Avenue Deli — Exclusive Preview
It’s here — the Gordon & Alperin “kosher strip mall” is finally entering its delicious phase two. The Kosher Blog had an insider’s preview tonight of Avenue Deli, 549 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton, MA (under the supervision of Rabbi Aaron Hamaoui).
First, “deli” is such a limited term. While the restaurant has all our favorite deli standards — pastrami, corned beef, et al — the menu is dotted with so many other delicious choices like steak tips, hamburgers, kebabs, grilled panini, and hearty soups. But even such a menu is limiting, confides owner (and attentive chef) Ricardo Bosich.
He likes to wake up in the morning and think of new and fresh dishes to serve — so expect to see interesting, homemade specials listed.
Our dinner was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The hot corned beef and pastrami sandwiches (served on fresh bread from Bodavi Bakery next door) were both delicious, especially coming in from the bitter New England cold.
Reasonably priced, too — three dollars cheaper than Rubin’s. (Granted, Avenue Deli has counter service, but with Ricardo behind the counter, it’s a pleasure.)
And as a special treat, we were served a plate of grilled chimichurri-marinated steak. It looked so good, we forgot to take a photo before digging in…
The finishing touches are still being applied, so do call first and ask for the hours - 617-332-4170.
I’d just like to add my hearty endorsement. I’ve been hooked on Gordon and Alperin’s pastrami for a while and it’s even better in a hot sandwich. The grilled steak was delicious and it’s great eating at a place that appreciates your business.
agreed. Ricardo is a fantastic and welcoming host who takes pride in his food and joy in serving it. aesthetics of the place be damned - i look forward to many more meals in the new deli.
These pictures are making me hungry.
Great food. I enjoyed it. Hearty soup and tasty salads.
Had another great meal there tonight — prime steaks, short-rib “asados,” more steak tips, burgers, sandwiches, hot chili, and mountains of crispy fries.
When’s the official opening?
They’re officially open, but I’d still recommend calling for their hours before heading out to Newton.
Great beef milanesa tonight! And good mushroom soup.
yummy meal. we found the pastrami a bit bland (no pepper/spice-coated border) but the hot chili, steak tips, and burgers were top-notch. here’s hoping they stay around for a long time!
There is more to a dining experience than the food. We went this evening and were thoroughly disappointed.The place was packed, and there were about fifteen people waiting around for seats and food. (There are only three tables and a few stools). We waited over 45 minutes for our orders and then found out that our friend’s order was lost, so he had to wait even longer. There were only three people working and they all looked harrassed and helpless. When we finally sat down to eat, one of our party discovered that his hamburger was not just rare - it was actually raw. The cook was so pressured to get out the orders, he didn’t bother leaving it on long enough. This place has potential, but unless they get organized quickly, you will have a very stressful meal.
Typical. Another Boston kosher joint that doesn’t have its act together. How pathetic.
Just to give you a sense of what it’s like to have a real dining experience, I was at Le Marais in NY Sat. night. First, the place was open until 1 am. Food was first rate, service was professional, and everything was under control. We ordered the food, it came within a reasonable time, it was (very) good, and we paid for it. Simple as that.
Le Marais has had its fair share of bad reviews both here and on chowhound–including one or two from me. I’d cut a little slack for a place only “open” for two weeks.
Okay, let’s hope that Avenue Deli gets its act together. The Boston kosher community needs a place like this to make it.
Naturally, I look forward to seeing how the Avenue Deli rates in the 2007 Boston Kosher Community Survey!
:)
I am in from out of town and decided to try based on the this blog and have not regrettedt he decision - have gone twice the first night chose off the special list (do ask to see what is on it) and got roast prime rib with a chimchurri sauce - amazing one of the best pieces of meat I have had in a long time - the next night went with just a plain rib steak - likewise the quality of the meat was excellent and it was cooked to perfection - I can see why they won best butcher in Boston last year -
yes the dining room is small and I can not talk about when it is crowded but even for carry out it is well worth the visit -
We went last night for the first time and ordered steak tips, baked sweet potatoes and vegetable soup. The steak tips were the best meat I’ve had in a long, long, long time. Ricardo is such a gracious host and that made our visit all the more pleasurable.
Anyone know what the deal is with Avenue Deli? Called their phone number yesterday and got no answer, not even an answering machine. I even went by the store and it was closed. Does this place have regular hours? Aren’t they crazy for not being open on Sunday evening?
Hope everything’s okay. Seemed like the place had promise.
