Comments on: Lew’s NY Deli Open in Paoli

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 21:26:32 +0000

Lew’s NY Deli in Paoli is CLOSED now!! Anybody know why?

By: Ed Kessler

Ed Kessler — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:59:22 +0000

Michael Says: Their Corned Beef is some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Their own spice is just right and they do sell it by the pound, which is about what Murray’s charges. I agree that they are better organized then they were but I was last in around 10:45 AM which was before the lunch crowd. I am now making good use of both Lou’s and Murray’s

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 03:22:28 +0000

I’ve been there several times now, and while they were a little disorganized in the beginning, with unexplained missing items — now they’ve become consistent — and become one of my favorite places. Tradititonal NY-Jewish style corned beef, pastrami, brisket, kasha b’varnsikers, pickle bar, etc. I don’t care where they’re made, but I do care what they taste like – and they taste like home (I’m an expartriate NYer). I’ve also been impressed by the friendliness of the owners and they’ve gone out of the way for me — giving me tastes, making me coffee late.
I’m only unhappy with their hours — the Malvern-Paoli area could use a place like this open 24×7.

By: Jim in Paoli

Jim in Paoli — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:02:11 +0000

I tried Lew’s again and will not be back.We had lunch at 2 pm on Saturday.
I have been 5 times since they opened. This time I picked up a corned beef special for my wife. I had pastrami reuben.
The corned beef was so fatty that my wife choked on the meat. She took 4 oz of meat out of the sandwich.
The biggest offense is that the bread was stale!
The bread was stale! I can’t get over it. I had a roast pork sandwich a few weeks ago that was served, at 2.30 pm, on a stale roll!
There is no excuse for this.
(The roast pork is cut into cubes and is very hard to eat, and has too much seasoning.)
The CB special was ordered with swiss cheese. It did not arrive withswiss cheese. There was no one else waiting in line when I ordered. Again, no excuse.
The place needs organization.

By: ddrn

ddrn — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:34:39 +0000

Lew’s did have a “bumpy” start, but it seems that the kinks have smoothed out nicely. Food is very good, more corned beef on my reuben than 2 people can eat in a sitting. The Panini’s are varied in contents; the roast beef, cheddar & horseradish is fabulous. Lew’s will make any changes or substitutions as requested by their customers. The pickle bar is so creative, varied, and complimentary with orders. The menu is very extensive. I have found it best to call ahead, not a long wait that way. They are always busy~that says something good! The staff is polite, and very customer oriented. Give them a try! Go back if you were there in the beginning, you’ll be pleased.

By: Ed Kessler

Ed Kessler — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:34:39 +0000

Leanne: The Murray’s in Berwyn dosn’t sell Kasha and Bowties and never has according to the owner. You must have been in the one in Bala (different member of the family) which might explain the rude waitresses. Other possibility was you were in West Chester before they moved. They did have kasha and some bad service down there.
I did have a lunch at Lew’s and the Kasha was quite good, the corned beef was really good and the brisket was good but not quite as good as Murray’s in Berwyn. At ll:45 AM on Thursday they had a small line ordering and even more people waiting for their orders. I spent less than ten minutes in line but twenty minutes waiting for the food. I held a table for that 20 minutes as the restaurant filled up leaving people with food looking for a table. By that time, there were about 10 people in line and 10 checks waiting to be filled. The people running the place seemed very nice but it wasn’t a relaxing experience. If a working person wants to be back at work or time (assuming they work within 5 min.) they will need a 45 min. lunch for take-out and 60 min. for eat-in. However they do make a good Egg Cream which Murray’s does not offer.
By they way, why do some people not want this site to be used as a chat room for discussing restaraunts, food, and even beer. I have seen a lot of helpful advice given out on “chat rooms” from “Where is a good place in King of Prussia to take a business client” to “I am from out of town and would like to know where to eat in Pa. Dutch Country.” They both got lots of good anwswers. What is wrong with providing that kind of advice?

By: Ed Kessler

Ed Kessler — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:45:49 +0000

Yes I know –it’s “mush” not “much”. We need a spellcheck on this thing. No I’m not going to do a word doccument every time I do this.

By: Ed Kessler

Ed Kessler — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:10:38 +0000

Fjordstone: I can’t believe you have never had kasha and bowties (aka Kasha Varnishkas) with brisket gravy. We all know if you keep pasta (bowties) hot all day they will turn to much. You can keep plain pasta cold all day and reheat it in hot water but they not possible with the kasha so why not heat it in gravy. Sounds like a plan to me.
The Carnegie Deli in NY has an item on their menu: Stuffed Derma (Kishka) with kasha varnishkas and GRAVY. Now there is a dish designed to cut down on our population if ever I have heard of one.

By: Fjordstone

Fjordstone — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:34:42 +0000

Kasha and bowties in…beef gravy? I’m a Jewish girl from Brooklyn, and I have never, ever, ever seen it done that way. Now I’m glad they were out of it the day I was there! Incidentally, Leanne, I wasn’t there on their first day. They’d been open at least a week and a half, maybe more like two weeks, when I went in. So by that point they should have had an idea of how busy it could get. Also, I’m no snob: eating on paper plates, in general, doesn’t bother me. But I also don’t expect to see a hot, cheesy, mushy dish served in an uncoated paper boat that is too small for the serving. There’s just no way that that can end well (and it didn’t).

By: Ed Kessler

Ed Kessler — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:22:37 +0000

Both places told me where they got their chopped liver and whitefish salad –neither mentioned Don’s–that’s Murray’s in Bala not Berwy that uses Don’s.(or at least use to). Nither are storemade–liked Murray’s much better. The two Murray’s are related by blood and family experience but they are not run as one and seem to use different supppliers.