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I haven't been here yet,but I had heard a couple of weeks ago that this place was opening. I took it with a grain salt,knowing how many places pass themselves off as NY Deli's....Looks like my prayers may have finally been answered....

Bergstein's goes beyond corned beef Chicago Heights deli fills the bill


Bergstein's NY Delicatessen
200 Dixie Highway
Chicago Heights,IL
(708) 754-6400

[Moved from - Openings and Closings, Comings and Goings]

Bergstein's is the real deal -- I've been haunting the place since they started their soft opening. Bagels are the best I've had on the south side since Al's Deli closed, corned beef is terrific (they buy their corned beef and pastrami from Manny's), and the whitefish salad is so good I would consider choosing a tub of it for my last meal on earth. They are still trying to work a few kinks out. Also, for anyone who is concerned about kosher, they have a separate slicer for their kosher meat (it was down the first day I was in there, but my aunt was very excited to hear about it). My daughters pronounced the matzah ball soup very good, but not as good as grandma's. Pickles are also very good.

Suzy

Thanks for the report,Suzy. You know when I read that article about it yesterday I thought someone slipped LSD into my coffee and I was hallucinating. I'm definitely going to be a regular customer.

I will say that the corned beef sandwiches are generous, although if you are looking for a Manny's "bigger than your head" sandwich, that's not what you will get. Rye bread couldn't be fresher. I'm a happy girl.

I haven't tried the potato pancakes -- yet. I tried to get my daughter to go there for lunch today, but she wanted to go to the restaurant next door for a burger. I'll definitely be back there over the weekend.

Suzy

Stopped in yesterday afternoon. I had a pastrami on an onion roll $7.50 and thought it was great. Not fatty at all,and the portion,which as Suzy pointed out previously,was substantial enough to provide a satisfying lunch. Looking forward to returning here.
All in all,a great addition to the south suburbs that fills a badly needed niche.

I celebrate the addition of what sounds like a very credible deli to a credible-deli-starved Chicago scene. But a pet peeve: I hate when delis pick an "uberJewishy" name that isn't that of the owners. In this case, the owners seem to be Jewish, but perhaps didn't think any of their names sounded Jewish enough and wanted to make sure no one missed the point, and laid it on thick. I suppose the same is going on with the spate of "Irish" bars all over the city, but, since I'm Jewish, the pandering that underlies fake-Jewish deli names bugs me more. And it's usually a red flag to me as regards the food; i.e., a fakey name signals a fakey deli inside. It is wonderful that this is not the case with Bergstein's! They are now filed on a mental 3 X 5 card for the next time I'm in that area.

riddlemay,

I hear what you're saying. I spent many years in Dallas, and although Bagelstein's had the best bagels in the metroplex, not to mention very solid "deli" for a place like Dallas, I had a very similar feeling about the mame of that establishment.

Zingerman's is also a made up name - for the reason you described.

For lunch today we went back to Bergstein's. I just can't stay out of there. This time we opted to eat in, rather than carry out. The owner's wife was there and when I asked her how it was going, she said she actually had just stopped in to drop something off, it was crazy busy, and so she took off her jacket and hadn't been able to get out of there yet. It was close to 2:00 p.m. when we arrived.

My daughter had a half corned beef sandwich and a bowl of matzah ball soup. The husband had a half brisket sandwich on an onion roll and a bowl of italian wedding soup (hey, it's in Chicago Heights!) and I ordered a whitefish salad sandwich on a bagel, no soup. They were out of bagels except for poppy seed -- that was fine with me. My husband said his brisket sandwich was juicy, flavorful and the onion roll was very good. I tasted both soups and found them to be delicious, although we again agreed that my mother's matzah balls are better. Each of us grabbed a different flavor of Dr. Brown's to wash down our lunches.

