Steingold's - Chicago
Steingold’s in North Center has been a leader of the deli avant garde, a “newish” kind of delicatessen that features traditional menu items – pastrami, matzoh ball soup, bagels – with a twenty-first century twist.
At Steingold’s, you can get a pound of pastrami or lox, or a cup of matzoh ball soup, but what keeps people coming back are the sandwiches, some traditional, some you may never have seen before, all leverage top-quality ingredients, each handcrafted to be a sandwich to remember.
So, let’s talk Steingold’s sandwiches.
The Uncle Rube is about as close as Steingold’s comes to making a classic Reuben Sandwich, with pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing on rye. The bread at Steingold’s is sourced from Publican Quality Bread, and it comes close (though not quite) to stealing the sandwich show all by itself.
The Sister-in-Law is one of Steingold’s non-traditional – and undeniably delicious – sandwiches, constructed on a baguette from Publican Quality Bread, with anchovy mustard, dill kimchee and hot smoked pastrami cut thick.
The Nephew is a cold sandwich of roasted pastrami, spiced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on challah, simple but spectacular.
Then there are sandwiches that seem like they could be traditional, and maybe are in some regions, but that are not common on Chicago deli menus. For instance, Egg on a Roll is a breakfast sandwich with fried eggs and pastrami on challah.
Of course, you can buy bagels to go, offered in any quantity, and you won’t be sorry you did.
To drink, there’s a decent selection of red, white and orange wine (this last one is not made of the citrus fruit but rather white wine grapes left in contact with the grape skins for longer than usual to develop an orange-ish cast). Or you can have a Dr. Brown’s soda…or an egg cream.
With takeout and curbside pickup, Steingold’s brings a little comfort into your life with foods you’ve known for years and new combinations that prove the deli is still a happening thing in Chicago.