:14 PM on October 2, 2016
.
I remember eating there on one of my tourist trips to NYC in the late 80's or early 90's. Yet another of my talismans gone.
posted by pjern at 7:34 PM on October 2, 2016
I remember eating there on one of my tourist trips to NYC in the late 80's or early 90's. Yet another of my talismans gone.
posted by pjern at 7:34 PM on October 2, 2016
(Emerges out of a manhole cover in frogman uniform, gasping)
darts out from under rock, in exile, to heretically whisper: Harold's New York Deli
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:01 PM on October 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
darts out from under rock, in exile, to heretically whisper: Harold's New York Deli
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:01 PM on October 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
The Carnegie Deli and its cast of Borscht Belt regulars were a key part of one of Woody Allen's great, if underappreciated, films, Broadway Danny Rose. The façade and voices of the regulars appear here starting 3:35.
posted by the sobsister at 8:06 PM on October 2, 2016
posted by the sobsister at 8:06 PM on October 2, 2016
It's been shitty for decades.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:21 PM on October 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:21 PM on October 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
They opened a location in Virginia when I was young and hungry. The sammies seemed expensive. Staff was rude. Walked out. Couldn't see what the fuss was about.
Kidney stone removal back then, for men, involved a catheter with 3 prongs physically activated by somebody pulling some kind of trigger at the other end and then there was a button you pushed later for another ass-shot of morphine. And the nurses would chuckle about your butt.
Somebody brought me a pastrami sandwich. So high I couldn't get over it. So wide I couldn't get around it. Just had to eat it. Ran out of bread and mustard and it dawned on me that I was shoveling meat into my mouth naked with a tube coming out of my penis and my mom was there. I hit the button again.
Thanks Carnegie.
.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 9:34 PM on October 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
Kidney stone removal back then, for men, involved a catheter with 3 prongs physically activated by somebody pulling some kind of trigger at the other end and then there was a button you pushed later for another ass-shot of morphine. And the nurses would chuckle about your butt.
Somebody brought me a pastrami sandwich. So high I couldn't get over it. So wide I couldn't get around it. Just had to eat it. Ran out of bread and mustard and it dawned on me that I was shoveling meat into my mouth naked with a tube coming out of my penis and my mom was there. I hit the button again.
Thanks Carnegie.
.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 9:34 PM on October 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
My long deceased cousin Leo was part owner of this place, and he was rightfully proud of what he said was the best pastrami sandwich anywhere. I'm sad for him at least to see it go.
posted by 1adam12 at 9:50 PM on October 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by 1adam12 at 9:50 PM on October 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
He'd be sad to see how far it fell before it went under, I bet.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 11:39 PM on October 2, 2016
posted by Joseph Gurl at 11:39 PM on October 2, 2016
Well, my heart is sad, but my arteries are relieved.
.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 3:42 AM on October 3, 2016
.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 3:42 AM on October 3, 2016
Feh - Langer's is where it's at.
Well, maybe so, but it's a bit far for lunch when you work on 7th Ave at 49th...
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 3:43 AM on October 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
Well, maybe so, but it's a bit far for lunch when you work on 7th Ave at 49th...
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 3:43 AM on October 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
Metafilter Without Context: the wall of meat I was getting myself into.
posted by mhoye at 7:36 AM on October 3, 2016
posted by mhoye at 7:36 AM on October 3, 2016
I've only been to NYC once in my life (as opposed to my wife who worked in the area in her early twenties). We had lunch at Carnegie and I had the brisket sandwich. Truly a mighty wall of meat. And a slice of cheesecake the size of my head. Sad to hear that it won't be around the next time we get there.
Is there an acceptable substitute in that area of Manhattan? Not asking for a friend.
posted by Ber at 1:40 PM on October 3, 2016
Is there an acceptable substitute in that area of Manhattan? Not asking for a friend.
posted by Ber at 1:40 PM on October 3, 2016
That meme has been shitty for a decade, too.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 3:42 PM on October 3, 2016
posted by Joseph Gurl at 3:42 PM on October 3, 2016
There's also Liebman's for those unafraid to come up to the Bronx. And there's also the Bronx Alehouse which is not traditional by any stretch of the imgination, but their smoke corned beef sandwich and everything bagel fries are a great nod to the old school deli days.
posted by jonmc at 4:10 PM on October 3, 2016
posted by jonmc at 4:10 PM on October 3, 2016
Perhaps sacrilegious but why can't she sell the place. Have someone else run it, etc.?
posted by gregjunior at 9:32 PM on October 3, 2016
posted by gregjunior at 9:32 PM on October 3, 2016
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posted by Iris Gambol at 2:23 PM on October 2, 2016