Attention Downtowners and anyone living in the greater University of Southern California vicinity: Canter’s Delicatessen is now delivering to select areas. The iconic 24-hour Jewish deli has for decades been a colorful mainstay along Fairfax Avenue, but just this month they also quietly launched a more easterly commissary kitchen, solely for delivery purposes to those in Downtown who have long been clamoring for pastrami on rye.
The original Canter’s Deli — home too of the Kibitz Room and longtime hang of many famous rock legends — one might have noticed the sign at the cash register up front, notifying customers of the delivery-only expansion. It reads:
We opened up a *delivery only* Canter’s Deli Express Downtown site with a limited menu which expands our delivery radius to include Downtown Los Angeles. Order to your home or office through Postmates or your favorite app or online service.
The jump to a delivery model right in white-hot Downtown makes a ton of sense for Canter’s as they seek to stay relevant in a quickly changing Los Angeles restaurant landscape. Other places like Zach Pollack’s new Cosa Buona in Echo Park are jumping into delivery with both feet, while places like Friends & Family in Thai Town or Mar Vista’s MV Grab & Go are banking on a brisk takeaway business.
They’ve got competition that way, of course. There’s the iconic Langer’s (widely regarded as one of the best Jewish delis in Los Angeles, if not America), and Wexler’s Deli is still doing great at Grand Central Market. Not that Canter’s is going anywhere; they just opened a new location in Reno Nevada, after all. Hours for the new Downtown delivery option run 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.