I had a dealer who moved from the northwest suburbs of Chicago to the tony Highland Park area north of Chicago last year. He relocated along a busy stretch of Skokie Valley Road across the street from the Crossroads Shopping Mall, a strip center whose largest store is a Binny's Beverage Depot. Just down from Binny's is a Jewish delicatessen that has been around for nearly 29 years - Max's Delicatessen and Restaurant. One day after calling on my dealer, I went across the street to have lunch at Max's.
Bernie Katz was a North Shore Chicago real estate broker/investor who worked with his son, David. When two aspiring restaurateurs approached Katz asking for monetary help with an idea they had for an authentic Jewish deli in Highland Park, he offered to be a partner in the new business. One thing he wanted was to have it named after his favorite uncle, Max. Mirroring many of the large sandwiches, big bagels and traditional Jewish dishes found at deli's in New York City, Max's Delicatessen and Restaurant - "Chicago's New York Deli" - opened in 1989.
The business was open for only two months when Bernie Katz and the two men who he partnered with had a difference of opinion as how to run the business. Katz ended up taking over the deli and oversaw the operation along with his son, David. The two spent six months of on-the-job training to learn the restaurant business from the bottom up. Whatever Katz and his former partners disagreed over, it turned out that he was probably right all along. At one point in time, Chicago Magazine called Max's the best deli in Chicago.
The success of Max's on the North Shore called for a second location, this one was opened along N. Clark in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood in 1991. It was there for a number of years before the Katz family closed that down to concentrate on the original Max's Deli in Highland Park.
In 2003, Max Katz's grandson Joey Morelli, who was working as a chef in a restaurant, wanted to open his own pizza place in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. With the financial backing of his grandfather, Joey Morelli recruited his father, Frank, a retired developer, to supervise the construction of the place. He got his mother - and Bernie Katz's daughter - Barbara to decorate the place. And he asked his brother, Greg, who was working in finance in New York City, to join him in the restaurant. Joey's Brickhouse opened in May of 2004.
In 2007, Bernie Katz and his son David had a falling out which estranged the two up to the time Bernie passed away two years later at the age of 89. Wanting to keep the deli in the family, two years later Greg and Joey Morelli - who had closed down Joey's Brickhouse - took over the day-to-day operation/ownership of Max's Deli along with their cousin Stacey Katz Goldberg. However, last fall, Greg Morelli was removed from ownership of the company after an escalating series of controversial and inflammatory social media posts set off community backlash and outrage. Hoping the storm has passed now that Greg Morelli is gone, Joey Morelli and Stacey Goldberg continue to run Max's Deli today.
Coming into Max's Deli, you'll find large refrigerated cases full of meats, cheeses, baked goods and side dishes. Off to the side was a small counter with fixed stools. There was a sign that said, "Take a menu and seat yourself".
The dining area featured a large open area with a number of tables and booths. There was a step-up dining area for overflow dining that was closed off after the lunch rush that day.
I took a seat in one of the booths and was looking over the menu as to what they had to offer. It wasn't much different from other Jewish deli's I've visited in the Chicago area - they had sandwiches, soups, salads and a number of "nosh" sides such as stuffed cabbage, chopped liver, whitefish salad, and potato knish. They also had comfort food such as an open-faced hot beef sandwich, open-faced grilled sandwiches such as a reuben, tuna melt, and a turkey pastrami. And they also had burgers on the menu if you wanted that instead of a deli sandwich. Their breakfast menu was also extensive and interesting with a number of omelettes (the corned beef omelet really caught my eye), Challah French toast, cheese blintzes, and eggs Benedict.
While I was going over the menu, a server brought me a basket of bread, rolls and matzo along with a small dish of sliced kosher dill pickles. I didn't want to fill up on the bread, but I helped myself to the wonderful dill pickles. They were a bit salty, but had a great dill cucumber taste. Max's sold the pickles in their deli area and I should have stopped and got a jar or two to take home with me.
My server for my visit was Maria and she came back later to take my order. I ended up getting the brisket pastrami sandwich - the larger one of the two they offered. I had her put it on the Jewish rye bread they had and put some Swiss cheese on it, as well. The lean brisket pastrami was piled high and had a wonderful slightly salty taste to it. The rye bread was a little dry - comparable to other Jewish deli's - but it held together very well. While I prefer yellow mustard on my pastrami sandwiches, they had Gulden's spicy brown mustard at the table.
I always go into these things thinking, "Well, I can always eat a half and take the rest with me." But the sandwich was so good that I really couldn't quit eating it. Actually, the meat was piled high on the one side of the sandwich and not as thick on the other side. (A Jewish friend told me one time to look out for some deli's who will do this - they'll present one half of the sandwich as being over-stuffed with the other half not as full of meat.) But it didn't matter to me. I just thoroughly enjoyed the sandwich the way it was.
I've eaten at a half-dozen Jewish deli's in and around the Chicago area over the past few years and it's difficult for me to say which one is the best of them all. And Max's Deli fits into that group. There really wasn't much of anything about Max's Deli that I could really complain about. It's a large, yet, comfortable place to get a good deli sandwich. The sandwich, itself, was delicious - especially the lean brisket pastrami. I could have just eaten the meat without the bread along with the wonderful kosher dill pickles they provided before the meal and I would have been happy. With one of my accounts literally across the street from Max's Deli, I know I'll be sneaking back in there from time to time to get a great sandwich. Or maybe I'll even try their breakfast at some point.
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