Rose’s Deli & Bakery
April 9, 2008 by cynthia
- Rose’s Website
- Location: NW 23rd St. (Restaurant Row)
- Cost to fill up two people: $20-$25
Live in New York for any period of time, even if you hate it, and you’ll become a delisnob. Delisnobs are those annoying, black-clad folk who kindly remind us that ONLY a New York deli can produce truly delicious pastrami, corned beef, dill pickles, potato salad, lox, bagels, rye bread, etc.
Of course, 99 percent of the time they’re perfectly right. I have yet to encounter a truly worthwhile bagel outside The City, and I have my doubts about the corned beef, too. Thus, when I visit a “Deli” in glassland, my skepticals start quivering before I’m through the door.
Rose’s did NOT calm my skepticals–they’re no New York deli–but they do a credible job. My friends and I descended on the place and ordered corned beef on rye, hamburger steak, stuff like that. Those things were reasonably good, although my corned beef was a tad tough, and the pickles were tasty. There was a gorgeous neon sign hanging over our heads (the original Rose’s street sign?). The ambience was sorta Brooklyn-takes-a-detour-in-the-pines.
What Rose’s lacked in New York-ness, though, they made up for in friendliness. The waiter had just the right combination of banter, salesmanship, and charm. The place closes ‘way too early for a deli (8PM, for heaven’s sake!), but the staff kindly let us stay and finish our discussion until 9:15. Can’t complain about that at all.
So, are there bowls of half- and full-sour pickles on the table? Can you get an egg cream? I’ve got my benchmark place that’s on the west side of Lex just south of the intersection with 42nd Street.
GcB
what about pickled green tomatoes? i haven’t been able to find them anywhere in the west.
One of my fondest memories of NY delis is the big metal bowl of assorted dill pickles, pickled green tomatoes, pickled onions, etc., and no, that’s not the Roses thing. This is northwest deli, not north of Times Square.
Don’t know about the egg creams, though–didn’t specifically look. If I go there again, I will.
awwww…you missed the “real” Rose’s! It was where Typhoon is now on 23rd (or where the Restoration Hardware is a block North). The old Rose’s had a tiled floor and a velvet rope where you stood on one side waiting in line to sit and eat, all the while gazing on the ridiculously huge cakes and pastries in the fridge cases before the counter seating. There was red velvet patterned wallpaper with lots of black and white photos of celebs eating there and framed newspaper clippings. The ruben sandwich was big enough to feed you for three meals and the matzoh ball soup was cheap and filling if you were broke. The cakes always looked way better than they tasted and the cinnamon rolls were the size of loaves of bread. They should have kept the old Rose’s the way it was. If it were in NYC they would have.
Hmmmm. I’d like to have seen that. Sounds just like my favorite Brooklyn deli, maybe without the velvet rope.