Del Mar Deli

Critic's Review

When you're new to Las Vegas and you ask about Delis, you get a lot of hype about this place. "Oh, Del Mar. You have to try Del Mar". So I did.

The Southpoint Casino is a big room, and Del Mar Deli is tucked in a corner in the rear. The fantasy of a bustling room filled with Jewish senior citizens snarfing down big deli sandwiches was immediately squashed; this place is basically a food court style cutout in the casino wall.

There's no service at the Del Mar Deli. The good news is no tipping.

You place your oder and you wait for them to call your number. Very romantic.

Guys in the back make the sandwiches, just like Cipriotti's or Arby's.

I ordered to take out, but I planned on eating half of the sandwich here. I ordered a full pastrami, which comes with a small container of cole slaw.

There was 9 oz of Pastrami; a beancounter compromise for the 12 oz that replaced the 16oz decades ago. This pastrami passes as "good". Much better than Siegel's; Not nearly as good as Weiss.

This was lean and gristle free.Not melt in your mouth, but a solid sandwich.

The cole slaw was decent; not overly sweet but such a miniscule portion you wonder how much they're saving; and how little younger people know about Jewish delis.

With my $18 sandwich came 2 packets of Mayo, for what I have no idea, and 3 packets of the cheapest mustard known to man: "Chef's Quality" food service brand. For those of you unfamiliar with Jewish culture; Mayo is not served with meat in Jewish Delii'. Ben's in NY had a sign up asking customers not to ask for mayo with their sandwich.

The cherry on top was the single pickle spear; a good dilll spear but 1/4 of a pickle with an $18 sandwich.

It's a little challenging spreading mustard with the packets, but with pastrami it's ok to just put it on randomly.

You can get a decent sandwich here, if you don't mind the fast food experience.

Conclusion

Any hype about the Del Mar Deli is manufactured; anyone who's been to a Jewish Deli knows that this is a poor facsimile. No service, the cheapest available mustard and small portions; it's basically an overpriced food court counter.

If you're old school and have experienced a real Jewish deli with pickles and cole slaw on the table and owners who are desperate for you to leave full and happy, you'll be roundly disappointed by this place.