Deli Jack's

As soon as I ordered my Reuben, someone behind the counter said that they had just run out of sauerkraut. They went ahead and took my order. The guy behind the counter then rushes out of the restaurant in search of sauerkraut. The Reuben orders began piling up for about eight minutes until the sauerkraut guy came rushing back into the restaurant with a bag of sauerkraut from the Kroger grocery a few doors down. The staff was also friendly--so I have to give them an A+ for service. I've never had a restaurant run out to buy sandwich ingredients for me before. On the other hand, the restaurant was a run-down eyesore. The walls and ceiling were filthy with splatters above the self-serve drink machine and stained ceiling tiles and stains on the wall-hangings. The paint on the walls was obviously old and peeling. The floor had been painted many moons ago and had worn off to the point where it looked just dirty. The kitchen area itself seemed clean, but the restaurant was disappointing--of course it beat standing out in the snow and eating. Maybe I'm a little over-critical because I spent so much time standing and waiting for the sauerkraut run to complete. Now about the sandwich, there was plenty of corned beef and freshly-purchased sauerkraut. The sauerkraut and beef combination was a little too acidic, though. The Swiss cheese slice was good but had seemed a little dried out. The bread was lightly toasted instead of grilled, but remained soft and flavorful--I really liked it. Some of the earlier Reuben eaters were offered dressing on the side, but they didn't offer any to those of us who came later. I went up to the counter and asked for a couple sides of thousand island, and they went back into the refrigerated room, pulled out a white bucket of something and obliged me. I am not sure what type of thousand island it was, but it had a lot more little green chunks in it than I am used to--at least it was good and helped make the sandwich taste a little better. It seemed to me to be a big sandwich and didn't taste too bad, but I'm not sure I'd try it again if I came back. The Turkey Reuben on the menu sounded interesting with its cole slaw and Gouda cheese. Aimee seemed to like it.

I was running a little late on this day. I had slipped into the restroom to wash up for lunch and discovered when I got out that my Reuben Buds had disappeared. Undaunted, I hurried to my car and gave chase. The day was typical of an Indiana winter. The cold was especially biting and the clouds mostly gray. It had snowed somewhat earlier in the week, and the brief warming of the previous day had only glazed the already slick surfaces to a polished sheen. When I reached the deli, my companions had already ordered and were waiting for their food. I stepped into line behind a familiar Reuben eater, Aimee. She had arrived just before me and was in line. Surprisingly, when asked her order, she chose a turkey laced Reuben! Being the purist that I am in these matters, I chose the Reuben made with pickled beef, full-strength. We waited for what seemed forever, passing the time talking with other similarly hopeful eaters. Due to lunchtime I'm sure, the place was packed with people searching for a respite from the cold. The man behind the counter called an order, and a happy smile came to the face that matched the name. At last, my name was called and I took my sandwich to a free chair with the group. The sandwich came with no dressing. Chris had to ask for it and we shared. Some chose no dressing, but I added to mine. I don't think it was the traditional Thousand Island though, it was more like mayonnaise with chopped pickles. Our group was so large, the deli had run out of sauerkraut. Some people had warm kraut, but mine was still a bit chilled and fresh from the can. I wasn't entirely impressed with the flavor either; it was sorta bland really. While I didn't try it, the beef stew smelled particularly inviting, so if you are in the neighborhood try it instead. The Reuben is not their strong point.

The Reuben wasn't really remarkable. It was really pretty average. Had they heated the sauerkraut and added thousand island, it probably would have been pretty good. They did get high marks in service because they ran out of sauerkraut and sent an employee to the store to get more.

This is an assembly line style sandwich shop. However this was not a line based on Henry Ford's model. This one was the picture of inefficiency. They were quick to take orders and money but it all sort of bogged down after that. The decor was done in the "We don't care what the place looks like, just eat and get out" style. The sandwich itself was not good either. It had no thousand island on it!! That's like ordering spaghetti and meatballs and not getting any meatballs. One of the other guys in the group went up to ask for some and they sent him back with cups with what seemed to be tartar sauce. Did I mention that the kraut was raw? It was actually cooler than room temperature. I hear that the same guy that owns this place owns the Sushi restaurant a few doors down. If this is how he treats a sandwich I don't want to even see how he does sushi. Scary!!

The service was friendly and fast but the Reuben was just adequate at best. The kraut was a little bland and had made the bread very moist.

A true Reuben should condense on the tongue like the vapours of a sweet (but salty) meat elixir. The Reuben at Deli Jacks tried hard, but fell far short of my high expectations. The sauerkraut was certainly fresh (since they ran out shortly before I arrived and had to get/make a new batch), and the rye bread was certainly good. But there just wasn't enough of either to satisfy my palate. Perhaps it was the portion's size, which was definately on the small-side. Perhaps it was the slow service, which kept me waiting for 10 minutes. Perhaps it was just the overall experience that kept me from enjoying Deli Jacks. All I know for certain though, is that I will now return home to Montreal slightly disappointed in my Reuben experience.

They ran out of sauerkraut and I had to wait for the sandwich for about 10 minutes.

This Reuben's qualities included the corned beef, it was thick and flavorful. The bread was flavorable, but toasted which I do not prefer. On the negative side, the dressing was below average. The saurkraut was not drained properly and caused the bread on the bottom to be soggy, a common mistake.

The service was quick, but inconsistent and disorganized, as I was one of the few to get thousand island, a pickle, and sauerkraut all together without reminding them that they forgot something. The taste was a bit off, but I'm not quite sure what it was missing.

The atmosphere and the service felt loud and rushed, altough I received my order rather quickly, being one of the first guests at 11:15am. The sandwich and drink were over $8.50, which thought to be high for this type of establishment. They did have a lot of good Reuben meat on there, though. It was thinly sliced, non-greasy and non-grizzled lunch meat. Loved the meat, but the rest of the Reuben was bland. The seemingly homemade Thousand Island dressing which came on the side was bland and too sweet for my taste. The Swiss was quite mild. The sandwich was lukewarm by the time I got it to the table and the cheese had hardened. The bread wasn't special and not toasted very well, the sauerkraut was mild. I had to add their cheap mustard for some tang. The good things were the meat and the friends, otherwise I do not recommend this establishment if you are a Reuben connoisseur.

Good beef, good dressing, not so good bread. Bit soggy at the bottom (maybe it's sauerkraut). Overall good taste but not as good as Schlozsk'y but much better then Arni's. B+

I had the turkey Reuben, which came with gouda and coleslaw on it. What a tasty combination! For those who desire to break out of the traditional Reuben mold, try the turkey Reuben as it has a little extra "zip." Deli Jack's was very popular today, so the line and wait was a bit long, but the good food compensated for the wait.