Go Lakers!

The 2011 NBA Basketball Playoffs are in high gear, and the Los Angeles Lakers have shifted into full throttle! Currently, the Lakers are leading 3-2 against the New Orleans Hornets.  Benjies Deli admits we were feeling a tad worried after a rather atrocious Game 1, where front man Pau Gasol, who normally averages 22.3 points per game, only scored a meager eight points and grabbed only six rebounds on the offensive.  The poor performance caused the Lakers, ranked number 2 team by the Western Conference, to lose to the seventh-seeded Hornets! Talk about an upset! Lakers made a comeback in Game 2, with Andrew Bynum, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom picking up on Gasol’s slack, though the Hornets remained competitive until the end and definitely gave the Lakers a run for their money.

Though the Lakers are off to a fumbling start, Benjies Deli still has faith in our favorite LA team! Come out to Benjies Deli tonight to support the Lakers and watch them defeat the Hornets and advance in the playoffs.  Enjoy a plate of our Kobe Beef Sliders and watch as Kobe Bryant beefs it up with the referees. Or, try out the Benjie Special, a hot pastrami sandwich and coleslaw with Russian dressing on rye, served with potato salad.  Longing for something even heartier?  Don’t forget about our famous corned beef and cabbage plate, the best Orange County has to offer!

If you are just feeling snacky, grab a drink at the Bamboo Lounge’s fully stocked bar. There are six large screen TVs and an abundance of space to seat all of your friends. Dunk into a tall glass of ice-cold draft beer, and score big with our corned beef, pastrami and Swiss cheese triple-decker sandwich as tall as Andrew Bynum. Feeling the team spirit?  Share a deli platter, like the cold cut buffet or the 16″ ring sandwich tray, with your friends. With our deli platters, no one has to worry about ordering, they can just grab a sandwich while they watch their favorite team—the Lakers.

If you want to enjoy the game in the comforts of your own home, Benjies Deli can still help out with your catering needs–All of our deli platters are available for home parties too! Make sure you call 48-72 hours ahead to order before your event. That way you can have Benjies Deli do all the work while you relax and take all the credit. Benjies Deli makes entertaining at home easy and delicious.  For catering inquiries and ordering, please call Benjies Deli at (714) 541-6263.

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Why on earth are we celebrating St. Patrick’s Day for a week?  Well, why not?  Why not partake in Ireland’s most celebrated holiday, where we can honor the country’s most revered patron saint? Or, just as importantly, why limit our customers to just one day of celebration?  We would hate to see our customers have to wait in a jam-packed restaurant on March 17, so in order accommodate everyone, Benjies Deli will be holding the St. Patrick’s Day festivities for six days.

And, a bonus reason for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day is that the holiday is right before the first day of spring, and what better way to ring in the new season than with our famous pastrami and some matzo ball soup?

Come in during the week with your friends and take advantage of our big screens and full bar in the Bamboo Lounge. The Lakers are playing the Orlando Magic on Monday, March 14th, the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, March 18th, and the Portland Trailblazers on Sunday, March 20th—watch the Lakers win while celebrating the Irish holiday with some hot corned beef and cabbage and refreshing green Budweiser!

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Menorah

Hanukkah is here, and it’s time to celebrate. Benjies Deli has been serving traditional Jewish food in Santa Ana every day since we opened in 1967. We also cater traditional foods, too, and can make party food and deli platters for your event. Why not let Benjies Deli do all the cooking while you take the credit?

We have a huge list of traditional favorites on the Benjies menu, but we’ve listed a few of them here to tempt your tastebuds. Looking for a little noshing? It’s all in our Appetizers & Noshes section of the menu. Under the category of fish, we have Nova lox, barbeque cod or whitefish served with sliced tomato, cream cheese, Greek olives and an onion bagel; creamed or pickled herring served with your choice of onions and sour cream or wine sauce and rye bread to sop up every drop; or go hardcore with gefilte fish served with julienne carrots, horseradish and Benjies’ soft rye bread. How can you choose between potato latkes or knishes? Two golden brown potato pancakes served with apple sauce or sour cream are a superb treat, and yet the meat or potato knishes in their baked pastry is hard to resist! Don’t miss the stuffed cabbage rolls in their traditional, tangy sweet and sour sauce; the chopped liver made just like mom used to, with grilled onions and hardboiled eggs; and the kishka plate with slices of grilled derma sausage and gravy.

