Best pizza and New York style deli

(NOTE: I'm not saying it stands up to Carnegie et al, just that it's the best Louisville has to offer)

Have you ever gone to Stevens & Stevens, Andrew? Tried the pastrami? Just curious.

Frankly, I probably don't get NYC deli. We lived in NYC for four years fairly recently, and I spent summers there as a teen. I never did get kosher-style deli. I thought it was heavy and greasy, and the rude waiters didn't add much. But maybe that's just me. Now, Italian-style deli was fine, but we really do approximate that here with Lotsa Pasta.

Stevens & Stevens is a very good Louisville-style deli; it is definitely NOT kosher-style deli, even though the pastrami is pretty good! Maybe it's what one was brought up on . . . if you were reared on Kosher-style meals, you just don't feel right unless you've overeaten heavy greasy food, and leave the table with heartburn!

It all goes back to childhood. If you were reared on NY style pizza, you will hate Chicago style. If you grew up in Chicago you can't have pizza without sausage - if you grew up in Cleveland you can't have pizza without pepperoni. Yes, one can recognize what is good and what is not, but if one has a true "CRAVING" for "food from home", the true epicurean value judgements go out the window, and you want whatever replicates that food, good or bad. If you are Jones-ing for NY Kosher-style deli food, then hit Jason's. If you just want good pastrami, then Stevens & Stevens fits the bill.

(sorry for the philosophical rant!)

NYC, Cleveland, Chitown. Go visit if need be. All good. Let's LOVE what we have in the Ville.

Phil,
My husband was born and raised in NYC and he had the same questions when he first moved to Louisville. He says that Impelizzeri's on Bardstown Rd has a thin crust that is the closest he has come to NY pizza. He gave up on the deli and has quenched his corned beef/pastrami cravings by ordering from Katz's online. His other major complaint was bagels and lox and he now orders online from H&H bagels and Zabar's.

Does H&H deliver? When I checked last year they didn't. Oh joyous day!

Does H&H deliver? When I checked last year they didn't. Oh joyous day!

I think he first ordered several years ago and I am pretty sure he gets them from H&H. There may be a minimum order because we always get a ton and have to freeze them until they are gone.

. . . His other major complaint was bagels and lox and he now orders online from H&H bagels and Zabar's.

It may not be as good as Zabar's, but both Sam's Club and Costco have decent lox (at a fraction of the price of Zabar's) . . . even visiting family in NYC or Chicago, they now buy lox from Costco!

[Robin Garr]

. . . His other major complaint was bagels and lox and he now orders online from H&H bagels and Zabar's.

It may not be as good as Zabar's, but both Sam's Club and Costco have decent lox (at a fraction of the price of Zabar's) . . . even visiting family in NYC or Chicago, they now buy lox from Costco!

And again thinking locally, Shuckman's Smoked Fish makes a pretty decent nova lox right here in River City. You can buy it at Doll's and, I assume, several of the other usual suspects.

I grew up in NJ and this thread has made me hungry.

I love Luigi's Pizza. I've lived away from NJ for 25 years and have eaten a lot of 'New York' style pizzas and Luigi's is the only place that has even come close.

Steven's and Steven's Deli was fine by me. I had a corned beef sandwich that was decent and matzo ball soup and it made me happy.

I do miss the NJ diners, however. Sigh.

Carnegie Deli still has the best cheesecake I've ever eaten; it is available by mail order. It's expensive, but you can get it.

And again thinking locally, Shuckman's Smoked Fish makes a pretty decent nova lox right here in River City. You can buy it at Doll's and, I assume, several of the other usual suspects.

I think you can still buy all of Shuckman's products at his place of business, 30th and Main in a concrete building. I would call first. He has a web site kysmokedfish.com .. phone 775 6478.

He has smoked salmon, spoonfish (aka paddlefish), and trout. Some spreads and spoonfish caviar. The fish freezes nicely and is excellent. Lewis Shuckman and the other people are very nice and Lewis will usually show you around.

. . . His other major complaint was bagels and lox and he now orders online from H&H bagels and Zabar's.

It may not be as good as Zabar's, but both Sam's Club and Costco have decent lox (at a fraction of the price of Zabar's) . . . even visiting family in NYC or Chicago, they now buy lox from Costco!

And again thinking locally, Shuckman's Smoked Fish makes a pretty decent nova lox right here in River City. You can buy it at Doll's and, I assume, several of the other usual suspects.

Andrew, Its funny you bring that up because he actually bought a package from Costco a litle while ago on a whim and was surprisingly impressed.

Robin, thanks and I will pass on the suggestion to him. Me, personally, I won't go near the stuff. I enjoy sushi but something about brined, cold smoked salmon, doesn't quite sit well with me. Maybe it's because he tried to do it at home once and it seemed like the kitchen smelled like salmon for months.

[Robin Garr]

I think you can still buy all of Shuckman's products at his place of business, 30th and Main in a concrete building

Let's see ... I can pop over to Doll's in about four minutes, or I can drive way the heck down to the West End. Oh-kay!

(Lewis is indeed a fine feller, though, and it's true that a trip down to his place - which was originally the Shuckman family grocery, I believe - could be a fun foodie adventure. But for grocery shopping? I think I'll just swing by Doll's.)

Thumb through this site! http://aandsbagels.com/index.htm
We were going to use them, but we do not have enough biz to justify the amounts. Now if someone wanted to get cases and split it
with friends.. you all could do something like that.

[Robin Garr]

Thumb through this site! http://aandsbagels.com/index.htm
We were going to use them, but we do not have enough biz to justify the amounts. Now if someone wanted to get cases and split it
with friends.. you all could do something like that.

Hey, what if a couple of other restaurateurs on the forum were to split case orders with you, Heather? A win-win-win situation for you, them and us hungry diners!

I heard once that the reason you can't get real NY pizza outside of NY is the water quality. something in the water makes the crust what it is....same thing for bagels. don't know if this is true or just someone blathering.

It might be true...I've never been able to find a comparable slice or nosh here. Yet, they are ubiquitous in NY. go figure.

You might just have to resign yourself to not eating those things while in Louisville. There are plenty of other good things to eat here that you won't find in NY.

but if you must have NY pizza and Junior's cheesecake (I know you didn't mention that one), you can find places online that will ship the stuff, for a price...but if you're jonesin', you might be willing to cough up the dough (get it?) for the authentic NY pizza.

edit: I posted this without realizing there were 4 other pages that I had not read..sorry for duplicating the info about the water. Robin, you said it was only for the bagels, but I've heard it applies to the pizza dough as well. heard it from some guy in the bronx many years ago.

I think you can still buy all of Shuckman's products at his place of business, 30th and Main in a concrete building

Let's see ... I can pop over to Doll's in about four minutes, or I can drive way the heck down to the West End. Oh-kay!

(Lewis is indeed a fine feller, though, and it's true that a trip down to his place - which was originally the Shuckman family grocery, I believe - could be a fun foodie adventure. But for grocery shopping? I think I'll just swing by Doll's.)

Understand. But most places don't carry all of Shuckmans products and not everyone lives within five minutes of Dolls. I can probably get to Shuckmans from Fern Creek as quick as Dolls. Can't do much grocery shopping there however. And how many places are you going to get a tour, if Lewis is there, showing the equipment that does the smoking and the wrapping.

Also can be ordered for delivery, but of course that incurs shipping costs.

May have been a grocery at some point, but the fairly recent remodeling covered up or removed the rails where full trailer loads of hanging sides of beef were delivered and put on the rails prior to going in the coolers before being broken down. Shuckmans was a major distributor of beef to restaurants and groceries in Louisville at one time.