New Schmaltz Deli location in Downers Grove - anybody tried?

Saw it was open when driving past today.

Anybody have a review or comments?

Thanks.

H. P. Schmaltz & Co.
1416 Butterfield Rd.
"Next To The Best Buy"
Downers Grove, IL 60515
Store: (630) 629-7597
Fax: (630) 629-7510
www.schmaltzdeli.com

Chainey,

I've been a number of times. This location is basically across the street from my office. During my visit I've noticed a number of things.

- It's small i mean small
- The meats have been dry (corned beed & Pastrami) on all visits
- The only beverage options are canned soda, bottled juices, tea, and coffee
- the selection of items from the deli counter aren't as plentiful (see item 1)

Overall, I wish Howard and Paul well with this new location, but I'll continue to visit the Naperville location with much more enthusiasm.

Flip

In talking to Howard at N'ville, he has commented on the growing pains with the new location. The kitchen is in Naperville, so all food is hauled to DG. They started out with mostly new staff, and found that presented challenges, so they began to hire new people in N'ville and moving experienced people to Downers. And I guess they decided to move Paul to DG more or less permanently to get things going right.

Not sure when all these changes fit in with your visits, Flip, but I know he expressed some concern about issues with the location - particularly in terms of consistency and quality of food and service. He seems to feel things have improved (no, I do not have any interest in Schmaltz, but I enjoy talking to Howard).

Anyway, the idea is to have a central kitchen with satellite locations and have found there are issues with that model that need to be worked out, which sure seems to agree with your report.

I was planning to visit there for the first time today, but the snow made me decide to stay closer to home.

Related Schmaltz update - they have switched corned beef providers. They now sell a Schmaltz brand made for them in Detroit by a fellow who claims to have also provided Zingerman's with their Corned Beef recipe (though not with their Corned Beef).

It is pretty good, though still quite a bit leaner than really good Corned Beef should be. Nice tang and tenderness. Still not the intensity of garlic you would get in almost any NYC deli, and they say that is intentional, since Midwesterners do not like as much garlic. But they also are planning to increase the garlic in the next order.

Howard was preparing for a buying trip later this month - which is basically a deli tour in the NYC metro area. Having visited all the obvious places, he now works on more obscure locations, and had some interesting stories. I suggested he provide me with a list of the best unknown delis, or even run tours like the Sterns. He seemed concerned about this idea - probably for fear it would insult other delis, or provide competitors with useful info - but I will keep working on getting that out of him.

dicksond wrote:They now sell a Schmaltz brand made for them in Detroit by a fellow who claims to have also provided Zingerman's with their Corned Beef recipe (though not with their Corned Beef).

Sy Ginsberg, right? Pretty good stuff as I recall. Cold Comfort (2211 W North) uses (or used) Sy Ginsberg corned beef but I haven't been there for ages.

Rene G wrote:

dicksond wrote:They now sell a Schmaltz brand made for them in Detroit by a fellow who claims to have also provided Zingerman's with their Corned Beef recipe (though not with their Corned Beef).

Sy Ginsberg, right? Pretty good stuff as I recall. Cold Comfort (2211 W North) uses (or used) Sy Ginsberg corned beef but I haven't been there for ages.

I did not get a name. In general, if they are selling it as private label and do not immediately tell me the name of the producer, I do not ask any more. They spend a lot of time finding the best, in their estimation, and are a little cagey about who makes their private label stuff (we danced around who makes their pickles quite a bit - they are made locally and are mostly wonderfully fresh, which I love, so I pursued it). On the other hand, if I guess the producer they will tell me whether I have it right.

So I will ask if it is Sy.

We also had a little exchange about fatty versus lean corned beef. Basically they get a lean cut with most of the fat already removed. Which caused me to go on about trying fatty, medium and lean smoked meat at Schwartz's (Montreal) and how after sampling only an idiot would get the lean. Which Howard pretty much agreed with, but also said that in places that offered the option (and I think he mentioned a place or two, but I do not remember which one), more than 90% of the people chose lean so that is what they have to offer. Reminds me of a suburban rib joint and a discussion we had about rib tips once, and how they offered them for a while but replaced them with some godawful (by his account) formed riblets which people order and eat.

But we know most folks do not choose food based on taste, don't we?

A couple of other Schmaltz updates - they are rolling out new sandwich and salad menus next week. Nothing earth shattering, though they are adding a smoked tongue/chopped chicken liver sammy. Howard explained that his mother had been dogging him forever about how no real deli could not offer such a standby, even if his read is that they will be lucky to sell a dozen of them a month.

And there is some shuffling of the salads, but it is nothing interesting.

The Chicken/Chipotle/Tortilla soup yesterday was excellent (Paul's soups often are). Not much heat, or noticable chipotle flavor, but a great, meaty, hearty soup. And I finally had their hot dog last week, and the kosher missile was quite good, too. Pastrami would still be my choice, but the beef brisket, hot dog, chopped liver, smoked fish and the new corned beef are all pretty tasty, too.

Yeah, I like Schmaltz.

dicksond wrote:Yeah, I like Schmaltz.

I do too, but if they could (want to?) really improve, it's the bread. The breads are so far below (IMO) the quality of the meats. Also, would Howard ever consider hand slicing?

Vital Information wrote:

dicksond wrote:Yeah, I like Schmaltz.

I do too, but if they could (want to?) really improve, it's the bread. The breads are so far below (IMO) the quality of the meats. Also, would Howard ever consider hand slicing?

Funny you should ask. Among other topics in yesterday's wide ranging discussion, a place called Heidi's in Winfield came up. Heidi's is, by their account, not a great deli, serving Sysco meats and featuring milk shakes. Not good. But Howard spoke admiringly of their breads (mostly) in part because they hand slice bread for each order. He opined that he did not think they could handle the volume and do that, but he did like it.

I agree that Scmaltz' bread is the weak link, though it has changed over the past year, too. But it is still pre-sliced. I would describe it as serviceable, but nothing special. A lot like Manny's bread, now that I think of it.