Photos by Amanda LaCasse
Upon walking into Tommy Pastrami New York Delicatessen at Second and Washington streets, I wasn’t sure how to feel. I wasn’t in Phoenix anymore — but I wasn’t quite sure I’d moved seamlessly into New York, either.
The location feels urban, fresh and open, with indoor and outdoor seating. You order at the counter and wait for your number to be called, which seems to be the case in at least a few delicatessens I’ve visited. The restaurant doesn’t feel small and local, and that may well be because the Phoenix location is its second. The first is in Orange County, California.
The deli was founded by New York native Tommy Cassella, who worked at a Brooklyn delicatessen before moving west. And while I didn’t feel like I’d been picked up and placed in the heart of New York, there was some pretty clear authenticity shining from the refrigerator full of Dr. Brown’s kosher sodas, a popular selection among New Yorkers.
The primary options on the menu are sandwiches, but vegetarians be forewarned: at Tommy Pastrami, it’s all about the meat. If you’re feeling light on meat, they do offer salads and potato knishes — but it’s still probably a better idea to go elsewhere.
I inadvertently knocked out some of my appetite with a toasted bagel from Starbucks a few hours earlier (I know, shame on me), so I ordered light: a half corned-beef Reuben for $8.95, thick-cut steak fries for $2.75 and a Dr. Brown’s black cherry soda for $2.50. Photo Editor Amanda LaCasse ordered a half pastrami on rye with Swiss cheese for $8.25 and a potato knish for $3.75.
We sat outside, which was splendid, because the weather was that perfect breezy, warm Arizona spring. Less splendid was the fact that both Tommy Pastrami and the restaurant next door were competing for air space by playing different music.
We dug into our food, and unfortunately, the Reuben was not so spectacular. The meat was all piled on one end, the cheese in a big, gooey blob on the other. I had difficulty picking up my sandwich because the cheese had melted out onto the paper lining the plastic tray, and the first few bites I took were mostly mouthfuls of cheese I had to elbow through to hit the meat.
The pastrami sandwich, on the other hand, delighted me. Amanda maintains that the pastrami wasn’t salty enough, and perhaps I have to concede; I tested the pastrami, and it tasted more like corned beef to me, which is traditionally less salty. This sandwich, however, was layered thick and was lovely –delicious with a dab of brown mustard from the bottle at our table.
Potato-wise, the fries and the knish both achieved their aims. I’ve never been much of a French-fry fan, but the steak fries were thick and crispy and did a generally A+ job of being French fries. I’ll admit that the knish was the first I’ve ever tried, but, how can you go wrong with a crispy, warm outer layer of potato followed by more potato on the inside? It also came with gravy.
Perhaps my favorite part of my meal was the Dr. Brown’s soda, if only for the comfort of familiarity it brought, taking me back to my favorite Jewish deli in my hometown of Denver. You can’t go wrong offering Dr. Brown’s to a Jewish girl who was raised on latkes and whitefish salad.
Overall, Tommy Pastrami does its job and does it well. While my Reuben was disappointing, I’m still willing to give the restaurant another chance. And while it doesn’t feel like the intimate, local type of place lots of downtown Phoenicians love, it is clean and pleasant, and the staff were friendly and helpful.
Tommy Pastrami is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Location: 201 E. Washington St., Suite 109
Star rating (0-5): ★★★1/2 (Downtown Devil dining reviews changed their scale from a 4-star scale rating to a 5-star scale)
Note: Taylor Bishop, a Downtown Devil photographer, works at Tommy Pastrami, but she did not contribute to the reporting of the story.
Contact the reporter at molly.bilker@asu.edu