For the main event:our entrée list is full of traditional favorites, like boiled beef short ribs with potatoes, stuffed cabbage rolls,  and brisket of beef with potato pancakes and apple sauce. We also provide a number of platters and plates: choose from barbeque cod, lox, whitefish or a combination of any two, all served with coleslaw, potato salad, tomatoes, red onions, bagels, cream cheese and Greek olives. Also try our chopped liver and egg salad plate complete with coleslaw, potato salad, sliced tomatoes and onions.

Coming to Benjies with a date, family member or friend for Hanukkah? Don’t forget our meals “in a pot” and just for two—we serve either a half-chicken or short ribs in a tureen with matzo balls, kreplach, noodles, rice and carrots in our fresh chicken stock.

To finish, of course we have the best noodle kugel in town, baked with grandma’s recipe with pineapple and raisins, and our premiere cheese blintzes sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with sour cream and strawberry preserves.

What are you waiting for? Get to Benjies Deli now to taste some of those Jewish favorites you haven’t had in years—we promise that they’ll taste just as delicious as mom made them! And if you’re planning a family get together or party for Hanukkah, make sure you call Benjies two to three days in advance to place your order. Call Lloyd or Noriko Weinstein on (714) 541-6263 for any and all catering needs, or to book the Bamboo Lounge for your private party.

Don’t forget to follow Benjies Deli on Twitter to find out about our weekly special and delicious deals! @benjiesdeli

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Reuben, whoever you are, we thank you.

Although Noriko is Japanese, Lloyd Weinstein’s wife and mother to their three children bought into the whole Jewish family when they got married back in 1967. What’s her favorite treat at Benjies Deli? That would have to be the Reuben sandwich.

And what’s not to love? Tender layers of corned beef smothered in sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing captured between two slices of the freshest rye bread. Then it gets toasted on the grill til the outside is nice and crispy, and the inside is hot and dripping with goodness. Is anyone else hungry yet?

Although known throughout Orange County for serving the best pastrami sandwich, true Benjies devotees know to ask for their Reuben sandwich for a delicious change of lunch or dinnertime scenery. Sometimes corned beef and sauerkraut is the only way to go.

But where did this behemoth of deli awesomeness originate? Who does Noriko have to thank for the invention of her favorite sandwich? Well, there’s two schools of thought on this, and we have to say, we vote for the second version’s authenticity. I mean really, could this traditional deli sandwich have originated in Nebraska?

Yes, you read right. That was NEBRASKA. I guess a few of our Jewish brethren made their way from the East Coast to the dead center of the U.S., and specifically, a man named Reuben Kulakofsky, a Lithuanian-born Jewish grocer. He and his gang of poker buddies met once a week at Omaha’s Blackstone Hotel from around 1920 through 1935. This group nicknamed themselves “the committee”, and they loved them a corned-beef sandwich. Whether the sandwich’s invention was just down to Reuben or a group effort between he and the committee, rumor has it that it gained local notoriety when Charles Schimmel, the hotel’s owner and part of the poker club, put it on the lunch menu. A former waitress of the Blackstone entered the hotel’s version of the Reuben in a national sandwich competition in 1956. It’s win propelled it’s fantastic, historical success.

Or did it? What about the claim that Arnold Reuben, the German-Jewish owner of the renowned, yet now closed, Reuben’s Delicatessen in New York invented the sandwich that bears his name? Really, didn’t the city of New York invent the best of what we now know of as a “deli”? According to an column by Craig Claiborne, a N.Y. Times food writer, in 1976, Reuben invented the sandwich in 1914.  There’s also stories of how Reuben threw the sandwich together for Annette Seelos, a famous actress of the time, and I’m sure that Noriko would be happy to think that a woman inspired her favorite sandwich. Although the sandwich he was said to have created for her was called a “Reuben’s Special”, which was meat and cheese and coleslaw, and wasn’t grilled.

But, let’s face it—when that steaming pile of corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut is placed before you at your Benjies table, will you really care where the sandwich originated? We’d like to think that all you’ll have on your mind is taking the first bite. The corned beef is ready and waiting; we’ll see you soon.

