Pastrami sandwich face-off: What's the best order at Langer's?
Norm Langer doesn’t have any favorites.
Serving what many have called the country’s best pastrami sandwiches — and even "the finest hot pastrami sandwich in the world," according to Nora Ephron — Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant, a nearly 80-year-old institution at the southern corner of MacArthur Park, whips up rapid-fire orders of thick-cut, cured and steamed meats often layered with spreads and slaw. The pastrami's velveteen fat marbling juxtaposes the chew of its seasoned edges. Fresh, fragrant rye bread balances it all, soft at the center and just crisp along the crust.
But after more than 60 years working at his family’s Jewish deli, the dozens of sandwiches are routine — for Langer, anyway.
“When you're here every day you get bored with it,” he says. “I mean, you have access to anything and everything. How much pastrami can you eat? How much corned beef can you eat?”
While Norm Langer might tire of his deli's menu, generations of Angelenos haven't — as evidenced by the widespread outcry in response to his recent ultimatum: If the city of Los Angeles won't clean up the neighborhood, he's considering closing. On a September afternoon, at least one customer approached the restaurateur asking him if he's serious, and begged him to stay. L.A. cannot lose these sandwiches.
Read more: Langer's Deli owner is starving for L.A. to clean up MacArthur Park, and thinking of closing
They can come on twice-baked rye bread, on French rolls, on fluffy egg bread or white toast, all plump with pastrami or corned beef or turkey or tuna. The options — splayed out across the large folding menu — are head-spinning. But most come for the pastrami.
“My parents opened up 77 years ago,” Langer says. “I've been here since January of 1963 and I followed in my parents’ footsteps. My dad had a mantra: 'Give them the same product today that you gave them the day we opened, and they will keep coming back looking for that.'”
Al and Jean Langer created much of the sandwich menu that’s still found today, from the iconic No. 19 (his father’s formulation) to his mother’s pastrami with cream cheese and tomato. (“It sounds godawful, but you know what? It's flavors that go together,” Norm says.)
Their sandwich recipes took years of trial and error. According to Norm, who operates Langer’s with his wife, Jeannette, the process is a lot like dating: Sometimes it’s a winning combination, sometimes it isn’t. The No. 19, however, is one that took off quickly in the 1950s and ’60s — due primarily, he says, to word-of-mouth and the timeless allure of a stack of coleslaw, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing and some of the best pastrami in the country.
The Westlake deli has sourced its pastrami from Burbank-based meat company RC Provisions for roughly 40 years, using a recipe developed by Al Langer. Though RC Provisions vends to many local restaurants, no others can purchase the Langer’s pastrami.
When it arrives, it’s steamed anywhere from 2½ to 4½ hours to the point of an easy chew and near disintegration on the tongue.
The rye is purchased from Fred’s Bakery & Deli in Beverlywood, which bakes the bread about 80%. Norm's cooks finish the baking at the deli, altering times and temperatures according to the humidity of the day.
Norm says the younger crowd — 25 and under — tend to know exactly what they want when they step into his deli, as do the older clients, ages 50 and up. The “in-between group” tends to ask more questions.
He’s seen a lot in his 60-plus years in the family business. Once, Langer says, someone ordered a sandwich of sardines with chopped liver — he served it to the customer, but he made sure to get paid for it upfront. Another customer came in and placed butter on their slaw.
Even within the L.A. Times Food section, Langer’s orders are varied and passionately held. Restaurant critic Bill Addison, who declared that the No. 19 "should be named the official sandwich of Los Angeles" when the landmark spot joined the L.A. Times restaurant Hall of Fame, diverges from the menu path by asking for a No. 54 — the pastrami and corned beef combo — dressed like the No. 19. Deputy Food editor Betty Hallock loves the No. 44 with griddled pastrami, sauerkraut and nippy cheese. Former restaurant critic Jonathan Gold was partial to a simple hot pastrami on rye.
Read more: Column: They’ve been making the world’s best pastrami sandwiches for 75 years. Can they keep it up?
Food columnist Jenn Harris always opts for the No. 1, a pastrami on rye with Russian dressing and coleslaw, and adds an extra side of Russian dressing for dipping; when ordered for takeout she squirts Sriracha into the dipping sauce at home. “I brought a tiny container of Sriracha into the restaurant once and mixed it in there as well,” she says, “but Norm is always watching so I don't make it a habit.”
All this choice, however, doesn't mean that Langer's customers are as easygoing about other people's orders as Norm. Food general manager Laurie Ochoa insists that the unadorned hot pastrami on rye is the one true way to eat Langer's pastrami. I'm just as passionate about the No. 19. To see if we could bridge our differences, she and I settled into a brown leather booth, stacks of sandwiches and chocolate egg creams (with extra seltzer) scattered around us, and debated the merits of our favorites and one wild card.
