Ben & Izzy’s Deli

It was my first time in this restaurant and not gonna go back there again.
The service was too slow and food was too pricy. I paid 13.5 $ for a small size smoke meat sandwich. Also paid 7 $ for a small chiken soup to go. Server was too slow and my order was sitting on the counter for a long time while I was waiting. No next time there for sure.

It’s closed. Not a soul was there and no lights on and the signed indicated they should be open. I suggest you call first.

I was in search for a good kosher corned beef sandwich so I thought to try this place. You’ll never believe this until you do a Google search, but there are hardly any kosher delis in the city.
Ben and izzy has a giant kosher symbol on their sign so rest assured they are kosher, unlike some delis who are kosher style –which is just a marketing term amounting to nothing.
1)Portions
I ordered an 8oz cornered beef sandwich with a side of fries. The sandwich was healthy size as were the fries.
2)Cleanliness
A slight mildew oder was in the air. I sat one table away from the front of the for front door. Although when I went to pay at the cash desk there was a strange smelling pine scented freshener, so maybe that’s what I was smelling. Nonetheless it wasn’t pleasant.
3)Service
The waitress was nice. She asked me how my meal was as I was eating it, which is nice. She also brought water to my table as I sat down.
4)The taste
The fries were good. They could have been frozen fries but they were good and served in a bowl which I prefer.
The sandwich, it was a good temperature. When I bit into it, I immediately noticed a smoked taste which I do not like so much. After the first few bites, towards the center of the meat they was zero flavor. My expectations were a slight smoky corny tastes that enveloped moist and tender meat through and through was sadly a dream. This sandwich was neither tender nor well flavored.
5)Next visit /​value?
I found it a bit pricey for a single sandwich and fries. Normally a sandwich of this size costs around $ 10 – 12 and it comes with fries, I paid $ 20.90 before tip and taxes. I didn’t find what I was looking for so my search continues.
One other note; they are closed Saturday’s and open weekly at 5pm, so forget lunch or Sat night dinner plans.
Rating
Each category above is worth one star.

I went to Ben and Izzy’s deli last night and after much speculation and excitement about a new deli in the hood .I was sadly disappointed.
Lets start with the service. When I go to a deli I want the option of ordering an Old or a New dill .The server had no idea what I was talking about. I also want to be given the option of a «hand cut» sandwich and the chance to order it” medium «„lean“ or „fat“
These are standard Canadian Deli terms and all of the Toronto delis know these terms. These guys need to brush up on there deli etiquette!
Next lets look at the meat. If your going to offer Corned beef or smoked meat it better have some flavour. I highly doubt this place prepares their own meats. The Corned beef was like shaved cardboard.
Which brings me to the chicken soup.3 hard matzo-​balls in a broth that tasted like water with yellow dye in it.“Bleh!»
On to the Triple Decker sandwich. My partners corned beef triple decker had less meat in it than my regular corned beef. the rest was coleslaw tomato beef bacon and a weird sauce. yes there is lots of bread .BUT WHERE’S THE MEAT?
Lastly the price. GIVE ME A BREAK!.. IF YOUR GOING TO CHARGE $ 15.00 FOR A SANDWICH AT LEAST SERVE IT WITH A DECENT SIDE OF COLESLAW AND A FRESH WHOLE PICKLE THAT DOESN’T TASTE LIKE ITS BEEN SITTING IN SALT FOR 10 YEARS!!!
We won’t be going back and I will tell my friends that there are much better options.

I’m changing how I feel about this place.
The food is quality here, don’t get me wrong. But there are a couple of things on my last visit that really got on my nerves.
I’m actually really surprised that I’m the only one to point out that the Triple Decker Sandwiches are mis-​represented on the menu. There is a footnote that all triple decker sandwiches (save for one) come with 3 slices of bread. At first glance I didn’t think anything of it, but when I thought about it a bit more as I was going through the menu, I realized that 3 slices of bread doesn’t equal a TRIPLE decker sandwich. It’s a DOUBLE decker sandwich! By their definition, a regular sandwich is also known as a double decker which makes no sense. The saving grace is that their «TRIPLE» decker sandwich can barely fit in one’s mouth. If I order a triple decker, I expect a triple decker, and I didn’t get it. It’s representing more than you are actually getting and it’s really upsetting as a customer.
The service could use an upgrade if you ask me. We had to remind our server of the sides we were missing with our sandwiches. He was friendly, but we were missing a few things.
Also, it was cold. Granted we were right next to the window but still, we shouldn’t have been feeling the outside cold for the majority of our meal.
The food is good here, but it’s those little things that have irked me in to downgrading my rating. Hopefully moving forward somethings will turn around.