There was a steady stream of customers coming through the door the entire time we were there. We knew some of them -- in fact, I have yet to walk through the door without running into someone from our small, south suburban Jewish community -- but there were a lot of people I didn't know and many who were clearly not Jewish, just hungry people looking for some good deli. I think they found it.

By the way, the owners are Jewish, if that helps anyone feel more comfortable with the name. And since the owners' names are Davis and Mesirow, maybe it was better for them to come up with a fake name than try to combine the two.

Suzy

I have no idea, but perhaps they are paying tribute to some Bergstein they know.

Bergstein is a Davis grandma.

OK, that gives the restaurant's name legitimacy. Good.

Edited to add: Received a private message that misunderstood my use of "legitimacy" to mean that I'm glad the restaurant is Jewish-owned. In fact, I have no problem with Jewish delis that aren't Jewish-owned, though, as we know from the article linked in the original post, and from Suzy's comment, Bergstein's is. My problem is only with delis that pick a Jewishy-proprietor name that is unconnected to any of the proprietors, in order to signal "Jewish." That is not the case with Bergstein's, since Bergstein is the grandmother's name. That's where the legitimacy, to my mind, comes from. I feel sure most people understood my point, but it would bother me greatly if I thought that some here thought I was making a brief that Jewish delis need to be Jewish-owned.

I went to the Bergsteins deli yesterday, October 4th. I liked their matza ball soup and the coleslaw. But, I was disappointed with their corned beef. It was paper thin and was tough to bite. It was very fatty. I much prefer Kaufmans in Skokie. They give you a choice of lean or regular cornbeef at Kaufmans. I liked the flavor of Kaufmans better as well.

I will wait a few more months and try Bergsteins again, if the cornbeef isnt more flavorful and less tough I will drive up north for my cornbeef fix.

I did like the idea of a NY deli as I am from that area. I wish Bergsteins much success. Please find a source for black/white cookies.
jayjay

Stuck in Chicago Heights, choices are dismall...maybe white castle, maybe subway. Then I remember that I read about Bergstein's Deli on LTHforum.com. Located 2 blks from my meeting on Dixie Hwy, not great but mana from heaven in what I imagine is a deli starved region of the hinterland far south suburbs. Thank god for LTHForum.com.



Not a bad looking place!

Nice selection of sandwiches, Fox's U-Bet syrup and cans of Dr. Brown's stacked invitingly near the entryway. Bagels, Rugallah and Mandel Brot in the case. Might this be the real deal? I read uppost that they serve Manny's corned beef. I seriously doubt that. I opted for a combo sandwich of corned beef, pastrami, turkey and munster served on rye. $13.50 seemed like a lot of dough for a sandwich in Chicago Heights, but I figured if it was good then the masses will flock just like they did to Fressers, back when Ravisloe and Idlewild served a pretty good passover seder. The area has changed much, but alas, I digress....



Not a bad looking sandwich!! This is by no means a destination deli, the meat didn't have the texture of hand slicing to me and certaintly lacked the flavor of Manny's corned beef. Grey Poupon mustard on the table? Not a felony but certaintly a misdemeanor. Bergstein's is certaintly an option if you are in the area or are a deli starved resident. Beats subway by a mile.

Trekked down to Bergstein's this weekend for lunch. In the interest of full disclosure, I knew one of the owners and one of the sandwich guys in high school.

Overall, a very nice meal. My friend and I split what they call the Bensonhurst: pastrami and corned beef on rye (they also include swiss, but we got it without). Generous but not Manny's-sized, my only quibble is that they stack the two meats rather than integrating them at all. Enough fat to make it tasty but not overwhelming. As noted above, there have Grey Poupon on the table, along with French's. Packets of Gulden's spicy brown mustard come with the sandwiches.

We also got an order of potato pancakes, a knish, and a matzo ball soup. I didn't try the soup, but the broth was proclaimed "very good," with nice chunks of vegetables and good seasoning. Matzo ball was good but just barely too dense. Mike, one of the owners/managers, confirmed that they make the broth in house. (They also make the cabbage soup).

