Jerry’s Famous - Miami - Not So Much a Treat...
Whenever I visit LA, I have to stop at Jerry’s Famous Deli. It is, by far, the best deli I’ve been to, and just thinking about the brisket sandwich makes my mouth water. Last night, with my new GPS unit in tow, we ventured to the Miami location. We were sadly disappointed.
I’d received many kudos about the Miami location over the years, though not one person who gave this place a thumbs up had visited the LA location. If they had, I would have received mixed reviews.
The decor at Miami Beach, as expected, was modernized for today’s art culture. For Jerry’s fans, it took a lot away from the expectations of this place serving up awesome deli fare. More so, the service and plating was vastly different.
Go to LA and your server will ask up front if you want the platter of pickles and peppers, which arrive at your table in a nice tray. In Miami, I had to ask for them, and they came in a clunky bowl (it didn’t look appealing at all).
And onto the rest of our meal items…
Egg Cream - Jerry’s is famous for making vintage Brooklyn Egg Creams. While in LA, I’ve been known to stop in just to order a few to go (actually, I would purposely stay at a next-door hotel so I could walk there, then take a few back to the room for late-night enjoyment). In Miami, let’s just say I could have made this one at home without any special CO2 cartridges.
The Bagel Pizza was unappealing in looks - it literally looked like an eight-year-old tossed a glob of sauce in the middle then dumped cheese on top, leaving it to fall wherever it may. And no part of this $6 appetizer was golden brown. My husband said it was bland and the texture didn’t help him want to take another bite.
I ordered the beef brisket sandwich, with the sauce on the side. There was so much fat packed inside the sandwich I had to constantly use my fingers to grab hunks of it out of my mouth. How hard is it to trim slabs of fat off the edge of meat you’re going to fold up inside a sandwich?
The french fries were decent - they were a light golden brown - and we seasoned them with salt and parmesan, and while the coleslaw was tasty, I didn’t much like that the serving cup was overflowing, leaving the juices from the sauce dripping all over the plate.
We decided we were through - even though the meal hadn’t been finished. I opted to take the rest home, and I haven’t decided if I’ll woof it down because I’m hungry, or toss it outside for the stray dogs. I thought it was odd that the carry out bag they gave me wasn’t big enough to fit the carry out box. They both donned Jerry’s logo, so that really made no sense to me.
Seeing that Miami Beach is a trek for anyone who doesn’t live right there on the water, and parking is a nightmare (though Jerry’s has valet for $10), it wasn’t difficult to say that I wouldn’t go out of my way again to visit this Jerry’s location. I’d rather plan a trip back to LA, and at least savor the food the way I remember it being.
And one other note, I might add. Miami Beach is a pricey place. I knew this going in. But the prices at the Miami location were nearly double the LA prices. In total, we had one egg cream, one soda, a bagel with cheese and a sandwich. Our bill was $33. For that I might should have just put a roast in the oven, stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts for bagels, and picked up a bottle of seltzer.
Posted
Saturday, January 6th, 2007 at 1:04 pm EST
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