Schlesinger's Deli (fka Kibitz Room)

I spent my early years, in the 1950's, at places like Famous and Kelem's in South Philly. Thick sandwiches, real meat and turkey, authentic Jewish rye, etc. I thought those days were gone in the city. Then along comes Schlesinger's, with it's great soups, first rate meats and cheeses, and sandwiches that you really need two hands to eat. Service is efficient and friendly. You can eat a full meal well within your lunch hour or before a show. Best bargain? Try the soup and half sandwich. First of all, the "cup" of soup is like anybody else's bowl; and the half sandwich is stuffed with enough meat to shame another place's full sandwich. If you have questions, the wait staff can tell you anything you need to know about a selection. Pastries, cakes, whatever, it's all a treat.

When this Deli first opened under a different name, I could hardly wait. I wanted to love it, and I was horribly disappointed on every level. What a difference today! It has a real old time deli atmosphere. They say a good man is hard to find, but I think a good deli man is even harder to find. This deli has two great deli managers, Russ and Paul. (Yes, I took the trouble to learn their names because they have made all the difference.) The booths which have been added to the interior along with a courteous and accommodating waitstaff are only the beginning. This is a real delicatessen with really good "deli" type food and lovely cakes, all made on site and attractively displayed. Try it. You'll like it.

Decided to stop in one day and there it was a beautiful dessert case filled with very pretty desserts. So I decided to try the checkerboard cake. While this cake gets an A for creativity it gets an F for taste. I was very disappointed. I have made better cakes then this and I hardly bake. It taste like it was made from a boxed cake mix and a cheap kind at that. There was no taste to it and I couldn't tell the chocolate cake apart from the vanilla. Oh and the frosting was too sweet and flavorless. Just not the worth the $7 that I paid for. Sorry, I will not be getting anything else from here.

Ordered a pastrami sandwich to go. Took a bite, and most of the pastrami came along. It was both fatty and tough, a rare feat. And for $10, I expect more. The chocolate macaroon was dense and also a disappointment. I won't be back.

I have visited this place for several times. I eat there once, but I didn't like the atmosphere. The stuff is not very friendly and the food, although good quality is VERY overpriced. There are few of the servers who at least try to smile and be nice. One is not very polite, although not rude either. I would understand such behavior if the place was extra super busy and they feel pressure. But the place is never crowded. It's just the attitude of the stuff, that makes you to not go there again.

Corned beef and pastrami are the mainstays of a Jewish deli and nobody in Center City does it better than Schlesingers.

The sweet and sour cabbage soup was cloyingly sweet. Cole slaw was like ACME prefab. Latkes were dark brown (old oil), and were not really griddle-friend potatoes, which should have TEXTURE. These were like mashed potatoes. Brisket was delicious. Bitter, processed horse radish. Wait staff well-intentioned but intrusive. We ended up leaving because the waitress kept bouncing into our 'space' at the table.