The Downtown Deli

First time here for the final days. Line is out the door but the food is worth the wait. I will miss this place just like everyone else who is waiting 30 minutes to place an order! Please reopen soon!!!

I have been using Downtown Deli recently for office meetings. The jumbo sandwich platter has something for everyone and great side choices as well. Staff also appreciates the enormous cookies.
I always get to talk to someone and place my oreder right away and they make sure to repeat everything and ask about dietary needs such as a veggie sandwich or extra tuna for dieters. Very dependable and delicious.

We left the Wells Fargo building looking for Subway, but found this place instead. I am glad we didn’t go to Subway. Fast service, great food and friendly people. I had the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich. The price was great for the amount of food I got. Will recommended

John was really nice about my off the menu request for just brisket and cheese — no bun!

Every other week or so I crave a breakfast burrito. I’ve tried most restaurants near Cityscape since I work nearby and this one is my favorite. Since I bus into work, my options are limited, but when I stumbled upon them a couple years ago, I keep going back. If you are craving a fresh, non-​microwaved burrito in the morning, you will not be disappointed! The staff is awesome!
I’ve also went for lunch. They have great daily specials too!

This place is all about the food, which is really good meat and cheese on bread, and lots of it. Love their french fries, and the New Yorker sandwich is my favorite.
Don’t hope for ambience, cuz there ain’t none. It was a pleasure to go today, because downtown is a ghost town, so it wasn’t crowded at lunch time. We got our food fast, and found a place to sit down right away.

Fastest place to grab a bite during lunch hour food is good prices are reasonable and the staff is friendly.

I’ve eaten here a couple times. Breakfast ends at 10am (?) so no ham n eggs today. Got the panini special it was ok. Came with a dill pickle slice and some good French fries. This is old school NYC food here, nothing trendy, just a classic deli. I think it is family owned/​operated– hard working immigrants, interesting accents, etc. You order at one end, closed buffet style, good to look at food («I want that!»). My meal came with a drink, had to wait for my cup, fill yourself, get your own napkins and condiments. The wifi wasn’t working, oh well.

With ever increasing choices to dine downtown, the downtown deli used to be a great choice but not so much anymore. While they do have plenty of reasonably priced items the main attracting is their Pastrami Sandwiches.
Recently I ordered a New Yorker Sandwich which comes with fries starting at a little less then 10 bucks. The sandwich was good but their extra charges add up. They charged me extra for cheese and some other charge which I was not sure of. My drink was also an additional 1.99. For a lunch total of 14.00 dollars for a sandwich fries and a drink. Pretty pricey. If I was getting mounds of pastramis like they used to put on the sandwich I would have felt like I got the value. But the portion size are just average.
So I would say stay away if your on a budget or want more for your money.

Amazing pull pork on onion roll. I eat a lot of bbq and this has been by far the best and a very healthy portion. Such great service. I am new to downtown and didnt realize they were closing and they still made me lunch. On top of that the owner talked with me for a while about downtown and their food quality and process. It is great to hear from someone who loves their business that much.

** Update: I still LOVE their food here, but I always seem to get attitude from the man behind the steam pans. For example, I walked in today for their chicken enchiladas. He gruffly barks at me, «We’re out!». Ok buddy — take it easy — I order their homemade chicken noodle soup instead which I lOVE.
NOTE: The staff at cash register are *always* friendly w/​me and joking, it’s just the man w/​the moustache who is a bit prickly. He has a sour scowl on his face everytime I’m in there.

Just finished my first trip to the downtown deli. Service was quick and polite even during the busy downtown lunch rush. I was a bit put off by the prices as this place was rated at one dollar sign. Ten bucks for a sandwich is definately not worthy of that distinction. Add in fries and a drink and my lunch total came to almost 14 bucks. Not ridiculous, just a bit more than i was expecting and a bit more than it was worth.
I had the skyscraper, a pastrami and corned beef mountain with «melted» swiss cheese. I say this because my sandwich was barely luke warm to the point that the cheese not only didn’t melt it was cold. The fries were kept in a steam table tin at the counter and tasted it. They were edible but barely so. The quality of the meat was actually pretty good and the only thing saving them from one star.
Overpriced and underwhelmed.

I really wanted to like this place since my man hyped it up so much but I was left unimpressed. We walked into this little mom n pop shop and I was excited since it had that old look that so many delicious gems have, and was delighted to see a big hunk of juicy looking meat on a slicer. I saw the menu and Eric said his favorite was the skyscraper so I was like hell yeah I’m down. I was kind of expecting the girl to start moving that meat on the slicer for some fresh pastrami and corned beef, but I was let down when I saw her scoop some meat off the counter that may of may have not been sitting there for a while. The next disappointment came when they started stacking the meat… since the sandwich was about $ 10 I expected it to be so big we could barely fit our mouths around it (which has been my past pastrami experiences) but it was pretty damn small. We ended up sharing it, but I was still hungry afterwards and not for any more from here. The meat and cheese made for a pretty dry– nothing worse than a dry –sandwich– and that was enough for me to never come back (by choice).

