It was Flavio Junior who messaged us. He was coming to San Miguel to do a little consulting for a restaurant and wanted us to check it out.
Unless you’ve hired him to cater a party for you, you’d have to be a San Miguel old-timer to know Flavio. He deserted us and ran away to Tequisquiapan about 20 years ago (though I suspect he left his heart here). We called…and still call…him the Prince of Paella and he’s got creds in places as far away as Valencia, Spain to back up the title.
The big news he shared: “It’s going to be a deli…a real deli…brisket, pastrami, bagels, latkes.”
The less-than-catchy name of the restaurant is NY Style Deli District 1960. Flavio and his partner, Karla, warmly greeted us at the entrance. Inside, there was already a buzz and, with a quick glance around the room, I recognized five of the town’s more fanatical foodies.
The menu is big…no make that huge…with 15 different sandwiches to choose from. A tough choice for some but not for me. Pastrami or brisket? Brisket or pastrami? I pleaded to Don Day’s Wife to order the Reuben so I could get a taste of its meat as I ordered the smoked brisket.
If you have memories of the Carnegie in New York, Shopsy’s in Toronto, or Ben’s in Montreal, you’ll know the size of a smoked meat sandwich is super important. My Deli District sandwich was huge, overflowing the sides of the dinner plate. Piled on a lightly toasted rye, it comes with cheese, fried onions and perfectly-spiced fries.
“Great crisp on the fries”, said Don Day’s Wife as she dipped one in the Heinz, “and how often do you get real Swiss cheese in this country.”
“Nice, too, to have a sauerkraut on a reuben that’s not too vinegary.”
There are a few restaurants with good corned beef or pastrami sandwiches in this town and San Miguel is also the home of Lou Campese, a guy we’ve named the maestro of smoked meat. A few doors up from Deli District there’s the very good Pork Belly with a lot of the same sandwiches on their menu. There’s never been a restaurant, however, with so many other deli classics.
I chatted with Flavio Junior, with Deli District’s owner, Isaac del Castillo and with their very personable manager, Alex Pedraza about all of the difficult-to-do ingredients and dishes on the menu…things like dill pickles, bagels, smoked salmon, cheesecake, matzo balls, bagels and all of the meats…and I was extraordinarily impressed as to how much time and effort they’re putting into developing and producing everything in-house and how welcoming they are to making things even better.
“Wait til you try that Kosher salami”, said Flavio, as I put Deli District on my breakfast must-go list and thought that it couldn’t be much better than that brisket sandwich.
NY Style Deli District 1960 is located at 2A Stirling Dickinson in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. It’s open every day but Tuesday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.
If you want to know more about Flavio Junior and hiring him to prepare his paella at your home or function, you can contact him at flaviotxmx@hotmail.com.
Add this to our list at Christmas!
Went today for breakfast. I grew up near Canters in Los Angeles and wanted it to be good. Went wit three other people. Consensus was coffee was cold, not from grinding fresh beans but more like from a can and poured out of a pitcher. I ordered an omlette which was overcooked and soo salty. Came with a Latta which was made with a white potato and flat and on the hard side. Friends ordered blitzes which she simply said would never get again. Another ordered Matzah Ball soup. I tasted the tiny matzah ball and it wasn’t tender and not flavorful..Service was not organized and forgetful. Hard to live up to expectation of people who know the real deal. Maybe lunch is better. Will try
Okay, you mentioned bagels three times, so I have to ask: how are the bagels?
Haven’t tried ‘em yet. But they’re on my to do list for Wednesday morning. Can’t believe they could ever be as good as the bagelmeister’s. Are you doing and delivering these days?
They are closed on Tuesdays
Open Wednesday thru Monday
Thanks. I’ve updated the copy.
Where is bagelmeister?
I’m a Brooklyn girl and grew up with the best bagels, corned beef, pastrami and knishes. And let’s not forget the pizza
It’s called El Brillo Bagels. Delivery only. Here’s the order form.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScnZ-aFfTM1QP4qsnWyTUT4CqAB6D6alIXrGTPpt3Ecyd3Izg/viewform
Thanks
Must be living under a rock, never heard of this
One couldn’t possibly ever forget the pizza in Brooklyn.