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But, we get ahead of ourselves. This weekend is one of the best of the year: picnics, barbeques, pool parties and delicious, hearty, all-American food. But what if slaving over a hot barbeque all weekend doesn’t float your boat? What if you’d rather be resting on a raft in the pool? Don’t worry—call up Benjies Deli the day before to order up a few of their delicious platters. That way you won’t miss any of the sports action that is on the television all weekend. Get Hot Wings or Barbeque Meatballs by the dozen, or choose from one of our many sandwich trays. Want the sandwiches ready to eat? Try the Sandwich Platter or the 16″ Ring Sandwich. Want to give your guests the option of making their own? No problem: order the Cold Cut Buffet, the Brown Bag Buffet, the Smoked Fish Platter or the Lox Platter.

Are your friends a little more refined? Or maybe you’re going over to someone’s pool party or picnic on the beach? Order some hors d’oeuvres like chicken fingers, mini chicken egg rolls or the Cubed Tidbit Cheese & Salami tray. Mini sandwiches are always a bit hit at these parties, too, especially with kids. That way they can grab one, eat it and still get in the pool without worrying about stomach cramps!

Benjies Deli also provides fresh fruit and vegetable trays which are perfect for making sure that there’s something for everyone. Light, tasty and healthy, Benjies’ provides four salad tray choices, from simple green to Caesar and Chef’s Salad. But what about dessert? Nothing tops off a Labor Day party or picnic like dessert, and Benjies Deli caters for this, too. We have a dessert tray that features a selection of our fresh pastries cut to size for ease of serving.

There are back-to-back baseball games over the weekend, and you know what that means. Yep, HOT DOGS. Forget grilling them! Be the most popular person at the party when you show up with a platter of Coney Island Hot Dogs. Call up Benjies and order their Coney Island Hot Dogs, and make sure you’ve got all the fixin’s for chili dogs, so your guests or fellow party-goers can decide whether they want a traditional Dodger-Dog style dog or a dog smothered in Benjies chili con carne and cheddar cheese.

Hungry yet? Call Lloyd Weinstein for all catering orders on (714) 541-6263, or just come on in and sit down for a fantastic meal—we’ll cook it fresh for you.

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Studying sucks. Benjies' Reuben does not.

Calling all students in the Orange County area! It’s back to school time, and there’s a good reason to be excited about heading back to school—Benjies New York Deli and their huge, seven-page menu full of delicious food and low prices.

From now to the end of September, Benjies Deli is offering a 10% discount to all students from any college or university in Orange County, including Chapman University, Santa Ana College, CSU Fullerton, UC Irvine, Orange Coast College, Fullerton College, Irvine Valley College, SOCA University, Golden West College, Concordia University, Laguna College of Art & Design, Vanguard University or Santiago Canyon College.

This is an added extra to Benjies Deli’s already great prices and huge portions. One of their award-winning pastrami sandwiches will fill up the most starving of students, and the Francheesy—a grilled knockwurst covered in bacon and cheese on a grilled onion roll—is a true belly-buster. The corned beef, pastrami and salami triple-decker sandwich will leave you with enough to share with your friends…except you won’t, because you’ll just save it for later when you need a snack after studying or drinking.

We always have a weekly special for under $10, and our Early Bird Specials are good seven days a week. Get out of classes after 3PM? Head over to Benjies Deli for the $8.95 Early Bird menu, with choices like chicken-fried steak with country gravy, spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread, southern fried chicken or roast turkey and dressing to name just a few. The meals come with soup or salad; a choice of french fries, mashed potatoes or rice pilaf and vegetables; rye bread; and your choice of three desserts. For $8.95! It doesn’t get much better than that.

If you wake up late with a big appetite after a big night out, Benjies Deli is the place for you. We serve breakfast all day, and nothing is better to cure what ails you than a nice big omelette or a big plate of chicken-fried steak and eggs. Why go to a fast food restaurant for a breakfast sandwich when you can get a fried egg sandwich with bacon or ham covered in melted cheese on toasted egg bread at Benjies? Traditional steak and eggs or corned beef hash and eggs? Yep, we’ve got that too.

Head over to Benjies Deli for brews, pastrami sandwiches, chili dogs and fries while watching the top teams play for the title in the Bamboo Lounge. Baseball season is winding down, and we’re looking at the World Series at the end of October. If you can’t get to a stadium, or would rather spend the ticket price on drinks, come in to the Bamboo Lounge with your friends. The food’s better here than the stadiums—and the Bamboo Lounge has a full bar! Plus, as the NFL season starts off in a few weeks, come in and enjoy Benjies’ NFL Sunday Ticket Sports Package! Yes, we’ll have every game, especially the ones that aren’t on terrestrial television. So if you’re a Cheesehead or a Bears, Dolphins or Steelers fan, get over to Benjies and you’ll get to see your team play.