Hot pastrami on double-baked rye bread
Laurie Ochoa: You taste the crispness of the bread. And the meat! Look at these crisp bits on the edge of each slice. It’s almost like the burnt ends you get with great barbecue.
Stephanie Breijo: I can appreciate the purity of this, but I don't know if it can topple the No. 19, where I like the cold coleslaw and the hot pastrami. How long have you been ordering this sandwich like this, just the pastrami on rye?
LO: Since I started coming here with Jonathan [Gold].
SB: Is this how he ordered it?
LO: Yeah. But I’ll tell you, the first time we came, when we had barely started going out, I was 23 and didn't have a lot of experience with delis in terms of what’s kosher. Even though this isn’t a kosher deli, we ordered the pastrami sandwich and I ordered my pastrami with a glass of milk and he was horrified. Horrified! It’s not like he kept kosher! But I wonder if his reaction to me ordering milk kept me away from the cheese on the No. 19 — because it’s not kosher. I think the reason many New Yorkers say that Langer’s has the best pastrami in America is because of this sandwich, the original.
SB: I think that the New York versus L.A. discussion here also has a lot to do with RC Provisions, just the strength of RC Provisions.
LO: On that we can agree!
The No. 19: Hot pastrami with coleslaw, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing on double-baked rye
SB: I can't. I'm sorry. To me, there's no contest. The hot, the cold, the creaminess not just from the cheese but from the Russian dressing. … It’s a perfect sandwich.
LO: This is a perfect sandwich, that’s right.
SB: Do you consider yourself a sandwich purist, generally speaking?
LO: No. I'll always put cheese on a lot of other things.
SB: So what is it about the Langer's pastrami and rye that you think doesn't deserve or need the cheese?
LO: As I eat this I can appreciate, like you said, the cold and the hot, but it doesn't give me the pureness of the pastrami, which is so good.
SB: I will give it that. You definitely get not just the flavor of the pastrami but that really bright flavor of the rye without all the added stuff. But you don't think this slaw adds, I don't know, a nice sort of nuance?
LO: I see why people like it. It's interesting because the cheese almost becomes more of a texture than a flavor; the slaw kind of masks that cheese. The flavor comes through in bits.
SB: You’re right, with the 19 the Swiss cheese is a texture; it's kind of a nice barrier between the slaw and the pastrami, so it doesn't become a mush. This slaw is obviously really soft. It's really fine, not hyper-crunchy. I don't think we're gonna walk away swayed by the other’s pick.
LO: I think that’s fine! I don’t think that’s the purpose. How do you do pastrami?
SB: You know, when I go to Katz’s [in New York City], I just do pastrami and mustard on rye. But here, you gotta get a No. 19.
LO: Do you think it’s more of an L.A. sandwich?
SB: I think the No. 19 is specifically an L.A. sandwich.
LO: I’m gonna add a little mustard to it.
SB: So you like it better with the mustard? But still not as much as the plain with mustard?
LO: Yes.
SB: Fair. A woman who knows what she wants! I just think the No. 19 is …
LO: Judging by the popularity of it, obviously people love it.
SB: Of course. It’s an icon. I will say plain pastrami would probably keep a lot longer if you're going to the beach, you're going to a picnic, you're going to a show at the Bowl: A plain pastrami on rye with mustard is gonna hold up. That's gonna be an all-purpose, daylong sort of thing. But there's something about the heft of the No. 19 — it's just so heaped with things that you pick it up and it feels like a small child in your hand. There's just something really, really satisfying about that way it kind of curves, the way your hands hold it. But also, look, few sandwiches probably couldn't be improved with a slick of Thousand Island or Russian dressing.
The No. 44: Hot Pastrami with sauerkraut and nippy cheese on grilled rye
SB: All right, now this, I can see where Betty's coming from because this is almost Reuben-like.
LO: What I like about this one is the top of the bread.
SB: Yeah, I like that it’s toasted. Oh my God, it's so buttery. It's got some tang from the sauerkraut; … I respect it.
LO: You like the cold and hot, but I like the all-hot. The sauerkraut really heats up.
SB: It feels like a really cohesive sandwich. It's got two layers of the nippy cheese — one on the bottom and one on the top — and it kind of holds the kraut to the pastrami. It acts as a glue, which is nice because there's a lot going on there.
LO: So if I were ranking them, I would say the No. 44 is my No. 2, then the No. 19 would be third. Would you rank the No. 44 second and the original third?
SB: No. 19 is still No. 1 for me. The issue I have with the No. 44 is that I don’t love the taste of nippy cheese, and you really do get the flavor of the nippy cheese in this one. So while I really like the sauerkraut for that tart brightness, and I like how cohesive and melty and toasty it all is, I’d go No. 19, then the original, then the No. 44. But I respect it. If this were Swiss or any other cheese …
LO: I wonder if you can order it that way? Make your own number!
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
