Uptown Deli

This place has a full Deli-​like menu and some asian additions, but I pretty much come here for one thing only: The Italian Cold Cut sandwich. I just love this sub. The meats always taste fresh. There is some type of vinegar dressing, a large wedge of pickle, and a tasty combo of deli meats with lettuce and mayo. It honestly tastes as good as subs I’ve had in Little Italy in Baltimore and San Diego.
My only criticism is that the bun is a little on the thick side, and it’s not the nice crusty kind you will find at a real Italian place. It’s just like something you would find at a regular grocery store. No problem. I still love it.
This place is just a little expensive, but you get what you pay for. It can get pretty busy during the lunch rush. Most people order all kind of other stuff, but I can’t really comment on everything else. I do remember having a protein shake here one morning and it was pretty good.

Death Watch over…
CLOSED.

Good place for a large sandwich. NYC it is not, but they have high quality food and friendly service. Prices are fair (by Bethesda standards).
Watch the closing times – varies by day.

If a customer asks for her sandwich to be made on a challah «roll»…at $ 9 a sandwich, at least inform your customer if you are out of stock and ask if she would
prefer something else as a decent substitute before she gets home after walking in +100 degree heat anticipating the tastiness of a solid challah roll only to find out she has been given a sandwich made on +3-​day old sliced challah bread as an unwelcome substitute. Fail.

Took me forever to try this place out, but it turns out I should have taken even longer. Went in to grab some breakfast sandwiches and was expecting something pretty awesome considering this was a Jewish deli.
The sandwiches were expensive, had a single slice of ham, maybe a half slice of cheese and in general, might as well have been just bread and egg. Took forever to make them up too. At the end, I’d rather get breakfast from McDonald’s.
On the plus side, the service was very friendly.

Three and a half stars, near the corner of Norfolk Ave and St Elmo Ave. Something like a $ 3 minimum for plastic. I think I wept a little; I was so hungry after sitting in traffic this morning that I decided I would indulge in some eating out. This deli is pretty darn cool– lots of legit sides (from all kinds of salad to chopped liver), kosher options, sweet treats (fruit and baked goods), and deli cuts. Spacious seating area. Guy behind the counter was as hard of hearing as I was soft-​spoken, but pretty friendly otherwise.
Toasted bagel with lox ($ 8.49) hit the spot. Lettuce, tomato, and onion were fresh. Glad there were no capers, though I pondered adding sprouts to my cream cheese for 30 cents. Lox itself was sliced generously, and almost overwhelmed the bagel itself… always a good sign. I usually abhor a bagel that isn’t noticeably toasted on the open faces, but the overall exterior toasting was at a perfect balance for plush but resistant bites. I would get this again.
Egg burrito ($ 4.99) was underwhelming. Nice and gooey cheese, but the tomatoes were wet enough that the tortilla became soggy once it sat too long. Eggs and sausage were a flat scramble, not nearly as fluffy as the deli on St Elmo. Overall size here slightly smaller as well; yes Theresa, I’m a size queen. Moral of story: SED for burritos, but the bagels here are more bangin’. Coworker lauds the turkey reuben and I’m determined to try the meat knish.
Bris kit was tender but surprisingly bland beef on untoasted marble rye, I’d skip this next go. Fries are basic Ore Ida starch wiggles. Staple sides of slaw and pickle were generic, crisp, and without real impression. Nish nosh’s potato knish was fried perfectly on the outside, but the cut surfaces were ready to disintegrate in the face of the balsamic grilled onions. The tender pastrami loaded on with slathered mustard made it worth trying, though.

This place makes me miss my bubbie!
Is it the best deli I’ve ever had? No. Is it good? Yes. Especially in a land of very few delis. The menu is large and they have tons of good deli options (bagels, spreads, salads-​tuna, whitefish, macaroni, and of course giant deli-​style sandwiches packed with meat and other fillings). They even have knishes!
The turkey sandwich with cream cheese and cranberry spread is large and tasty. The chicken noodle soup with a matza ball is comforting. The matza ball itself was quite good, but for a little context, I am of the large and fluffy as opposed to small and hard matza ball camp. They also do a pretty decent NY Egg Cream.
Yes the décor is a little kitschy (like the Jewish Zodiac placemats-​I learned I was a black and white cookie and my compatriot a pickle, and my father a bagel), but come on, it’s a deli, just go with it and have some fun!

