Not just pastrami on rye
One of oldest, most popular Jewish delicatessens in Los Angeles celebrates National Pastrami Day
It's not just pastrami on rye. Langer's claims it's the world's best pastrami, so good that they ship it across the country via FedEx.
Video courtesy of jn1.tv
Manager Jaime Castaneda says its superior taste comes from this custom-built steam tank.
Langer's steams their pastrami for a minimum of four hours. It's rare for a restaurant to do so, because the pastrami shrinks and reduces a restaurant's bottom line.
This is the Langer family recipe. Al Langer opened the delicatessen in downtown Los Angeles in 1947, in what was a Jewish neighborhood.
Trisha Langer, the third generation to run the delicatessen, says that in its heyday, Langer's was open past midnight. But Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s, took a turn for the worst.
Jews moved out. Drugs dealers and criminals moved into the park across the street. Langer says people weren't coming here to eat pastrami.
But her family didn't give up. They worked with city leaders to clean up the neighborhood, and in 1993, a new subway Metro system opened a block away.
The neighborhood is mostly Latino, but Koreatown is adjacent. Langer's advertises on Korean radio and television. People also travel here from abroad after reading glowing reviews in food blogs.
Meghan Martin heard about Langer's in their home state of Oregon, and traveled more than 900 miles to visit Los Angeles.
She was surprised to learn pastrami came to the United States via Jews from Europe.
People are lining up to experience a little Jewish culture. This line is long not because it's National Pastrami Day, but because it's simply lunchtime. Langer's even provides curbside service for to-go orders.
It's quite impressive especially because a couple decades ago the family almost had to close its doors. The Langer family hopes the neighborhood continues to get better, so they can introduce this Jewish dish to a new generation.
Langer says because of what was happening in the neighborhood, they cut back their hours through the years. They're not even open on Sundays. But she says if the delicatessen continues to grow in popularity the family will consider expanding their hours.
