Greenman’s Deli

Long since closed. One of the kids picked up stakes & moved the deli to the 2100 block, renamed the place Heim’s, and then went out of business not long after. Sad, they always had pretty good food (not the greatest, but good) and the prices were nice.

Worse than the original

Northeast Philly has some great venues for cheese steaks and hoagies. Unfortunately Greenman’s Deli lags behind. Cheese Steaks and hoagies are lack luster to say the least.

I would like to comment on the Greenman’s Deli that I beleive is on Levick Street. When I was a young teenager back in the day, Old Man Greenman was a genius. It was the best hoagie (I think) money can buy. I’m talking about the late 70’s. Everyone from me & my friends from Holmesburg would ride our bikes or drive there as often as we could ~ to get their hoagie.
As time went on, the «Old Man» was getting up there in age & he decided it was time to pass the tourch down to his kids to run the buisness. Yes~They ran it~ they ran it right into the ground. Back then, you got a ton of meats’ on it & it overflowed with meat like heaven. You could barely fit your mouth around it. I went back not that long ago, & much to my dismay, the roll had gotten shorter, the quality of the roll was no longer there. The amount of meat was cut down by about 60%. I said to the guy, What the hell is this? I paid for the over-​priced little hoagie which I really didn’t want now but I didn’t want to cause a scene. So, I paid for it & left & never returned again. It tasted similar to a WaWa hoagie. That was the end of a great tradition.

This place just goes from bad to worse. A while back when it was still Greenmans my family used to frequent here often and it was delicious and the service was great. Not too long ago it switched to «Kauffman’s». The food was still delicious, maybe even a little bit better, but the service suffered astronomically. Now it’s back to Greemans and initially I was excited! My first visit back the service was excellent, but the food wasn’t good. My second visit back the service was bad, the place was unsanitary, and the food was awful. Now we’ve vowed never to return and it’s a shame. The cashier was an older woman who couldn’t work the cash register and was VERY slow!
Things we saw: door propped wide open where anything can crawl/​fly in not to mention the fact that we had to dine with our coats on – (other customers left due to how chilly it was), the box of bread ON THE FLOOR not to far from the wide open door. (We visited late in the afternoon and assuming bread is delivered in the morning this is pretty disturbing. You’re a deli, make sure your bread is NOT ON THE FLOOR in the middle of your restaurant.)
When it was Kauffman’s there used to be a water and soda machine. That’s gone so we ask for tap water (legally everyone is supposed to provide it) well they gave us plastic cups about the size of 2 shot glasses and told us to GO TO THE BATHROOM to get water. We said we didn’t feel comfortable doing that so they finally gave us some water from their sink, but although they weren’t completely rude they definitely sighed and weren’t happy about it.
Next, they bring us our EAT IN food wrapped up TO GO to our table. We ask for ketchup and they bring us ketchup packets. (A deli should have great ketchup on hand.)
Back when it was Kauffman’s they brought your hot delicious food out ON A PLATE and they had all the essentials ketchup, napkins, you name it, right at your table.
Another thing that just depends on personal taste, the hoagies are cut so the meat sticks out of the top and not the side (I HATE this because I find it difficult to eat) When they were Kauffman’s this was not the style.
They only put the condiment in one part of the bread and you have to dig to find your cheese. The hoagie was very dry. The cheesesteak hoagies hardly look like hoagies at all. You have to really really look to find maybe two thin strips of lettuce. The food feels really greasy and back when it was Kauffman’s the hoagies were hardy and non-​greasy.
Bottom line, we will never return. Good luck if you decide to go here. It’s a shame it could’ve be great, but we keep trying to go through all these name changes and things just seem to get worse. On top of it all parking and getting across and out of that busy street is terrible. If the food or service was good it might be worth the effort, but definitely not as it stands.

Excellent quality food, friendly staff, and a comfortable environment. Everyone is always so friendly, and the sandwiches are so good, I go there weekly for dinner for the family, and it’s my favorite «fast food». We’ve even used them for catering!
Ask for «Kev» — Make sure he makes your hoagie!

Greenman’s Deli is okay. I usually go once in a great while. Their staff is nice, and they’ve got a great sandwich selection (hot and cold), and they sell other stuff inside the deli (drinks, chips, etc. etc.). However, I usually just get a hoagie from here, and I don’t go that often because I’m not a huge fan of their hoagies. The ingredients are fresh, which is good, but the tomatoes could be riper, and the hoagie usually feels a little bland for some reason. I’ve had better rolls. I do like their pickles. But what really bugs me is their signature thing — they cut the hoagie roll down the top instead of the side, which makes the sandwich really fat and hard to eat. So three stars because I say meh to their hoagies. I’ve had better, but I’ve also had worse.

There’s a school of thought in Northeast Philadelphia that says that Greenman’s hoagies are the best in the area. They even have a sign in the window that says «Home of the REAL Hoagie.» I don’t buy it, but I can see where they’re coming from.
Greenman’s Hoagies are good, but with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of delis and pizza joints serving up good hoagies in the area, I don’t even know how to choose a «best» or even a top five hoagie places. Plus, there are so many different ways to prepare a hoagie, and most of the time it’s the customer who chooses the ingredients. I’ve only had mayo hoagies from Greenman’s (ordered by others for me) — and I’m really more of a hoagie oil fan.
Greenman’s isn’t the BEST Jewish deli around, either, but if you’re in the market for some good lox, this Northeast deli can and will fill your order.