Ok, so I give this place props for taking a stab at being Bethesda’s answer to the quintessential classic Manhattan Jewish deli. Even though Uptown is a corny, kinda stereotyped version that misses the authentic mark but a long shot, the food really ain’t bad. Since I just visit, and don’t live in the Bethesda area, it’s nice to know where to go to eat food that reminds me of home when I need my fix. And if I ever get a cold or have the flu when I’m down this way, you best believe I’m hitting this place up for the matzoh ball soup, which I have yet to try.
I did try the pastrami, which gets the thumbs up. I think their rye bread gets the pass too. I noticed that they import cheesecake from the Carnegie Deli in NY, which is a cool touch! I like that, and it gives me that warm home nostalgic feeling. I’m happy that there’s a place in this area that pays homeage to the NY old world deli experience, and doesn’t do a bad job.

Alright, so I’ve been here twice. There are some good things about the place but the bad terribly outweighs the good, particularly on my last visit.
Good:
–Half sour pickles. YUM.
–Good value for half soup/​half sandwich combo.
–Tasty corned beef.
Bad:
–WHAT KIND OF A DELI RUNS OUT OF BAGELS AT 11:30 ON A SATURDAY MORNING!!!
I don’t really think there’s anything else to say. If you as a business cannot predict when you need to have food available (um, bagels on weekend mornings) then you will not get my business again.

I often get stuck in a rut, where I basically order the same things over and over again. I know what I like and I go and get it. I am a creature of habit. And we all know what they say about habit. It beat up a bunch of children and took their lunch money. My goal for this Spring/​Summer is to get out there and try new things. What if there are valleys of deliciousness hiding behind this mountain of redundancy that I call an appetite?
Today marked the kickoff for my exploration into new beginnings. I stepped into Uptown Deli and bravely glanced up at the menu. What sandwich would break me free from these shackles? There it was, sticking out like a sore thumb. The «Fenway Pahhk». A sandwich with turkey, cranberry sauce, and scallion cream cheese? I’ve never had that type of uniqueness slap me in the face before. I stepped up to the plate, put my most over the top Boston accent on and courageously said, «I’ll have the Fenway Pahhk.» This is one small step for John S. and one giant leap from monotony.
The sandwich was delicious. I definitely enjoyed the mixture of sweet and salty hitting my taste buds all at once. Also, on a side note the owner is a boisterous and jolly guy who sits up at the register making jokes as people glance up at the menu. He has a list of things you can sing or do (all embarrassing) to get 10% off your order. When I ordered my sandwich he tried to get me to pledge my allegiance to the ‘Sawx’, but being an O’s fan, I instead responded with «Go O’s!»
Great food, good people, and affordability. Check plus.

The Uptown Deli Rocks. Finally, after a third visit, the staff has learned how to work with the deli’s really good raw materials. My Daily Double sandwich was outstanding — rye bread was fresh with crispy crust. The corned beef was very lean, the pastrami was as good as it gets. A knish was a real NY knish. Potato latkes were large, perfectly fried and well seasoned.
My first two visits were somewhat disappointing because the staff had not been properly instructed in preparing the sandwiches — I think they have now been properly educated and this deli is the real deal — it competes favorably with the Stage, Carnegie and 2^nd Avenue delis and that is saying something — the DC area has been without a really good deli for more than 50 years! I sure hope the Uptown Deli can keep raising the bar!

I Laughed, I Cried, It was Better than Katz.. .
I love this place. I used Uptown Deli for my son’s bris and they did a spectacular job. Everyone remarked on how good the spread was. I highly recommend them.

I tried this place last week when the office ordered from here for a meeting. They brought a ton of sandwiches and sides. I only had a veggie sandwich because I don’t really eat the other meat here. It was pretty good, definitely different. I also had some pasta salad which was pretty decent. My coworkers rave about this place. I wish they had more chicken items, but I will have to try the Foghorn Leghorn if I ever eat from here again. Their desserts were very good. I need to give this place a chance again. It won’t be a regular spot in the rotation for me because I don’t really like delis, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good place.

