Irving's Delicatessen

[markk]

Where is it?

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575 Mt Pleasant Ave (Rt. 10)

Livingston, NJ

XXX-XXX-XXXX NO!

The number above is the cell phone of one of the owners.

The IRVING'S DELI number is (973) 994-5100

[ELA]

I've been back there several times -- top notch deli.

Eric

[markk]

The theater in Morristown figured out how to work their digital projector and we returned a week later for the La Scala HD showing, and arranged our day so that we could stop by Irving's on the way for dinner and takeout, as it's pretty far from home. Only this time we brought a camera.

We made our selections from the sandwich board:

I had...

Any way I liked it turned out to be my choice of sandwich or platter, and I chose:

The reason you don't see four meats is that I chose double-pastrami and double-tongue. And both meats were truly excellent. In fact, I can't remember when I've had significantly better of either in a very, very long time.

My partner wimped out and had just a pastrami sandwich:

But - and this is very important in a Jewish deli, at least one of the partners (Mark) is a wise-ass.

In addition to taking home stuffed cabbage to freeze for future dinners, I was wondering how the pastrami would fare, so I called him over to the table and asked, "If I take home pastrami, will it freeze?"

And his answer was, "Only if you're driving to Alaska."

[Bruce Fanz]

My visit was on 5/19 for lunch.

I navigated using Garmin GPS and it made a mistake. Yes it is on RT10 EAST, but I selected the "RT10 EAST"Option. When using GPS, select RT10 WEST. Apparently RT10 has an EAST and WEST using the same street numbers that start from the circle. As stated before in this thread it is located adjacent to the Toys R Us. Now onto the food.

The food Pastrami Full Size (Split by 2) was perfect. Tasty and the proper size for the price. Sandwich maker let us try a few slices as we waited a minute or so.

Spinach Kanish was bland, we ate less than half.

Cole Slaw was fresh and cold and tasty as were the pickles.

Service was super and felt they were really trying to service the customer, even had a someone come by and ask if everything was OK.

Positive attitude here, I am going back.

[John]

Had lunch at Irving's yesterday. First time in a long time. I was in the mood for a reuben and for the first time I had something other than a corned beef reuben. I had it with pastrami. Quite possibly the best sandwich I've ever eaten. The pastrami was perfect. Sliced just right with the right amount of fat. I also had a side order of cole slaw and enjoyed the pickles that were brought over in a bowl.

To me the pastrami tasted even better than I remember it the few times I went previously. Mark said it was better. He went into a big explanation that went right over my head regarding a few changes made. Granted I only tasted the pastrami at Katz's once and don't remember anything other than I liked it. But it's hard for me to imagine anything being better than what I had yesterday. I'd be interested in getting the opinion of someone who is familiar with Katz's that's eaten at Irving's recently.

[Septemberdog61]

To me the pastrami tasted even better than I remember it the few times I went previously. Mark said it was better. He went into a big explanation that went right over my head regarding a few changes made. Granted I only tasted the pastrami at Katz's once and don't remember anything other than I liked it. But it's hard for me to imagine anything being better than what I had yesterday. I'd be interested in getting the opinion of someone who is familiar with Katz's that's eaten at Irving's recently.

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I had dinner there last night. The pastrami was the best I've had since I moved out of NYC. Mark was more than willing to share the improvements he's made since opening. He's a great guy with tremendous passion and I hope he has continued success. I'm going to try and get him a catering gig at Novartis, or as he called it his Holy Grail.

Edited July 21, 2008 by Septemberdog61 (log)

[hitmanoo]

Do they have a website?

Had I only waited a minute...

http://www.irvings-deli.com/Home.html

Edited August 20, 2008 by hitmanoo (log)

[NJ2FLA]

I will be in NJ for Labor Day Weekend and the following week. I am looking foward to trying this deli when we are in town.

Do you recommend the whole or half sandwich?

[markk]

I will be in NJ for Labor Day Weekend and the following week.  I am looking foward to trying this deli when we are in town. 

Do you recommend the whole or half sandwich?

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I recommend the whole one, and this one altogether:

That way you get what's known in Yiddish as a "substantial portion".

[rlibkind]

Stopped by for lunch Wednesday. It's a good deli, but not in the top tier.

The best item that I tried was the hand-sliced pastrami. Not quite as tasty as Hershel's at Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market or Katz's, but better than most.

