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This is hands down my favorite place for an affordable/filling/delicious meal in the philly. It is always clean. Staff is friendly. Nice ambiance. Try the pastrami on rye, perfectly done. Corned-beef hash w/ eggs breakfast can feed 4 people. Prices may seem high, but are ridiculously low for the quantity of food. I am convinced anyone giving a bad review must not have actually gone to the place.

A classic NY deli, that does deli as well, if not better than the famous deli's of NYC. The food is terrific across the board - corned beef, pastrami, tuna, turkey, all have been first rate quality in my experience. (I have tried them all!). The matzo ball soup is excellent. If dining with a large group I recommend sharing the large famous chicken soup - it is fantastic. While the portions are a bit big, the quality is excellent and there is always a second take home meal to be had.

I have never heard anything good about this place with the old or new owners. I've probably heard a dozen or so word of mouth reviews that the food is really bad, but a friend wanted to try it, so I thought it was worth a chance. Big mistake! I had a ham & cheese scramble. (ate 1/3) The ham and cheese were cold-cuts!?! Came with fries, which I didn't even try because they were burnt and saturated with oil. Ordered a side of bacon, which should have been listed as smoked leather. (ate 1/2 of one strip and I've been tasting it all day.) My friend got a grilled cheese with tomato and couldn't figure out how anyone could screw up a grilled cheese when you can get one at any diner that is way better. I'm sure people think that it's great to get a pound of cold cuts in a sandwich, but I think that's too much and you pay for it. You see these NY delis figured out how to make more money from stupid people. Simple math. Normally a deli makes a human size sandwich that costs them $2 to make and charge you $5, but these delis say hey, lets add another dollar's worth of meat and build some skyscraper sandwich so they can charge you $12 or whatever. Obviously I will never go back there. If you have any sort of tender stomach please avoid this place. Otherwise go there for breakfast and gargle oil all day long! If you want a sandwich, be prepared to empty your wallet and waste a lot of food before your heart attack. You can say you went to "Famous Deli" and take a picture of a monstrosity that is bigger than your head. What fun!

Finally, our favorite deli is back and better than ever! Russ - you can't leave ever again - All the old favorites are back, and better than ever - including the "napolone" - If you have stayed away - trust me - come back - It's worth every bite!

If you love the classic delis in NY and are tired of imposters, than give this place a try. They do it right. The sandwiches are huge. The CB and pastrami are excellent, perfectly cut. Great pickles. The potato pancakes aren't the best, but this is a great delicatessen. One of the best I've had, outside of NY.

Russ Cowan is back. He was the buyer from the original owner. Famous had been turned over to a mangement team that failed. So all the good food plus some additions to nosh on..Russ even put back the old hours. 8AM to 9PM Monday thru Sunday...So glad he is back and the employees seem happier,too....

The old Famous was barely average. The New Famous is great. Rare garlic pickles on the table are my favoite. My group ordered the pastrami and the corned beef specials - the regular sandwiches are huge but you can order a large (zaftig). I can usually polish off the biggest sandwich in the city, but could only get thru half of my zaftig. Once you pick it up, do not put it down. Both the corned beef and pastrami were perfectly done and not too salty. Heavy New York type cut. The remainder was bagged and I enjoyed for another meal and a nosh. The $14.00 price for the keine hora monster seemed steep, but not really, when it made two plus meals. The only thing I was dissappointed in was the potato latkas- hard, overcooked and not home made. The anticipated heart burn is a certainty. The service can be a bit a surly (New York style) at times. Otherwise enjoy.