Update to my original review: At the request of the owner, who emailed me via Unilocal!,I tried the Matzo ball soup again, and as he said it would be, it was much improved. The broth has a lot more flavor and the matzo ball is now light and fluffy, as they should be. Nice improvement! Keep up the good work.

**Please do not read this review if you love mayo****
I was recovering from my Taylor’s sandwich induced TMJ and decided to come here to restore my faith in sammies. I had a living social deal and got subs for the game. With the plethora of take out places, I didn’t expect this to be a «deli» deli. There was a whole side dining room filled with families, reading their sunday paper eating their breakfast.
I got a «Fugeddaboutit!» sub (basically an Italian) and a friend got the «South Philly» and we split the halfs with each other. We had drinks and chips, and it all fell into my coupon value of $ 20. The deal offered a free «rugelach» but they didn’t offer it to me.
The Good Stuff:
These were some big subs. The South Philly was a Philly cheesesteak like sandwich with lots of melted cheese. The roast beef was homemade and came in abundance. Not quite Geno’s but still really good.
The Bad Stuff:
It’s downfall however was it had a boatload of mayo in there and I don’t think to ask to not have it. It was on the menu so it was my mistake.
I have to admit I’m the anti-​mayo, I really don’t like the taste nor understand the purpose of spreading fatty, taste-​less white gelatinous substances over bread. If meteors were to spray down to earth and kill all civilization, there would only be two things that survived: cockroaches and packets of mayonnaise. Did you know that packaged mayo can last two years past their best use date?
I was actually suprised by this at a Jewish deli, not cause it’s not kosher; but it’s because it’s gross with meat. I didn’t think it came standard on a cheesesteak, something about hot meat, melted cheese and mayo don’t seem to go together. You don’t dilute or take away from this home made roast beef meat with such intense flavor and prepared with such a long, intricate preparation, with any thing other than cheese and bread.
More Good Stuff:
The italian sandwich was quite good with soft italian bread and mayo free. It had Italian Capicola ham, Genoa salami, Lebanon bologna and pepperoni with Grande Provolone, lettuce, tomato, onions, hot peppers, olive oil, red wine vinegar. I wish it had some more oil and vinegar for the tangy taste.
A little more Bad Stuff:
I wish they had offered the toasted option. Luckily the rolls are soft enough that they could be toasted. And the pickle is not sour. I guess this might be New York style, but I love sour white crispy pickles. This tasted like a cucumber that was floating in the sea for a little while. This place also closes earlier than most places. On superbowl sunday they closed at 4pm, other days they close at 6pm every once in awhile. This place peaks at lunch and gets a bit crowded.
Will I be back? Certainly, it looks like home made pastries are awesome (homemade ho-​hos) and this would be a great place to get a good pastrami or reuben sammie. Just hold the mayo.

I have been here twice, once for lunch and once for dinner.
For lunch, I ate there with a friend. I got the soup and sandwich combo which is a good value for $ 6.99. My matzoh ball soup was good, although I prefer mine to be just broth, a matzoh ball, and maybe a few veggies. This was essentially chicken noodle soup with a matzoh ball. I had a pretty standard turkey sandwich with avocado., My friend had a similar sandwich, but there were errors and she had to go back twice to get the sandwich she actually ordered.
For dinner, I took some food to go. I got a jets n mets, which is 2 sizable sandwiches on onions rolls, one pastrami and one lean corned beef. Both were pretty good, pastrami was a little fatty for me but the husband enjoyed it. Good value, I think we could have just had this for dinner and been satisfied.
I also got a Fowl Canadian, which is turkey breast, Munster cheese, and honey mustard. Very tasty, I enjoyed this sandwich the most. However, I did ask for no tomato, but came home to find some on the sandwich. I see no excuse for this, as I was the only customer in there at the time. This seems to be a recurring issue here that the owner should really work on.
Both sandwiches came with deli pickles and coleslaw. The coleslaw was a throw away, it needs some work.
I also decided to get a small container of whitefish salad to try. It was excellent, far from the mayo and sour cream fest of some other area delis (I am looking at you Bethesda Bagels). It had a great flavor and was fishy in a good way. I will definitely be back for some of this, though I will put it on a bagel from Bethesda Bagels as I am not so much a fan of Georgetown Bagelry bagels.
Overall, this place was okay and there are definitely some good values here. I will certainly keep it in my mind when I am missing my NY hometown and some good Jewish soul food.

