What is it with delicatessens closing? The two biggies in New York — The Stage and Carnegie — have both closed in recent years. Yes, there are other unhealthy places to eat in New York including eighty-seven million pizza places and delicatessens like Katz's and The Second Avenue Deli but something sacrilegious occurred when those two famous delis, which not so long before always had lines out the door, shuttered. (For some odd reason, I like that the Second Avenue Deli has two locations and neither one is on Second Avenue.)
And now it's happening in the other city which almost prides itself on having restaurants that contribute to the cardiac problem…Las Vegas. Not so long ago, they had a Stage Deli at Caesars, a Carnegie Deli at The Mirage (which is closing shortly) and two outlets of the great Los Angeles shrine to corned beef and latkes, Canter's. There was a Canters in the Tivoli Village food court and it closed in July of '18. There was also one in the promenade at the Linq and it went away this past February. (The Canter's in L.A. is still open but it recently cut back its 24-hour table service to just Friday and Saturday nights.)
I could understand these closures occurred in an America that was on an "eat healthy" kick but as darn near every TV commercial for fast food proves, that ain't the case. I'm waiting for Little Caesar's to announce a new pizza that is all cheese with no vegetables and it comes in a box made completely out of bacon. Last week here in L.A., a woman in a Mercedes-Benz did serious damage to her car trying to cut in line to get a Popeye's Fried Chicken Sandwich.
I'm going to try to answer my own question: I think one thing that has harmed the deli business is that sandwiches got too big. When someone says, "Wanna go to the deli for lunch?", the mind goes to something that looks like the photo above — too big to finish (and priced accordingly) and even too big to fit into your mouth. Even if I order a half-sandwich at Canter's, I have to deal with 50% of the above. It's the wrong ratio of bread-to-meat, it's going to fall apart when I pick it up and I cannot dress it with mustard in a way that will give me the proper amount of mustard while biting into the lower two-thirds.
I also can't finish the whole thing but I have to pay for the whole thing. If I get one of those "to go" and take it home, I grab some of my own bread, redistribute the meat and turn it into three easier-to-eat sandwiches. But if I dine in, it's not a sandwich. It's an overpriced problem.
Some delis have multiple sizes of sandwiches and it's possible to get one that doesn't look like it has a glandular condition. The ones where I've seen that on the menu all seem to have them priced to discourage you from ordering the smaller one so it feels overpriced. So the size of the portions and the price scare people off…
…I think. Anyway, that's my guess as to why delicatessens aren't as popular as they once were. You got a better one?