And Benjies Deli has Santa Ana’s best Karaoke venue in the Bamboo Lounge on Friday nights, from 9PM to 1PM. If college doesn’t work out for you, you can always try out for American Idol, if you think you’ve got what it takes.

Make sure you bring your college or university ID card for your 10% off discount! And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for the latest deals and specials at Benjies Deli. You can also become a fan on Facebook–just because we’ve been around since 1967 doesn’t mean we aren’t Tweeting. Just don’t expect us to let you do beer bongs in the bar…

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We have a huge list of traditional favorites on the Benjies menu, but we’ve listed a few of them here to tempt your tastebuds. We have four soups alone to choose from: our famous matzo ball; chicken soup with noodles, rice or kasha varnishkas; sweet and sour cabbage soup with chunks of beef; and finally our special “Mish Mosh, It’s a Meal!” soup, a bowl full of a matzoh ball, kreplach, rice, noodles, chicken and carrots all snug in our freshly made chicken stock.

Looking for a little noshing? It’s all in our Appetizers & Noshes section of the menu. Under the category of fish, we have Nova lox, barbeque cod or whitefish served with sliced tomato, cream cheese, Greek olives and an onion bagel; creamed or pickled herring served with your choice of onions and sour cream or wine sauce and rye bread to sop up every drop; or go hardcore with gefilte fish served with julienne carrots, horseradish and Benjies’ soft rye bread. How can you choose between potato latkes or knishes? Two golden brown potato pancakes served with apple sauce or sour cream are a superb treat, and yet the meat or potato knishes in their baked pastry is hard to resist! Don’t miss the stuffed cabbage rolls in their traditional, tangy sweet and sour sauce; the chopped liver made just like mom used to, with grilled onions and hardboiled eggs; and the kishka plate with slices of grilled derma sausage and gravy.

For the main event:our entrée list is full of traditional favorites, like boiled beef short ribs with potatoes, stuffed cabbage rolls,  and brisket of beef with potato pancakes and apple sauce. We also provide a number of platters and plates: choose from barbeque cod, lox, whitefish or a combination of any two, all served with coleslaw, potato salad, tomatoes, red onions, bagels, cream cheese and Greek olives. Also try our chopped liver and egg salad plate complete with coleslaw, potato salad, sliced tomatoes and onions.

Coming to Benjies with a date, family member or friend? Don’t forget our meals “in a pot” and just for two—we serve either a half-chicken or short ribs in a tureen with matzo balls, kreplach, noodles, rice and carrots in our fresh chicken stock.

To finish, of course we have the best noodle kugel in town, baked with grandma’s recipe with pineapple and raisins, and our premiere cheese blintzes sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with sour cream and strawberry preserves.

What are you waiting for? Get to Benjies Deli now to taste some of those Jewish favorites you haven’t had in years—we promise that they’ll taste just as delicious as mom made them! And if you’re planning a family get together or party for Rosh Hashanah, make sure you call Benjies two to three days in advance to place your order. Call Lloyd or Noriko Weinstein on (714) 541-6263 for any and all catering needs, or to book the Bamboo Lounge for your private party.

Don’t forget to follow Benjies Deli on Twitter to find out about our weekly special and delicious deals! @benjiesdeli

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Angels Baseball at Benjies Deli!

As the Angels continue their fairly unimpressive 2010 season, we can start to look forward to the upcoming football season. Preseason NFL starts August 8th so make Benjies Bamboo Lounge the spot to watch the game. You don’t have to get in a argument with your wife about buying the NFL Sunday Ticket channel, Benjies already has it. With six big screen TVs in the Bamboo Lounge come watch your favorite team play with your friends.

Also we can’t give up on the Angels’ season just yet. They still have a few more months to redeem themselves as they have in past seasons. This Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday come down to the Bamboo Lounge and watch the Angels play the struggling Boston Red Sox. Baseball fans love their hot dogs, and Benjies Deli has delicious Coney Island hot dogs, Coney Island chili dogs and the Francheesy, the most deluxe dog ever.