I ordered the "Three Tenders," which is what used to called a Sloppy Joe in my part of New Jersey (Elizabeth) when I was growing up: a combo with corned beef, pastrami and tongue adorned with slaw and russian dressing. The pastrami was fine, the smoked tongue a bit on the dry side and the corned beef, well, the corned beef is what I'd expect to be served in a smaller Midwest city. It tasted more like ham than corned beef thanks to the predominance of clove (a little clove goes a long way; this had much too much). To top it all off the corned beef, unlike the pastrami, was sliced with the grain instead of against.

She Who Must Be Obeyed enjoyed the rather large hamburger. The slaw and pickles placed on the table were first-rate and the portions large (thankfully shy of Harold's ridiculous sandwiches), as they should be for the price. But it's not the quality of deli I'd make a detour to visit in the future. Still, if I lived in the immediately neighborhood it satisfies the deli joneses.

[warrenbobrow]

Hobby's in Newark is the place we SHOULD support. Newark for all of you 'newcomers' to our state was where it all started for Deli. The flight to the suburbs just before the riots sealed the fate of Keer Avenue and the surrounding areas.

But a glimmer of light still exists, and that is Hobby's.. Want chicken in the pot? They do that. Want a Sloppy Joe, brimming with hand sliced corned beef? Yes, they have that too.

I'm impressed by Hobby's and go there whenever I'm in Newark. We owe it to ourselves to go slightly outside of our comfort zone and support the first Deli-men in NJ.. Hobby's is that place.

Irvings is a good place to go if you are looking to stay in the Livingston, or West Orange area though.. Tip the counterman and hope he knows what that means.

[ELA]

I was in the area, meeting up with friends, etc. -- so I got the entire group to go over to Irving's. It was super. I had been there many times and always enjoyed it very much -- both stay there and take out. The best part is that I've been in the city a lot and recently have gone to my "big three" -- Katz's, Carnegie, and Stage (yes, I know there are others), so I had a recent and "fresh" comparison.

This is very much like a "best steak" discussion. I think it's no different than ice cream -- some like chocolate, some vanilla, and so on. That's what Baskin Robbins has "31 flavors" so to speak. I also think much of it is the experience. There is nothing like walking down the street and walking into Katz's, Carnegie or the Stage Deli in NY, waiting for a table, the ambiance (or lack thereof, LOL), the aroma, and everything that goes along with the experience. It's conditioning and enticing to the senses, at least for some of us, LOL. NY deli's are very much about the experience. NY is NY and that says it all. If you only like NY deli's, because of the experience, you will probably not find a deli outside of NY that can duplicate that.

Anyway, Irving's was super. Everybody got everything -- pastrami, fatty, lean, brisket, corned beef, a combo, knishes, hot dogs, you name it -- we got it. I tried a little of everyone's, OK, a lot of everyones. Everything was excellent. In my opinion, this is a great deli for NJ. I am not saying it's better than the "big three" or worse for that matter. It's different. But in my opinion, it's an excellent deli. The pastrami I had, my own and others, was super. Flavorful, tasty, a full bodied meat that hit every tastebud. The fatty serving was just the right amount of fat to add the flavor you were looking for. The leaner version was cut so well that you felt you were getting more flavor even though there wasn't a lot of fat. Sure, it's in your head to an extent, but that's part of the experience. The corned beef was excellent too -- it was cut well, wasn't overpowering, but full of flavor.

Of course there are other deli's, some very good deli's, a very few excellent deli's. It's about what you like, don't like and so on. If we are using the best NY deli's as a comparison, some will think Irving's and perhaps a couple of others in NJ are "as good" comparitively speaking. Others might not think so. To me, Irving's is an excellent deli, period. Food -- yes, the food is excellent. I like it. Some people like Luger's and some people like S&W. Steak and experience. Irving's is a NJ deli so it's different than the big three, primarily from an experience perspective. Food though, to me, it's in that category. Not better and not so much worse that you think it's second tier. Just different. Bottom line, Irving's is an excellent, top category, highly ranked, have a great time deli.

Go there, try it. Enjoy.

Eric

Edited December 24, 2009 by ELA (log)

[TheBoatMan]

Anyone been recently?

I've read a few reviews recently that stated Irving's no longer hand slices. Supposedly to reduce waste and cut costs. Curious if this is true. Looking for a good deli for Wednesday.

Edited March 15, 2010 by TheBoatMan (log)