over priced $ 18,00 for a pastrami sandwich. Dry — no fat

Good food, nice decoration, clean, friendly. Best if not the only real kosher deli in Toronto.
However, the service is slow, the food is expensive, and they don’t even have anything close to a vegetarian-​friendly option. How hard is it to offer a couple extra items on your menu? They also don’t have any dessert.

The place looks really nice inside. Clean and modern.
The pastrami sandwich is on the dry side, under seasoned side, skimpy side, and expensive side. I’d much rather eat at Pancers

We are ex-​Montrealers on a continuous search for good Deli food inToronto. We went to Ben & Izzy’s for the first time a few days ago and unfortunately our quest continues.
I ordered the corn beef special (sandwich, coleslaw, and fires). My partner ordered the cold turkey sandwich. My corn beef was cold when it got it and I asked to get it reheated. The waiter took it back immediately. He returned with my sandwich less than a quarter of a degree warmer. Let’s just say it wasn’t the best corn beef I’ve even had and the temperature was not the only issue. I did really enjoy the coleslaw and the fries. We ordered another order of fries. These are really good.
The turkey sandwich was ultra plain. There was no condiments in it. The meat was fine it was just very plain. No need to pay $ 12,95 for bread and turkey you can fix up at home.
We also felt the price was a little much for what we got.

Holy christ — what a fantastic smoked meat sandwich.

I had such a difficult time finding a place in Toronto that serves a pastrami sandwich. Maybe I am just looking at the wrong places. Caplansky’s of all places don’t even offer it on the menu (I’m still scratching my head on this one).
So I guess to satisfy my pastrami fix, I really need to go to where the Jewish people are at: uptown Bathurst Street, where you’ll find Ben & Izzy’s, a fresh new Kosher deli diner in the city I learned about from a feature on an issue of The Grid.
This friendly establishment with the retro diner décor to go with it has a decent menu of deli sandwiches smoked in-​house (smoked meat, corned meat, pastrami, etc.), along with a very few burgers and soups. They apparently serve tongue on a weekly basis. But they don’t open on Saturdays. How kosher, eh.
Sticking with what they do best, the pastrami was a nice sized portion with the meat stacked to great heights. However, seems like they rub in too much peppercorn balls into the pastrami, because the stuff was all over, adding too much of a spicy punch. That definitely got in the way of my otherwise enjoying a good piece of meat.
{TTC: Bathurst bus to Baycrest Ave stop. Alternatively you could take the 109 Ranee bus until it reaches Bathurst and walk south a couple blocks. There is also parking right up front – I don’t understand why people in this area like to block the driveway by parking right by or on the sidewalk.}

Bang and Greasy.
You pay extra $$ for kosher — subsidizing the expensive kosher certificate, basically.
Beef BLT and Smoked meat — both very greasy, tons of fat — which is ok when you have a melting smoked. The rendition I had was stiff.
Place is packed but when the people line in the door both quality and service go out the window.

Bit pricey, but very good food, though the portions ain’t what they used to be. Very creative with menu options. I had a chocolate pudding french toast with fried pastrami on top, wow. They even have chocolate chip cookies with pieces of pastrami on and in them. Very cool. The owners are super nice, the decore is classic and cool and clean, and the service is fast enough.

we’ve been waiting patiently for the opening and finally went in today for lunch. definitely worth the wait!
the place looks great. a blast from the past with some nice modern touches with some tables and a diner counter.
the staff was extremely friendly and you could tell they were trying hard (still figuring a few things out-​understandably as they just opened).
the sandwiches were yummy! very fresh and generous and served with a pickle wedge.
i will definitely be back!