I used Downtown Deli today for a catering order. A year ago a client had brought us these amazingly good sandwiches, I had a ham sandwich on a Kaiser roll. I was so thrilled because I love a good ham sandwich, the ham and bread are they key elements!
I decided to use Downtown Deli for a client seminar we had since the food was good and the box lunch is nicely prepared.
When I placed the order, Glenn asked me how I heard of them and I raved over the ham sandwich! I was pleasantly surprised to see a box lunch right on top with my name and inside was a ham on Kaiser just for me! The oatmeal cookie was nice and soft and well appreciated for the mid-​day snack crave! Thank you again for your thoughtfulness and on-​time delivery!

My favorite lunch place downtown! Stick to any of the pastrami or corn beef sandwiches. My personal favorite is the New Yorker. Pastrami (or corned beef if you prefer) with cole slaw and russian dressing.mmm. Their other sandwiches are pretty good too (I’ve gotten a turkey sandwich that was good and the deli chix sandwich was ok).
Now, you have to be on your toes when ordering as they move pretty fast, which is understandable considering the big lunch line. Fries are the default and you have to speak up if you want something else. Mac and cheese is good. Salad and fruit are good options if you’re trying to mitigate the damage done to your diet from the sandwich.
I also like all the historical photos of downtown Phoenix and the owners’ story. Mix of all different business types, lawyers, etc. Makes downtown Phoenix feel like a real downtown.

Went in for weekday lunch. There are a lot of options. I got a half sandwich (the Americana ciabatta? That’s what I thought I ordered but the website tells me there’s nothing called that…) and was a little weary of the $ 5.50 price — however, when it arrived, it was the size of a full sandwich with lots of meat and toppings. Also, the sodas have free refills.
Some drawbacks was the parking — there’s no where close and it’s all pay — and the tables were really sticky. I didn’t see anyone wiping them down so who knows how dirty they were?

Few co-​coworkers and I went here for lunch. I entered and the décor is kinda old. I waited and made my way to the counter where I had a couple questions for the guy making the food. He responded with a strong Spanish accent. i asked for him to repeat and I still don’t know what he said. So I tried to go simple and ordered the BBQ sandwich w/​drink. Out the door was about $ 10.70, not cheap. It came with French fries which were really good. The BBQ ended up having pastrami for meat rather pulled pork. The meat was already mixed with the sauce and was sitting in the heating table. Some of the meat must have been getting heated for a while as it was very tough meat.
The sauce did not fit my taste buds and sweet baby rays is even better. If you go avoid the hot sandwiches and stick to their bread and butter, like sandwiches such as the skyscraper. I won’t be returning.

I had a brief window of time so I came here after taking a quick glance at my Unilocal app. Little did I know there were so many better options…
B R I E F S U M M A R Y
– Busy lunch spot
– Cafeteria style
– Reminded me of a deli you would find in a big city like New York
– Not a whole lot of healthy options
– Sandwiches come with a side of fries or you can ask for other things
– Skyscraper on onion roll was decent
– It’s NOT like Subway where they ask what you want
– They make what they make and don’t explain much
– Condiments were limited
– Coleslaw was OK
I ended up with a Skyscraper on an onion roll (recommended by the staff). There was a whole lot of corned beef and pastrami stacked on the roll and some swiss too. I added some deli mustart from the condiment rack. It was warm, juicy and flavorful as those meats should be. I just had the feel of like a New York deli. There wasn’t a whole lot of customer interaction. At least not what I get in California.
The food was decent but if I had another chance to grab lunch in downtown Phoenix, this wouldn’t be my first or second choice.

Ah excuse me? Am I the only one bothered by the way they make their omelette’s here? I ordered breakfast here this morning and was mortified when I saw the cook about to place my omelette in the microwave to melt the cheese! He was shocked when I told him to stop.
I know Microwave foods has become an integral part of modern life, but you don’t ruin an omelette by nuking it after you cook it in the grill. That’s just weird.

Was in the office a couple of days ago and a group of us went to this restaurant especially for their pastrami sandwich. For $ 10, I order the pastrami on marbled rye, no cheese, fries and a pickle wedge. My buddy ordered the Skyscraper, which is a stack of corn beef and pastrami. YUMMY!
The pastrami is cut thinly and is pretty tasty. The whole sandwich is so fresh that when you bite down, it just melts in your mouth.
This is definitely one of my favorite lunch time restaurants.