10:30am
It all starts with pastrami. First meal of the day.

This place has been around for over half a century and a friend suggested Langers Deli to me, claiming that it was better than his visit to NY’s famed Carnegie Deli. I haven’t had the east coast experience to validate that claim but it got me intrigued.

quiet and unassuming, this place actually does stand out despite it’s seemingly bland outter appearance. right across macarthur park, let’s just say the area around this is a bit more colorful and shady…if that makes sense.

“Three no. 19’s please and a side of fries”, said M.Chung, our LA resident and pastrami expert. no.19: Pastrami, Swiss Cheese, and cole slaw Russian style dressing. Mike’s had the trinity of Los Angeles pastrami: Langers, the Hat, and Oinkster. His excitement to drive us across town in gritty traffic gave me pretty good assurance I was in for a treat.

I’ve never had pastrami like this before. The stuff I’m used to is thinly sliced, greasy goodness, like the Hat (from my last LA eats trip). This sandwich didn’t leave me feeling gross and had me wishing they’d just stack the pastrami with no end in sight. It was so juicy and flavorful! hold up, wiping the puddle from my keyboard…mouth’s watering just writing this. The thick crust of the rye bread kind of offset the strong pastrami flavor. I’m not a fan of thick hard crusts and next time I’ll go without the cole slaw dressing but it did taste amazing despite that. After finishing just half of the sandwich I was surprised how filling it was.

Knowing we had a full schedule ahead of ourselves, I tried to hold back and thought about wrapping half the sandwich to save for later. Could not do it. Pastrami >> self control. came hungry, left satisfied.

Some will not like the price range of these sandwiches which are significantly more expensive than the Hat’s. They run ~$14. I thought it was well worth it. Give it a try!