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Who doesn't want a big, meaty sandwich for lunch? On L.A.'s eastside, we have some very list worthy sandwiches, starting with a tasty, messy pastrami.
Not far from downtown, the first city you run into headed east is Alhambra. Back in 1951, Johnny Brown started an open-air lunch counter at the corner of Garfield and Valley Boulevard. It became very popular, especially for the massive pastrami dip sandwiches served there.
It's still there, under a different set of owners today, and still serving those delicious pastrami sandwiches. It grew over the years to a chain of eleven locations from Simi Valley to Murrietta...all across the outer regions of the local area.
The Hat is as legendary locally as In 'n Out. Locals rave about the pastrami here, as they should. This is not the finely crafted, Jewish deli pastrami that you'll find at find establishments like Langer's, here in L.A., but the swimming in juice, piled dangerously high, gut bustingly delicious, fatty, thin sliced pastrami that you wish every burger bar could make.
Sadly, very few can compete with The Hat's version. Order at the right end of the counter then move to the left when the order taker attaches it to a clothes pin and slides it over to the assemblers. Watch as they grab an amazing amount of meat into their tongs and plop it on the bottom part of the bun. Watch again as they do it a second time...you're thinking "really? They expect to get that much meat on that thing?" Then the top half of the bun is dipped in the juice before being placed atop the meat (which has been dosed with pickles and mustard in the meantime). Somehow, the meat is squeezed in place long enough so that it can be wrapped in deli paper before being served.
Taking it to your table, you unwrap the sandwich. Be careful because now a good portion of that pastrami will start spilling out. You grabbed one of those plastic forks at the counter to be able to eat all those scraps, right? Stretch your jaw muscles out and take a bite. Oh, how that peppery, juicy, pastrami taste just envelops your taste buds. You tell yourself you're just going to eat half the sandwich now and save the rest for later but then your stomach overrules you and you end up gobbling the whole thing since it's just that good.
Oh, how you'll waddle out of there. Especially after having a small order of fries, too, which will feed a nuclear family and still have some left over.
Besides pastrami, they have good burgers, an assortment of other sandwiches and chili to go on anything. Take a small bag of pickled peppers and help yourself to one of the great condiment bars in the fast food kingdom.
Whatever you do, you'll not leave The Hat hungry.
While The Hat makes a legendary pastrami, another San Gabriel locale makes one just as good and even a few cents cheaper. We have a couple of very good Italian delis in the 'other' valley but Capri Deli is the one who makes a pastrami to rival The Hat (picture at top).
You'll have to go to Covina, on industrial San Bernardino Road between Grand and Barranca Avenues to find this one because Capri is just one location, not a chain like The Hat.
Again, you'll be amazed at the piles of pastrami piled on the dipped bread (they dip the cheese here, too, if you add it to the sandwich). You'll also be amazed at the amount of napkins you go through trying to keep the fatty juice from escaping onto your clothes.
To me, it's almost a carbon copy of The Hat's pastrami. It is very delicious plus you can get a wide selection of wine, beer, and hard-to-find sodas to go with it.
No fries here but you can add chips, salad, or any of the deli side orders that are sitting in the deli case. They also serve great pizza here, several pasta dishes, an outstanding salad with chicken, and antipasto. The menu may be a bit to decipher as you stand in line. A main board is behind the counter but on another wall is the pasta menu, which is not the same wall as the pizza menu plus you might find a couple of signs advertising other entrees behind the stack of soda cups.
It's a good thing the long lines will give you time to find them all. You can also browse the small shop for Italian treats, groceries, and the separate cold deli to get cold cuts, cheeses, and arrange for catering jobs.
Not far from Capri Deli is a tiny little street called Shoppers Lane. It's a throwback to a time when you'd go to Main Street, find an appliance repair shop, a shoe store, a couple of bars, and any number of specialty shops that you just don't see anymore.
While there are some great little restaurants here...like the classic Georgia's Bun 'n Burger diner and Fonda don Chon...there is another great Italian deli on the other end, Old World Deli.
Like Capri Deli, it's got a separate cold deli and small Italian grocery store. It also has a vast selection of sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, and some of the best Broasted Chicken you'll find in the area.
While the location is sparkling, clean, and almost brand new, Old World Deli is a long-time anchor in the area. The original location was a couple of blocks away at the Eastland Mall, next to the San Bernardino Freeway. When the mall was modernized, the landlords didn't think a non-chain, family run deli fit into their vision and evicted Old World Deli.
The owners decided they didn't want to be at the whims of a landlord purchased the building they now reside it, and opened up a very spiffy new location.
We like the sandwiches, pizza, and chicken, but what makes this location stand out is their extensive salad bar. On Tuesdays, we can get two slices of thick, Sicilian pizza and an unlimited plate for the salad bar (or, like I do, get the half sandwich and unlimited salad bar). Starting off with the usual iceberg lettuce mix, then there's a spring salad mix, or spinach. Half a dozen dressings are on standby (I usually just go with their 'house' dressing which is a garlicky ranch), toppings range from bacon, ham, cheese, sprouts, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, sunflower seeds...my mind's memory is running out but there's a ton of options here.
Of course, there are croutons, eggs, garbanzos, and beets to continue on. Oh my, there's just so much stuff.
I'll go back again for the fruit selection with always has tasty, fresh strawberries and they know how to get some very tasty honeydew, which is rare around here. Cantaloupe, orange slices, watermelon, grapes, and pineapple all find a way onto my plate. It's all so delicious.
My wife chooses the pizza and, since we're talking about pastrami, I go with half a pastrami sandwich. The pastrami here is the kind that has a more greasy taste to it, like the orange-sauced pastrami that used to call me to the long lost and lamented Kosher Burrito in downtown Los Angeles.
A slice of melted provolone and mustard on top make for a very tasty counterpart to all that healthy and salad that makes up the rest of the meal.
Along with the Covina location on Shoppers Lane, there's another Old World Deli on Mountain Avenue in Upland in the Inland Empire a few miles east.
Darryl Musick
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