One Of The City's Great Jewish Delis Comes To The Upper West Side

In 1956, when this kosher Jewish delicatessen first opened on Queens Boulevard, it was called Pastrami King, and for nearly 40 years the place fed the courthouse crowd out there in Kew Gardens. In 1998, facing a steep decline in business, the King decamped to the Upper East Side, and, in honor the new owners' family matriarch, was renamed Pastrami Queen.

Now Pastrami Queen has crossed the park, opening their second location on West 72nd Street in the space that Fine and Schapiro held since 1927, before that venerable institution closed for good when the pandemic hit in March. So there's a lot of history here, as befits one of the best purveyors of this iconic NYC cuisine, and while you wait for your counterperson to pile that pastrami high on rye, take a moment to browse the NYC Jewish Deli wall of fame behind you, filled with photos of places like Ben's Ben's (the deli so nice he named it twice), Jay and Lloyd's of Sheepshead Bay (shuttered only last May, another victim of COVID), and, most intriguing, the long-gone Kishke King of Brownsville, home of the Frank Built For Two: "14 bites... 10 inches long."

Jewish Deli is a very specific sort of craving for me, one that hits hard every month or so, and different from the bagels-and-lox fare I wolf down at places like Barney Greengrass or Russ and Daughters. There aren't many places to satisfy the urge anymore, so having Pastrami Queen on my more-frequented side of Central Park is good news indeed. Especially since, based on a recent gut-busting picnic, everything here is delicious.

Sandwiches are the anchor, of course, with meats like Corned Beef, Tongue, Salami, and Chopped Liver all making their expected appearance on the menu. But if you're eating at a place called Pastrami Queen, you kind of have to at least try the pastrami, right? That's what we did anyway, and were rewarded with a first-rate specimen of that classic, jaw-stretching sandwich, the smoked, garlicky beef just fatty enough to keep things juicy, served on rye with mustard on the side. It's a meal in the guise of a mound of meat.

If you're looking for more of a snack situation, the snappy Pastrami Queen Frankfurter, properly topped with mustard and sauerkraut, will definitely make you happy. There are also outrageously-sized domed knishes stuffed with meat, potato, or broccoli, and giant Stuffed Cabbages bursting with well-seasoned ground beef and swimming in a surprisingly sweet tomato sauce that somehow works perfectly. In fact, this latter dish may have been my favorite part of the whole feast.

Plenty of sides are available, as is a moist and desserty Noodle Pudding and a full slate of soups, like Chicken Noodle, Mushroom Barley, and an excellent bowl of Matzoh Ball. I should say an excellent plastic pint of Matzoh Ball. Pastrami Queen's spacious back dining room is ready to go as indoor dining is safe, but until then, everything is bagged up in takeout containers. Fortunately for us non-UWS residents who want to eat right away, Central Park and Riverside Park, with their ample outdoor seating, are both just a short walk away.

The Upper West Side Pastrami Queen is located at 138 West 72nd Street, between Broadway and Columbus Avenue, and is currently open for delivery and takeout every day from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (212-877-2874; pastramiqueen.com)