I’ve been to Ben & Izzy’s a few times over the last month or so and have a few thoughts.
Firstly, it’s great to have a truly authentic Kosher Deli (kashrut managed by COR) that has the look, feel and taste (mostly) of an «old school» treif deli.
The food is the usual deli fare, I have only had a few of the same type of sandwiches and not ventured too much out of the «deli» range. No steaks for me, just plain old smoked meat, pastrami and corned beef. So here’s my initial thoughts:
1. Be particular about your meat — there isn’t as much «smoked» in the smoked meat as I’d like and corned beef doesn’t have the same crunch flavour I’ve come to expect from across the street at Hartmans, but the Pastrami is probably the best I’ve had in Toronto in a long time. That being said, if you want your meat sliced thinly or thick, be sure to tell them… at present, there is a guy in the back who’s carving the meat off your brisket (or sometimes the front) and if you want it thinly sliced you have to ask for it. The thickness will have a big impact on your enjoyment of your meal.
2. Skip the sides — this is a deli, so focus on what they do best, with the exception of the dill pickle (which I’m sure they don’t make), stick with their meat or meat platters and don’t worry about the fries or salads. they’re just not worth the calories or the bucks. The only thing I know have in addition to my sandwich or platter is a cherry soda, because you can’t go to a deli without a cherry soda.
3. Get the extra portion if you’re hungry — the sandwich portions are a good size, but if you’re really hungy, pay the extra couple of bucks and get a deli platter.
4. Value for dollar — if you just stick with what I said, then you’ll do right by your wallet… if you get a bunch of sides and drinks you’re looking at close to $ 20 for lunch, ouch! You could instead go across the street to Hartmans get a half sandwich and a soda for less than $ 10. I’ll let you decide how to extract your own value for your wallet.
I’ll routinely frequent Ben n Izzy’s when I’m going to sit down for lunch with someone I know, but it’s more likely that my takeout go to place will still be Hartman’s Pastrami or BBQ Beef Sandwich. And frankly, if I don’t go to Ben and Izzy’s at least every couple of weeks, it probably won’t survive beyond the next six months and we really need a kosher place like this in Toronto. Because is a meatitarian like myself doesn’t go, then no one else will.

Went into this place on a Monday afternoon because a buddy told me he had stopped in there for lunch. One thing that should be mentioned is that parking might be a hassle as this plaza was likely built in the 50s and as such had its parking grandfathered in. You can find parking, I believe, on side streets if need be but for me that day it wasn’t an issue, I found a spot no problem.
Ok, first things first I liked how the place was set up with tables and a diner counter area which gives you a great view of the behind the counter goings on. Also, the entire staff — except Izzy — were all wearing Ben & Izzy t-​shirts which is always good and not something I often recall seeing in a kosher restaurant in Toronto./GTA. I took a look at the menu. At the time I visited, Izzy of Ben & Izzy’s was there so I asked him his recommendation and he told me the Pastrami and the Smoked Meat so I went for the Pastrami.
Service was nice and fast and as soon as I sat down at the diner counter type seating one lady came over and asked if I wanted anything to drink after they took my order for food. I said no, just water so she flipped over a mason jar mug that had been sitting there and filled it with water from a jug out of the fridge. The sandwich came pretty quickly and it was stacked nice and high with thickly cut, warm pastrami. I asked and they said they put about 7−8oz into each sandwich. They had two types of Woeber’s mustard on their counter — spicy deli and regular. I went with the deli one and it really complimented the sandwich well. The meat was so juicy and soft the bread and stick through it wasn’t quite enough to hold it all completely together and as I ate pieces (not so much) fell out onto my plate.
Aside from the sandwich, the plate came with a spear (or wedge) of a pickle. That was it for the $ 11.25 but remember that in general Kosher foods are more expensive. I would definitely go back and try their smoked meat or some of the other things on the menu. Definitely a great spot for a quick lunch if you live/​work in the area. Also, remember that because this is a kosher restaurant they are not open on Saturdays or on Jewish holidays such as Passover or Shavuot. I’d recommend keeping your eye on their Twitter since they seem to be updating it regularly with these kinds of details.