Potato pancakes were thinner than I was expecting, crisp around the edges, softer in the middle. I enjoyed these; good onion to potato ratio, very flavorful.

The knish was good but nothing to write home about. Potato filling, shaped like an Asian pear, it was a denser than I'm used to but it had good flavor.

Everyone was extremely friendly, and there were three free samples being offered while I was there (two brought around the restaurant by employees, one at the counter): butternut squash soup, black and white cookie, and chocolate chip mandel bread. Squash soup was silky, slighly sweet and slightly spicy, and was garnished with what seemed to be a cinnamon bread crouton - excellent. Black and white cookie was definitely among the better ones I've had in the Chicago area. Didn't try the mandel bread.

All in all, a really enjoyable experience. I'm not down in that area often, but I'll definitely stop back in the next time I'm there.

We were in Bergsteins on Saturday for a late lunch. Both daughters ordered the butternut squash soup, which was delicious. I briefly entertained the notion of ordering the sweet and sour cabbage, but changed my mind because I just wasn't that hungry and wanted a corned beef sandwich. I got the potato salad on the side with my sandwich. I don't know if it is homemade or not, but it was delicious, made with red potatoes. I could easily have eaten two of those and skipped the chips, which were thick-cut, homemade style. I'm just not that much of a chip person. My husband took advantage and ate mine after polishing up his own.

We also got samples of the chocolate chip cookies. We could see them slicing the corned beef when we walked into the restaurant. Gulden's mustard is available in individual packets if you ask for spicy mustard with your sandwich. Yellow mustard and Grey Poupon are on the tables. We didn't arrive until 2:00, but there was still a steady stream of customers coming through the door. I hope they continue to do well, because we really like their food.

Since we had a late lunch and the daughters had plans for dinner, we opted to get a pound of whitefish salad for dinner. We polished it off with some crackers and a salad for a quick, light meal. Heaven!

Suzy

Trafe!

I think you explained yourself perfectly. Reminds me of a time my parents thought they were at an authentic Mexican-owned restaurant in some border town in Texas, only to discover that the owner and the overly-mexican-accented waiter were really from India like my parents.

As a funny aside, my twin brother and I used to bs about opening our own sandwich shop back in the day, but I imagine we'd have a serious marketing problem if we used his first name and called it Usama's Jewish Deli.

It's a good thing he stuck with the med school idea.

A sign in the window of Bergstein's NY confirms that the corned beef and pastrami are from Manny's. My daughter wishes they would import the potato pancakes as well.

For those of you living in the southern suburbs, please consider dining at Bergstein's today and tomorrow to support the South Suburban Family Shelter's "Dine Out to Prevent Domestic Violence." A portion of the profits from both day's receipts will be donated to this very worthy cause. You can find out more about the program and other participating restaurants by checking out South Suburban Family Shelter's website: http://www.ssfs1.org

Suzy

The husband and I were on the hunt for Passover food yesterday. Usually we trek up north to Garden Fresh, but this year we ran out of time and decided to see what we could find near the house that would fit the bill. We ran to Bergstein's for a bowl of some delicious tomato beef soup that they are bringing in, and split a pastrami sandwich. It more than hit the spot. Spying some Hungarian Kosher salamis on the wall, we decided to purchase one. I was also told that they had some of the Hungariani Kosher kishkes in the back, but they were frozen. That didn't bother me a bit. It's my daughters' favorite Passover treat. I picked up two of them. I don't know how much they were since my husband paid for them while I was schmoozing with friends, but it was worth every penny if it saved me from driving in the sleet to Northbrook from Homewood. I also saw a sign that said they had passover brownies and I think some other home baked things.

I really love having this place so close to home. They also import mini-Junior's cheesecakes from Brooklyn and black & white cookies. The selection keeps getting better and better there.

