You have avoid such comments because someone will write something like:

You NY'ers think the world revolves around you. What about Tootsie's on Maple Street.

:-)

I had lunch today at Sarge's.

Lunch special: Bowl of chicken soup (one of several choices) and half sandwich combination, comes with good fries and plate of cole slaw with two pickles. $14.95.

Nice service, plenty of room to spread out at table. Chicken soup excellent. But sad to say, at the risk of sounding like my grandmother who was a harsh critic of this kind of food, the corned beef had very little flavor. Sliced too thin. Not hand sliced, I am sure. No fat.

Friend had the same special, but with matzoh ball soup and a chopped salad (yes, I know, chopped salad in a deli! She's a good girl in contrast to my own self). Large salad had chicken, Feta, typically bad tomatoes, bacon, etc, etc.

Bill for two with tax and tip, no drinks: $42.

Recommend but only if you choose something other than the corned beef…chopped liver, maybe. Large menu of non-deli things also. Very nice waitperson. No push to move us out.

I never saw the charm at Sarge's.

Next time try 2nd Ave Deli. The corned beef is excellent, though you don't get fries. Still, half sandwich and soup is enough, and you can order fries (or a knish!).

You do get health salad, which is cole slaw with a vinegar base, not mayo, and a plate full of pickles including sour, half sour, and new. New pickles have just been in the pickling for a short time. They used to give Gribenes, which is crisp chicken skin, but have stopped.

Yes, Second Avenue is way better. Who eats fries in a deli anyway? (Well, mem if they put them in front of me, but really..)

They used to give Gribenes

OMG, I didn't know that. My mother used to make it, and I used to "eat it up". P.S. Although I personally like corned beef more than I like pastrami, my DH thinks the pastrami at 2nd Avenue Deli is the best.

When 2nd Ave re-opened they served gribenes and if you waited for a table, they would give you chopped liver on a cracker, and theirs is fabulous.

I think Katz's has gone down a tad. It has become a major tourist stop and it is a zoo. The last few times the pastrami was very good, but not excellent. And they are opening a branch in Brooklyn either this or next year.