Gatsby's Bar and Grill

This Reuben had a lot of sauerkraut, and the corned beef was thickly sliced and tasted like corned beef should. The bread was nicely toasted and flavorful. I thought that the cup of Thousand Island was too small for the large sandwich, and probably should have asked for a second cup. The included onion rings were also very good. The negative I want to bring up is that there is no non-smoking area in this establishment. The service was excellent and our waitress was quick and efficient. The sandwich and included side order was also a great value!

The office was slowly becoming a ghost town, most of the workplace and clients' offices were slowing down for the Christmas holiday season. I drove the crew this time to the restaurant on another rainy (now winter officially) day, the roads were filled with last minute shoppers and travelers hoping to get a jump on the rush that will appear on Christmas eve. We drove into a fairly busy and crowded parking lot. As luck would have it, someone was leaving an empty parking spot in front of the restaurant just as we pulled in. It's a typical sports bar with TV's positioned so everyone can watch some screen at any angle. Most of them are tuned to the same channel with the sound turned completely down; no CNN this time, only football news. A new jukebox played patron-selected hits close to the bar. Being born prior to 1985, I am at a loss to recognize any of the tunes. Smoke drifts on the air as a mostly office worker crowd relaxes for lunch. We sit in bar chairs and share stories of the day. A new Reuben eater relates the finer points of corporate dumpster diving, while enraptured we listen on. A waitress appears and after 4 people order Reubens, she is curious and asked if we are the people who 'travel the country' rating Reubens. Either the website or the other restaurants in the area are passing along legends of our exploits. The sandwiches begin to arrive in reasonable time. Most of the group orders onion rings; being the odd man, I ordered fries with mine. The meat on the sandwich is cut rather thick (.125 inch or roughly 3 mm for the metric types). The effect of the thickness gives the meat a somewhat rubbery texture; it's not bad it's just different. There is plenty of kraut placed between the meat and the bread, sauce is placed on the side. Other than the funny meat texture, it's a good sandwich. I had to place dressing on the sandwich by removing the bottom. I noticed the bread on the bottom was kinda soggy and the top was toasted hard. While not officially part of the competition, I thought I might note that the fries were cooked until crunchy (too much) instead of crispy. Everyone else agreed that the onion rings were great. We all leave satisfied and stuffed.

I'm happy to say that the Gatsby's Reuben broke a streak of "B" range sandwiches. The sandwich was very good. The bread was toasted quite nicely, the corned beef and sauerkraut were abundant, and it had an all-around nicely balanced flavor. The sandwich seemed rather large due to the thickness of it, and between the sandwich and included onion rings I was quite full. I forgot to perform the "Reuben flip", so the bottom side of one sandwich half got soggy by the time I got to it. However, there was enough structural integrity that the sandwich held together. I haven't seen that since Reggie's. The only drawback is that there isn't a no-smoking section. If you're a Reuben fan and happen to be in the 71st St. area, don't miss the Gatsby's Reuben.

This was my first time. The Reuben tasted good. I used three napkins (a good thing). The onion rings were excellent.

The pub was a little too smoky for me--but the food was very good and at a good value.

This is the best Reuben I've had in quite a while, and a great value!

Very good all around; one half of my sandwich was slightly soggy, but it didn't ruin my overall satisfaction with the Reuben. I would certainly come back for more!