Reuben Sandwich w/Potato Pancake from Manny's

Item Purchased: Reuben Sandwich w/Potato Pancake from Manny's
Location Purchased: Manny's Coffee Shop & Deli / 1141 S. Jefferson / Chicago, IL
Price: $11.95 + tax

Review: New York has several cafeteria-style restaurants where you walk in, wait in line with all walks of life to get your food from the counter and sit at one of any number of identical tables scattered throughout the place. Katz's is probably the most famous, but in my few trips to New York City, I've wandered in and out of a handful of them. Here in Chicago, only two come to mind. One is the historic Valois down in Hyde Park. The other, and probably the most famous, is Manny's. At Manny's, the decor is minimal, the crowd is diverse (politicians, students and homeless alike frequent this place), the cooks are quick and sarcastic and the sandwiches are tall enough to topple over with a glance.

The first Manny's was opened shortly after World War II in the Jewish Maxwell Street neighborhood. It was in 1964 that Manny's moved to its current location and not much beyond the prices has changed. Owner Ken Raskin (son of the late Manny) isn't one of those business owners who sits in the back room counting receipts either. In fact, Ken was the one who took my order and stacked the small rye slices full of more corned beef than the laws of physics usually allows to stand up. Offering up a potato pancake with my sandwich (how could I resist a genuine latke?), Ken made a couple of snide remarks about the special diet my friend and I were going on by eating at Manny's and slapped the plate stacked with food on the counter in front of us. It wasn't until I reached the end of the lunch counter that my order was wrapped in foil and a brown paper bag to go.

Though not my favorite Reuben in the city, this one comes damn close! The corned beef is hand sliced to a paper thin consistency, stacked high enough to make it difficult to pick up and leaner than Pisa. There was less sauerkraut than I would have liked, minimal Swiss cheese and not enough Russian dressing on the side to complete my sandwich, but the explosion of meat shrapnel caused by simply picking this monstrosity up made up for all of this. This is one fine Reuben. The potato pancake was a bit too greasy and chewy to make the extra $1.50-$2.00 I paid for it worth it, but two complimentary pickle spears (a staple of any genuine Jewish-style deli) made up for that.

At $13.00+ after tax, it is no wonder Manny's attracts so many politicians into its plainclothes interior. People who have money and the gut to fit Manny's into their diet regularly make a habit of stopping in. I, on the other hand, can't fit a regular stop into my budget. A part of me wishes I could. At the very least, one Reuben from Manny's easily provided me with two full meals for the day.

If you haven't eaten at Manny's, I've been told you don't qualify as a true Chicagoan. So, save your pennies and stop in during a stray lunch hour. Prepare to wait in line, be mildly insulted by the snappy crew and finally, eat until your gut busts. If you are anything like me, you won't be sorry you came, but you will wish the prices were a bit lower.

Rating: 4 / 5