Chowhound.com: Langer’s Voted No. 1 in Los Angeles

The sophisticated food lovers of Chowhound.com (one of the internet’s most popular food-related destinations) have spoken – and they’ve voted Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant NUMBER ONE in Los Angeles for 2009! Langer’s would like to thank each person who voted for us – we greatly appreciate your support and dedication.

Langer’s narrowly beat out “world-class seafood emporium” Providence on Melrose to win the $25 and under category:

This year, by the barest of margins, pastrami trumped lobster and MacArthur Park trumped Melrose.

For the eighth year, Los Angeles Chowhounders have expressed their opinions about what constitutes “the ultimate Los Angeles restaurant”, following the dictum established by the poll’s founder, Mr. Grub: “The concept is simple: everyone is asked to list, in rank order, your five top restaurants in Los Angeles County that you would recommend to houndly out-of-town visitors or to Chowfriends for a special occasion. Since we worship at the altar of deliciousness, your ranking should be based 75% on food and 25% on everything else.”

For the last three years, the world-class seafood emporium Providence has owned the top spot in the Los Angeles Ultimate Chowhound. Last year, for the first time I ran two polls, one for restaurants in the category of over $25 per person for food, and the other in the category of $25 or less for food. Langer’s, home to what even the most chauvinist New York deli partisans will concede is the best pastrami sandwich in the U.S., received no votes in the 2007 poll. Last year, it rocketed to second place. This year, Langer’s has beat Providence by two points.

Click here to read the complete article at Chowhound

LA Weekly: Jonathan Gold on Langer’s

Food critic Jonathan Gold of the LA Weekly published a recommendation of Langer’s in this week’s issue depicted above.

Jonathan puts it best:

The fact is inescapable: Langer’s serves the best pastrami sandwich in America

Note that Langer’s is actually at the Westlake Station of the Metro RED Line; the Blue line goes to Long Beach, far away from the delicious taste of Langer’s!

Click here to visit the LA Weekly online

Jeany923Now.com: The Pastrami Sandwich

Bicoastal blog Jeany923Now.com discusses the author’s east coast – west coast preferences on pastrami:

As most of you know, I spent a good chunk of my life in Los Angeles as well. In LA with all my bulemic In and Out, Del Taco, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and El Pollo Loco fast food binges, there were times I just craved a good old chunky pastrami sandwich with jewish rye.

…

Langer’s actually has a pastrami sandwich on par with Katz and Carnegie; It’s the best in LA….Langer’s Pastrami Sandwiches are also a good $3 cheaper than Carnegie or Katz.

Click here to read the complete article

Backword.com: Interview with Christopher Meeks

Literary site Backword.com has a profile by R. J. Keller of acclaimed author Christopher Meeks on the release of his new book The Brightest Moon of the Century. In a surprise twist, it turns out the Meeks’ favorite is Langer’s pastrami:

R.J. Keller: Tell us about your apparent obsession with pastrami.

Christopher Meeks: Ha! You saw that from my website. Over the years, I’d noticed that many restaurants in Los Angeles would say, “The World’s Best Pastrami.” I hated pastrami, but I decided if there’s a true “best,” perhaps there was something better than I’d ever had. I could be open-minded. So over the course of a week, I went to three places that proclaimed they had the best pastrami. They first two places I didn’t particularly like, even though the restaurants were crowded. Then I went to Langer’s Deli near downtown Los Angeles by MacArthur Park. Wow. Even thinking about it makes me want to go back. It was like great steak with a coleslaw topping. It’s the best!

Click here to read the complete article

HuffingtonPost.com: LA’s New Top Cop Talks

The Huffington Post news portal has an excellent interview by Tina Daunt with new Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck. In the piece, it’s revealed that outgoing Chief William Bratton had recommended Chief Beck for elevation to the top position; that officers no longer need to wear their ties with long-sleeved shirts (except at official functions, of course); and that his favorite Langer’s sandwich is…., well, here’s the interview excerpt:

So, I heard you love Langer’s?

Yeah, I do love Langer’s.

Are you a Number 19 fan?

No. A half of a number 10 (pastrami with swiss cheese) on rye toast. Ask anybody there. They all know.

Click here to read the complete interview at The Huffington Post

LATimes.com: An epiphany, and an evolving philosophy of policing

Los Angeles Police Department Chief-designate Charlie Beck received a thoughtful and well-written profile in today’s Los Angeles Times, discussing his evolution as an officer across 30 years of service, and his policing philosophies that led to his recent selection by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

One section of the article focuses on Beck’s tenure as head of Rampart Division, which encompasses the area around MacArthur Park (home of Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant):

Soon after being hired as chief in 2002, William J. Bratton identified Beck, by then a captain in the department’s rough Central Division, as someone who he believed had potential.

He sent Beck to run the Rampart Division, which was still recovering from a corruption scandal, and tasked him with one of the high-profile assignments aimed at winning back some of the public’s confidence.

…

Beck seized the chance. He reached out to a nascent core of local business owners and leaned on other city agencies to return the park’s lighting, sports facilities and landscaping to working order.

…

“They had to own the problem,” Beck said, using a favorite catch phrase. “I told them, ‘This is our problem, we are going to fix this.’ Everyone had to be involved. And we started talking about how we were going to do it. I told them, ‘When we get done with this, we won’t make any arrests in the park.'”

Click here to read the complete story at LATimes.com

Image caption: Chief-designate Charlie Beck enjoys lunch last week at Langer’s; LA Times photo

710 ESPN Radio: Langer’s at Lunch

As you may know, Langer’s Delicastessen-Restaurant is sponsor of 710 ESPN AM Radio’s “LA Sports Live” and the High Noon Showdown – a caller prize giveaway where hosts Andrew Siciliano and Mychal Thompson square off on the topics of the day, as suggested by producer Drew Belzer.

In case you haven’t had a chance to catch the program itself, here is a segment from November 6, 2009, when Norm Langer visited the studio with a care package of #19 hot pastrami sandwiches for the hosts and staff of 710 ESPN.

Click here to listen to 710 ESPN now

LA Weekly: Pastrami Battle, Langer’s Vs. Langer’s

Here’s something you just don’t see every day – someone pitting two Langer’s sandwiches against one another! But somehow it manages to work, as you can see in Noah Galuten’s piece for the Squid Ink food blog at LAWeekly.com:

The real question, though, as has been passionately argued multiple times on Chowhound, is which particular Langer’s pastrami sandwich is the best in the world. So is it the #19, their most popular sandwich, which features the classic pastrami on rye, but with Swiss cheese, Russian dressing and coleslaw? Or is it, quite simply, a small mound of pastrami, slid between two slices of rye bread and nothing more? With more years than I care to admit since my last visit to Langer’s, it is time to put these sandwiches to the test.

So what did Noah decide? You’ll have to read the complete post to find out!

Click here to read Noah’s pastrami challenge post and view the delicious photographs – thanks, Noah!

Life and Times of an LA Girl: Langer’s Deli

A new blog called Life and Times of an LA Girl recently posted a terrific experience-review of visiting Langer’s – it’s one of our favorites already:

Langer’s Deli off of Alvarado and 7th is a blast from the past, and a true LA gem. I’ve been going for the last year and have never once been disappointed. Everyone is so friendly, Greg the host welcomes you back every time with a big smile on his face, and seats you right away. Within seconds, Sal or another waiter will be over to take your order. You sit in brown leather booths, with faux wood tables and small partitions that separate you from the other diners.

And it gets better from there!

Click here to read the complete review