Sicilian neighborhood in Bensonhurst
An Orthodox Shul on one corner and the public elementary school on the other
Best of best worlds, especially food-wise
Terrible bagels.
The rye bread was grilled and Swiss cheese on the pastrami.
Sorry Don but you have no idea what a deli pastrami sandwich really is.
They need some input.
Tried the Reuben. Meat too thick and it was made with Pastrami NOT Corned Beef (they should know better!). Matzo ball soup-broth was fine with lots of chicken and veggies but the Matzo balls were tiny and VERY HEAVY (they need to be fluffy). Will probably go back but will need to wait till they up their game. Sorry
Don’t think I saw corned beef on the menu, only pastrami.
Grew up eating weekly at Katz’ deli in NYC Meats were always thin sliced. Best way to enjoy pastrami and corned beef. Does their Reuben come with sauerkraut and Russian dressing?
Yes, the reuben comes with sauerkraut and Russian dressing.
It does come with sauerkraut. I asked if it came with Russian dressing and was told yes but I couldn’t taste any. Disappointing
Flavio my friend! A New York Deli, brilliant! We will come when you are there!
Abrazos
Shari Alexander
I posted three times under linda slavin
Email aecompb@aol.com
The posts are somewhere in cyberspace any idea what happened to them?
I was curious if they will be adding corned beef , iMO kosher all beef dogs cant be beat. Imo the best dogs to your menu and potato knishes Dr Brown sodas.
A girl Can dream. Need to Know how much i have to Let out my clothes. Let’s not forget the deli staple black and white cookies. Be there friday. Looking forward to the cheese blintz
Wishing you the very best of success. You got a friend in me. I’ll hum a few bars when i see you friday. Certainly hope this posts makes it. Fondly brooklyn girl
I am curious about what smoked fish they may be handling. I was a smoked fish manufacturer in Miami, Philadelphia and New York. I’m sure they will have smoked Salmon but how about other smoked fish?
Harvey knows. You can’t fool him. You better get it together. So far the reviews are terrible. As usual new restaurants in San Miguel get super build-ups and then are disappointing. New York Pizza, New York Delis, Asian restaurants, etc. All poor quality. Asi es la vida!
OMG, I never thought I would live long enough for this! I have impatiently waited for the twenty-four years that I have been in SMA!
When I do, which is seldome, head back to Houston to Katz;s or Neilsen’s deli, I have bemoaned to any who would listen about the fact that we didn’t have a deli in SMA.
Que milagro! Can’t wait to get there. But, I wish they would put that great potato salad on themenu too to go with hose sandwiches.
Thanks for the post! Yippee
Such a great new addition to fun, generous, delicious food in SMA. Great vibe. Prices are incredibly reasonable. I wish them great success!!
Wonderful to have you and Sharon back in town!!
I was interested in the article on your new deli, and walked down Stirling Dickinson t visit it — but to my surprise it was not at 2A as stated in the article. We continued down the street and finally found it – not open and being painyed.! I think your article was a bit premature.
Can you put me on your email list! I live in SMA
Done.
A winner! The six guys all enjoyed their sandwiches. A true delite, the quality of the ingredients were exceptional. Perhaps a “ throw down “ for the dill pickles between Deli and Pork Belly. Minor negative was the time the bread spent on the grill, the crust was a bit of a challenge. The vote to return was a unanimous yes.
as I am originally from NYC I did not have any expectations, simply not possible to equate.
At this point I’d say their intentions are more than honorable yet only time will tell if they can accomplish their stated goals..
It really is not hard to make matzoh balls nor the requisite broth, similarly with the latkes, bagels well that really is another story and I can only hope and encourage this team not to give up..
There’s always been a story about New Yorks bagels and the water, this just may not be surmountable and I wish them the very best of luck.
Not a single person I know who has tried the NY style deli will return.
I stopped in to give the place a try and settled on the server-recommended Roast Beef sandwich. It was simply outstanding. And the service was friendly and prompt. Sorry, don’t get all of the negativity regarding this place. I wish them success.
This is my second inquiry, Hopefully I will get a response this time. I am bringing a friend for lunch and want to know if you will be open this coming Wednesday the 1st. If I continue to get no answer, I will assume the answer is “no.”
I suggest you telephone the restaurant, Michael. There phone number is 415-150-1172.