Stalzy's Deli: Second Impression, Part 1

(Sorry about the Emerson, Lake and Palmer reference but it had to be done.)

The Dulcinea and I had dinner yesterday at Stalzy's Deli. (Our first impressions are here.) It was our first opportunity to have sandwiches instead of samples and hot ones at that. Walking in I saw a familiar face. It was the wife of a certain homebrewer, who shall remain nameless, sent on an errand for Russian dressing. This anonymous zymurgist has apparently become addicted to Stalzy's food and can now be found at home making his own sandwiches with the deli's ingredients.

We stepped up to the counter and were greeted with a winsome smile by the young woman behind the counter. She took our orders and we found a table. The D availed herself of the special which was a beef sandwich while I went with a corned beef Reuben.

The beef sandwich was tasty. The meat was sliced more thickly than was the stuff we sampled a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately it had been overcooked a bit and was a bit on the chewy side. Atop it was fried onion. I neglected to bring anything to write on as well as my camera so I'm going from memory here but I seem to recall the seasoning being pretty basic – salt & pepper – with the flavor of the meat being left at the fore. The bun had been grilled and was charred a little around the edge. I personally don't mind this but The D was slightly disappointed. We were both less than excited about the horseradish mayo that came on the side. More horseradish, please. She also ordered the sweet and sour slaw which I blathered on about previously.

My Reuben was very good. Starting at the top, it was grilled to perfection. The rye bread was very good stuff with that sharp, earthy flavor that so many local ryes lack. My sandwich had just the right amount of cheese. There was enough to add flavor but it wasn't competing with the corned beef. On my previous visit, I found the kraut to be very mild. Here it seemed a bit more tart but not lip-puckering as I'd have liked. But that's just me. I'll leave a detailed critique of the Russian dressing to the likes of the anonymous brewer who is an expert on such matters but I thought it was good and not especially sweet. As for the corned beef, it was as mouth meltingly tender as I remembered it to be. Warmed up, I could taste nutmeg tones. My only gripe is that there wasn't enough of it. To compound the problem, the slices were folded over on one side of the sandwich leaving the other half with a paucity of the cured manna. A Reuben expert I ain't but, aside from being skinflints when it comes to portion size, Stalzy's did a really good job here.

Both sandwiches came with a pickle spear. For some reason no one else in my family eats pickles. Dill pickles, at any rate. So I ended up with The D's. They were pretty crisp and were certainly delicious. Lastly, I had the potato salad. This was the same stuff I had at the preview except there wasn't any what I thought was mustard seed to be had. It wasn't bad but nothing to email home about either.

I recommend looking at the paper copies of the menu on the counter as there were more items on it than the board hanging from the wall. I saw German potato salad for sale in the deli case but didn't see it available as a side and I didn't ask because I didn't notice its availability until after my order had been placed. Also in the case were fresh and smoked kielbasa from Bavaria Sausage on the southwest side but neither is available on the menu. To finish my Dutch uncle routine, it'd be nice to have a short stack of potato pancakes on the side instead of a full stack of four as an entrée in itself.

It was a bit strange to be in a deli that didn't have bagels, knish, or matzo ball soup. I don't offer this as a complaint so much as an observation. From what I've read, the Stalzy's folks aren't pushing themselves as a Jewish deli but rather as a Midwestern variation on that theme. I suspect the menu will evolve over time as they find out what plays well in the depth of winter and the height of summer as well as what their customers want.

As for our first proper visit, it was hit or miss but it was mostly hits. There's still more to try and the place has only been open for about a week and a half so you can count on things being tweaked.