So I swung by Avenue Deli last evening at 7:40 to get some of those highly recommended steak tips…unfortunately - the lights were off and the shades were down. The sign on the door however says they are open until 8PM. I saw someone inside so I knocked on the door. The person answered and told me that business was so slow that they decided to close early. I think if they sporadically close early - this will worsen their problem as they will alienate customers who know they can’t rely on the posted hours…
Just my two cents.
Hope these guys make it cause we need em’…there’s just not enough kosher restaurants in boston!!!
I stopped by this evening 12/12/07 and Avenue Deli was closed went in to Gordon and Alperin and spoke to Ricardo who indicated he was forced to close Avenue Deli - so alas it is no more - is still cooking and selling some of the food at Gordon and Alperin -
Nothing new — the Avenue Deli has been closed since July. A few months ago, though, Ricardo indicated to me that he was hoping to re-open it soon, so we’ll see…
Avenue Deli is open, better than ever and plans to stay! Hope to see you soon.
Susan and Ricardo
Awesome!!! Will be there on Monday for lunch with my boy!!
Dani,
We are closed on Monday, hope you can make it another day.
Susan and Ricardo
Avenue hours are
Sunday 11-8
Closed on Monday
Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday 11-8
Friday 11-2
Thanks for the info. Glad your open for business again.
I saw the initial posting that you were open for business on Feb 14. I was excited to hear the news. So I decided to go for lunch on Sunday. But what a surprise. The deli was closed. Why on earth would you say you are open for business again, only to once again be closed a few days after your grand re opening. Especially on a holiday week end when more people go out to eat. That is no way to run a business.
we were also very excited that avenue deli had reopened and tried to go for dinner on sunday night (2/17) at 7 PM. we were pretty miffed to find it closed. does anybody know what’s going on?
We also went yesterday. The owner happened to be there and said they closed for the holiday weekend. Hopefully they will be open this week.
We had the opportunity to visit Avenue Deli last night and enjoyed an excellent dinner including soothing tomato soup, mouthwatering prime rib, delicious tacos, and a scrumptious brownie for dessert (our son’s favorite part of the meal)! We plan to visit again soon!
Awesome!!
Had the Korean Ribs!! Freaking awesome!
the corned beef sandwich was delicious, and so was the Roast Beef. You have to get the Sweet potato fries.
Cant wait to go back.
Seriously, Highly Recommended!
What’s going on at Gordon & Alperin? For over a week, there’s been a sign outside that says “closed for renovations” but there doesn’t seem to be any work going on inside?
Are you sure about that? I was just there on Thursday morning (June 26), and I did not see a sign. I was able to buy meat from G&A at that time. They even made me a sandwich from the deli at 10am.
They were definitely closed this past Monday, when I saw the sign out front.
They are always closed on Mondays.
Well…… there closed at 2pm today…. kinda of makes it hard to pick up food for shabbas (i was hoping on having ribs before the fast!!). I hope everything is alright there.
My 2 cents: they have to be open set hours with out change and their biz will pick up. I have been there total of 7 times (twice it was closed!!). now i call before going (and its good that i did today). I don’t go there as often as I would like becasue the schedule is so fluky and I never know when or if they will be open. Its a shame that I cant just drop by (like I do at Taam China, Cafe Eilat, Rubins, and Ruth’s). No offense to the owners, but being closed on Monday and being open until 2 on Thursday really dissuades me from going there. I like to support Ricardo because he is such a nice guy and they by far have the best food in the Boston area, but i guess they are not really good biz people.
Apparently the Avenue Deli has very short summer hours 11am-2pm Sunday and Tu-Fri. But the Gordon & Alperin market still has longer hours, I believe.
Yes, you should always call before you go, although they almost never answer the phone at the Avenue Deli, and sometimes they don’t answer it even at G&A if they are busy.
We tried for the second time in a row to go to the Avenue Deli. The food is good and Ricardo is very nice. We called right before we left to go the second time, and were bringing relatives from out of town over there. It takes us 25 minutes to get there from where we live, but when we got there, closed. How frustrating is that? We basically decided that while we really liked the food and would like to support the business, we can’t possibly go there unless we happen to pass by hungry and its open. Very odd business and a shame.
I just heard that Gordon & Alperin is no longer under Vaad supervision. Can anyone confirm that?
They haven’t been certified by the Va’ad for some time. It’s Rabbi Hamaoui’s certification (New England Kashrut Lemehadrin) that they’re dropping.
So basically, what you’re telling us, is that they’re no longer a kosher butcher?
As far as I know, there are still a lot of prepackaged kosher products (including bulk cuts of meat) available at G&A. So it’s probably like how we treat a regular supermarket– not comprehensively certified, but selling certified products.
It may ultimately go the way of the Butcherie– not glatt (i.e. kosher to the Orthodox community’s standards), but kosher to a certain degree.