In general, though the lines have blurred over the years, delis offer mostly meat products (corned beef and such) and the bagel places if they sell more than bagels, offer what was called "appetizing" (which indeed it is): lox, whitefish, cream cheese, etc. For "appetizing" on the East side, Sable's on Third Avenue, founded by an Asian gentleman who worked for Zabars for many years, has food that just can't be beat, at an upper East Side price.
But no tables, just take out. My personal bagel favorites are at Tal's. I always though H & H good but overrated.

Katz's has/had good food, but it looks grimy to me. Sarge's is a great deli, and to my mind gave the original Second Avenue Deli a run for its money. Now that they will both be located much closer to each other, I'll just have to do some taste-testing.

Maryanne- Ralphie mentioned Stage Deli, it's at 834 7th Ave (between 53rd and 54th), not far from your hotel. By looking on menupages I see N.Y.C. Gourmet Deli at 840 8th Ave at 51st so very close to your hotel. The menu looks good and more reasonable than many of the top name deli's, but no ratings are listed and I'm not familiar with it. Maybe someone will pipe in.

trippinkpj, I don't specifically know the "N.Y.C. Gourmet Deli at 840 8th Ave at 51st" you mention, but in my neighborhood, half of the little corner stores near me have similar names! It's most likely what we called a "bodega"/convenience store, just the neighborhood place to pick up a few items. Many sell deli sandwiches, but along the lines of the stuff you can buy at any deli counter at any supermarket in America

The menu looked more than a counter, though I just mentioned it since it was close to Maryanne's hotel, I thought I would mention it.

trippinkpj, it certainly could be, and as you mentioned it is so close to the hotel!

I just wanted to send out a heads up because chances are if noone here has heard of this , it probably isn't worth a trip, and I don't want people to be disappointed.

And people mean such different things when they say "deli" here--it can mean sit down for a gigantic pastrami on rye--or just "I'm running over to the deli to pick up some beer and chips".

All the other places mentioned here are very well known and well regarded, even if we all have our favorites.

Now I'm hungry, and more than an hour till lunchtime...

I'm partial to Ben's, which is in the garment district at 209 W. 38th St. (bet. 7th & 8th Aves.). Their corned beef and pastrami are out of this world. And their potato pancakes are some of the best I've ever tasted. Lunch can be really busy, so be prepared!

If you just want to grab something and walk around, Zabar's has excellent prepared salads and some of the best lox in the city. You could get something "to go" and then window shop on the Upper West Side. Plus, if you like to poke around upscale deli/food markets, it's hard to beat.

Thanks Janie. Since it's right next to her hotel, Maryanne could just take a look. Maybe someone will pipe in about it.

I agree with Janie. Every other convenience store will have the word "deli" in the name. Those places, with newspapers, salad stuff, chemically dyed flowers, stale rolls, individual packs of aspirin, etc, have nothing to do with what New Yorkers know as true delis, which are kosher- and kosher-style meat palaces that are few and far between these days. In Manhattan, the list includes Katz, Sarge's, Ben's, Pastrami Queen, Stage, Carnegie, the soon-to-be-reincarnated Second Avenue Deli, and a few others.

None of these bear any resemblance to places with the word "deli" in the name such as the one referred to above in the theatre district.

I personally will go to Sarge's and maybe Katz's if time allows. Thanks all, very good points.

Thank you all on delis.

So it's Katz, Sarge's, Ben's, Pastrami Queen, Stage, Artie's and Carnegie. Sadly, I'll be back home before the Second Ave Deli reopens.

Much as I love Zabars, though, what's the point of having your currency soar if you end up eating grocery store take-aways in your hotel room as if you were still a student?

As the man put it in the greatest of New York films: if you've got it, flaunt it.

Much as I love Zabars, though, what's the point of having your currency soar if you end up eating grocery store take-aways in your hotel room as if you were still a student?

As the man put it in the greatest of New York films: if you've got it, flaunt it

Nice, the softer version of the football hooligan.

Well, there is a difference in quality between "grocery story take out" and Zabar's prepared food. I was thinking you could buy something for lunch, take stroll though the neighborhood and then picnic on a park bench in Central Park or Riverside Park -- both are within walking distance of the store. Nevertheless, there are tons of excellent suggestions on this thread.

Thanks for all the suggestions. The menu of the NY. Gourmet Deli looks good. Close by and looks like a good lunch. Like the menupages.com site. My son, daughter, and I will be in the city Dec. 21-23. We look forward to our trip. Love the city as I have been there before Christmas. A special time with the city in its decorative time.
Will write up our trip after our visit.

Hi Maryanne. Yes, I enjoyed my menupages.com research. Also, see if there's an Ess-a-Bagel near your hotel. I really liked my bagel there. :-)