Elina Shatkin
Lists
Top 5 delis in the San Fernando Valley
The 818 has plenty of good delis but the living, beating heart of the San Fernando Valley deli scene is in Northridge. Here are a few places to staisfy your cravings for sandwiches piled sky-high with meat, matzoh ball soup, potato pancakes and the like.
This popular Northridge deli serves heaping portions of pastrami, corned beef, brisket, etc.; softball-sized matzoh balls; moist, savory kreplach; and their legendary eclairs the size of a football. The atmosphere is homey and the staff is extremely helpful, making this deli a legend among San Fernando Valley residents. Also recommended: their thick-cut French toast, whitefish salad, monte cristo omelette, black pastrami reuben, stuffed kishka, cheese blintzes, potato pancakes, "chicken in the pot" and chocolate egg cream soda. Brent's also offers delivery and catering.
Ignore the Holly Hobby decor and sit down for a deliciously fluffy potato knish, a smoked fish platter, a reuben sandwich, a chicken pot pie or any of dozens of other deli delights. Weiler's also boasts a dessert selection that would put many bigger bakeries to shame. From the rum balls to the rugelach, everything in their dessert case (including the scary-face cookies) is worth trying.
It's a deli. It's a restaurant. A deli, a restaurant... it's both. They have killer lunch deals offering meatball, sausage, pastrami and Italian cold cut subs as well as roasted chicken, lasagna and a host of side salads including marinated mushrooms, artichokes and the like. They also serve some of the best gelato around.
Perhaps the look of Billy's, which has been around since 1947, was "modern" and "classic" prior to Squeaky Fromme's second incarceration. Now, it's charmingly ugly and definitely out of dat, but who's looking? The portions are huge and meaty, and the waitresses have a New York bluntness that tends to freak out Angelenos. The pastrami is terrific and try the corned beef and eggs scramble makes a delicious if potentially heart-stopping breakfast.
Popular food: Roast brisket of beef; hot ham, turkey or beef with gravy (your call).
Drinks: Beer, wine; soft drinks, coffee, tea.
Seating: Nice private booths and tables.
Abe's (formerly Solley's) boasts the best matzoh ball soup of any deli in the SFV, maybe of any deli in LA. The matzoh balls are light and fluffy and taste powerfully of matzoh brie. The broth is rich and perfectly salted and redolent with robust chicken flavor. Avoid the pastrami, it's a rubbery, fatty mess but do dip into the free pickle bin in the waiting area. And their egg cream sodas are killer too!