Suzy

We haven't been to Bergstein's in a while, mostly because we have been doing so much cooking at home. We got home extremely late last night from a fabulous day in Wisconsin and slept a little later than usual. Since we are having an early dinner, my husband proposed a breakfast sandwich from Bergstein's. I was happy to go along with his suggestion.

Bergstein's has been working hard to give their customers what they want. If anything, the selection there is better than when they first opened. The have added some sandwiches to their menu, and one in particular caught my eye -- the Smokey Joe.

The Smokey Joe is a sandwich that contains whitefish salad, lox, chive cream cheese and tomato on fresh challah. We both ordered them with potato pancakes on the side. With coffee for my husband and a diet black cherry Dr. Brown's for me, it was one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time.

I love this sandwich and can't wait to go back and order another one. If you are in the area, try it. You won't be disappointed.

Suzy

Went there today for the first time. Amazing.

The "BNY" - Corned Beef, Pastrami AND Brisket on an onion roll.





BLACK AND WHITE COOKIE, Imported from New York!

At Manny's Friday, I had the pastrami and corned beef on rye, and the meats were stacked. Geno was not on duty that day, so it may be normal for them to mingle the meats, but I kind of doubt it.

All that said, I'd prefer the meats integrated, but I wonder if that's the "regular" way of constructing a sandwich like this at any deli.

Gino has always stacked them when I get a combo at Manny's (which, admittedly, I don't do often).

Can someone please explain the difference between "stacked" and "integrated"? I'm not sure what these terms mean, with regard to deli sandwiches.

Every multi-meat deli sandwich I can recall, including many years in the greater New York area, has either (a) had the slices of one meat directly on top of the slices of the second meat, or (b) been called a "triple decker", with an extra slice of bread between the two meats.

Stacked = separate layers of meat
Integrated = meat all mixed up together

Just enjoyed a MONSTER at Bergsteins, with all three meats (brisket, pastrami, corned beef) stacked.

Also enjoyed the kishka. Too much so, in fact.

So you mean, for example, one slice of corned beef, then a slice of pastrami, then a slice of brisket, then another of corned beef, and another of pastrami, and so forth?

I've never seen that done, and never even heard of it. (I'm not saying it's never been done, though.)

Had "close" to a mixed sandwich at Kaufman's this afternoon (three types of corned beef and pastrami; the corned beef was generally comingled though mostly separate from the pastrami).



I love that Kaufman's has multiple versions of corned beef, pastrami, salami and pickles. Within what I feel is the relatively constrained confines of the deli menu, these guys offer a lot of depth.

My understanding is that the current owners of Bergstein's put in some time at Kaufman's.

Came home with a six-pack of Cel-Ray, now my current favorite soft drink.

Yes, the owners did intern at Kaufmann's for several months before opening in Chicago Heights. We were there this morning for breakfast. I can't seem to get past that Smokey Joe sandwich any more -- they have plenty of other delicious sandwiches, but I keep ordering it. Today one of the owners, Harris Davis, was making the sandwiches for us and suddenly ran to our table to ask if it was o.k. that he toasted the challah. We didn't care. The sandwich is delicious whether the challah is toasted or untoasted.

Instead of the potato pancake, both of us opted for potato salad. Very fresh, very good. Harris mentioned to me that people told him he was crazy to open a deli and sell fish in our area, but it's working out and business is going well. Every day he gets new people who tell him they just heard favorable things about the deli, and he is getting customers from Northwest Indiana as well. I'm very happy about that, because I want them to be around for a long, long time.

Suzy

You know what'd be cool? If Bergstein's offered little known deli favs, just for the week, maybe, or for a month, max. I'm thinking of rolled beef, which I've yet to taste, but it sounds like braciole, so I like it already.

These guys seem commited (to what, I'm not entirely sure: the Jewish American culinary tradition, to New York, to their memories of eating great deli as kids, I don't know, but I like it).