I went for lunch with a few friends and was curious to try Uptown deli. I read some other reviews about the matzoh ball soup but I thought it was delicious. It had veggies, actual chicken, and a wonderful broth. The soup made me think if my grandmother could cook then she would have made matzoh ball soup like this!
The half and half (small soup and half an ESS a Sandwich menu) for $ 6.99 is an awesome deal and also includes a side of coleslaw and a pickle. The pickle is straight out of classic deli’s in New York and my chicken salad sandwich was amazing.
We also tried a macaroon which was soft and somewhat creamy. My friends also all enjoyed their meals and the service was quick and friendly.
This might be a new favorite :)

I wanted to make sure i tried this place a few times before writing a review so i wouldn’t feel the need to update it. Well i’ve eaten here 4 times and tried a variety of food, so lets get to it.
The nish nosh is freaking great. Love the knish and their pastrami is awesome in general. Just the right amount of salt (although some might feel it’s a bit fatty). I’ve also tried the jets and the mets (good but i’d prefer if the bread was toasted, the corned beef was good and lean but just so so for me. I’m not that big a fan of corned beef.), an updtown roast beef on bagel (was extremely dry, but then again i like pretty rare roast beef btw my coworkers swear by the hot roast beef philly), and the half and half (soup and sandwich)
The nish nosh was the clear winner out of the sandiches. Actually i don’t think you could go wrong w/​any pastrami based sandwich here. For the soup, the chicken noodle w/​matzoh is great. I find the half and half to be a great deal at $ 6.99 (paired it w/​a pastrami on rye w/​mustard).
All in all an excellent addition to the (much more) interesting side of bethesda :-p. I’ll def. be back.

Got here early to beat the lunch crowd and it was well worth it. Glancing over at the counter a few minutes into eating the goodness, this place started getting packed. I must say now, there’s finally a good place in the DC ‘burbs serving good Jewish NYC deli sandwiches. Pricey? Sort of, but you do get quality pastrami and corned beef.
After looking over their menu, we wanted to try everything, but decided to go with three sandwiches … this time.
Nish Nosh — DELISH and recommended. The pastrami is seasoned well, thinly sliced, and don’t worry, they put a lot between the potato knish. In addition, it had the nice cut of fat on the pastrami too. I don’t recommend getting this as a carry-​out item though, you have to eat it when it’s hot and fresh.
The Jets n’ The Mets — Very nicely done. You must get the balsamic grilled onions too, don’t forget. It gives the sandwich a twist and a nice bite. The corned beef to me was a little too salty. Pastrami over Corned beef in my opinion. The onion roll though was good and played nicely.
Howard’s Delight — According to my fellow foodie that was with me, he says this was a good sandwich if you like liver. Unfortunately, I don’t care for the liver taste.
On another note, they serve Mayorga coffee here, yes! Great choice by the owner. Again, prices are pretty fair here and for what you get, I think it’s worth it. Definitely coming back for more …

Yes, they are definitely still getting it in gear at Uptown Deli. Everything was disorganized: no one was quite sure where the line ended, one of the cashiers didn’t believe they served grainy mustard, it seemed some waited nearly 20 minutes for their sandwich.
However, my turkey on challah was pretty darn good. The bread was fresh, and the turkey was plentiful. I could only eat half! I applaud their diet Dr. Brown Soda selection and the inclusion of Zapp’s potato chips. I’m pretty eager to make it over there for breakfast; I wish they served eggwiches all day.
It’s another sandwich shop in Bethesda, but it is different. Check it out. In a few months, I think they’ll get it under control.