Today’s travels brought me to the Avenue Deli, a combo Jewish-Italian place in beautiful Lansdowne next to the revitalized movie theater. My partner in crime: Alicia Sheeran – PR person extraordinaire for lunch. I expected more food displayed in the cases like an old-fashioned deli. The décor is sparse with vintage black and white photos of old Lansdowne. Whatever you do, don’t sit near the front windows if it’s cold outside. You’ll need to pour their Jewish Wedding Soup over yourself to keep warm.
Now, as a self-proclaimed corned beef conno-sewer, I’ll travel miles for a good corned beef sandwich. Attman’s in Baltimore, Harold’s (Exit 10 on the Jersey Turnpike), Katz’s and Carnegie in NYC, Famous in Philly… all great! Can Avenue measure up?
I went with the Corned Beef Special on thick rye. I prefer a hard rye, but this was actually quite good. The meat was lean, thin cut and quite flavorful – not nearly as salty as what’s served elsewhere. The highlight of the sandwich was the cole slaw that was unbelievably good. Every sandwich comes with hand-cut fries – also quite delicious and not greasy at all. There’s an option to upgrade from the fries to a side salad or soup, but we’ll do that next time.
Alicia went boring on me with poached eggs. She seemed to enjoy it and didn’t gag, so we’ll give that a plus.
The menu is definitely not your typical deli menu with a varied selection of Jewish and Italian comfort food with a twist. I’m not sure I’d go out of my way for the Avenue yet. Call ahead as they seem to run out of corned beef on a regular basis. We’ll give Avenue another shot and let you know.
27 North Lansdowne Avenue
Lansdowne, PA 19050
(610) 622-DELI
Website: www.theavenuedeli.com
Open Tuesday – Thursday 11am to 9pm;
Friday and Saturday 8am to 9pm
Sunday 8am to 3pm