Or just order a few of our deli platters, like the cold cut buffet or the 16″ ring sandwich tray. With our deli platters, no one has to worry about ordering, they can just grab a sandwich while they watch their favorite team. Then again, you can always just have Benjies cater and have some people over at your house for the game. That way you can take credit for some incredible food, having not lifted a finger. It’s all about the game!!

Make sure to follow Benjies on Twitter to keep track of the weekly specials and promotions.

To experience a true, New York-style deli right here in Orange County, drive or walk directly to 1828 N. Tustin Avenue in Santa Ana.  The restaurant is open 7 days a week 7 AM – 9PM, and Karaoke is 9PM- midnight on Friday nights.

If you want to hold a private party for an event, contact Benjies Deli to reserve the Bamboo Lounge and discuss ordering food for the event. Call (714) 541-6263 and ask for Lloyd Weinstein, whether you want to book a private party or have your home event catered.

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Having the party at your house? Call up Benjies Deli the day before to order up a few of their delicious platters. That way you won’t get stuck in the kitchen while your friends are out enjoying the great weather. Get Hot Wings or Barbeque Meatballs by the dozen—great for snacking—or choose from one of our many sandwich trays. If you’d like to have the sandwiches pre-made, try the Sandwich Platter or the 16″ Ring Sandwich. If you feel that your guests are capable of, and prefer, making their own sandwiches, order the Cold Cut Buffet, the Brown Bag Buffet, the Smoked Fish Platter or the Lox Platter.

Are your friends a little more refined? Or maybe you’re going over to someone else’s pool party or picnic on the beach? Order some hors d’oeuvres like chicken fingers, mini chicken egg rolls or the Cubed Tidbit Cheese & Salami tray. Mini sandwiches are always a bit hit at these parties, too, especially with kids. That way they can grab one, eat it and still get in the pool without worrying about stomach cramps!

What about everyone’s hot weather, backyard party favorite? Yep, HOT DOGS. Forget grilling them! Be the most popular person at the party when you show up with a platter of Benjies’ Coney Island Hot Dogs. Make sure you’ve asked for all the fixin’s for chili dogs, so your guests or fellow party-goers can decide whether they want a traditional Dodger-style dog or a dog smothered in Benjies’ chili con carne and cheddar cheese.

Benjies Deli also provides fresh fruit and vegetable trays that are perfect for making sure that there’s something for everyone. Light, tasty and healthy, Benjies’ provides four salad tray choices, from simple green to Caesar and Chef’s Salad.

Don’t forget about dessert! Add the finishing touch to your party or picnic effortlessly with dessert. We have a dessert tray that features a selection of our fresh pastries cut to size for ease of serving and eating.

No matter how you’ve planned your parties this summer, make sure Benjies’ catering is part of your summer plans. Call (714) 541-6263 and ask for Noriko or Lloyd Weinstein, whether you want to have your home event catered or book a private party at Benjies’ Bamboo Lounge.

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Driving through or visiting Santa Ana? Stop by Benjies Deli for a reuben sandwich, or one of our many delicious, stacked-high sandwiches!

If you don’t live by Benjies Deli in Santa Ana, it might seem a little arduous to drive to—although it would be worth it. We’ve compiled a few points of interest close to Benjies Deli, so that if you ever find yourself at one of these local landmarks you’ll know to stop by for a meal.

St. Joseph’s Hospital and CHOC Children’s Hospital are a few blocks away from Benjies Deli. Visiting a family member or friend at the hospital? Forget flowers, go pick them up a sandwich from Benjies. What better way to say “get well soon” than to sneak them in something other than that terrible hospital food. Or, if you happen to be a hospital employee, stop by Benjies Deli on your lunch break. Your taste buds with thank you, and it will undoubtedly become your new lunch hangout.

Chapman University and Santa Ana College are but a few miles from Benjies Deli as well. So students, as summer winds down and the semester starts up at the end of August, don’t forget to stop by Benjies. In fact, if you’re in summer school now, Benjies is offering a 10% discount for local residents. So bring proof of your address, get 10% off delicious food, and save some money to pay back that ridiculous school loan. Chapman’s Greek life is notoriously active (much to the chagrin of the local Orange residents) and I can’t think of a better place to cater one of Chapman’s Greek events than Benjies. Pretend like it was your idea to have Benjies Deli cater your sorority or fraternity event and take all the credit for the delicious spread of deli platters, appetizers, and hors d’oeuvres.

With Benjies Deli right down the street from Bowers Museum, you can satisfy your hunger for knowledge and for New York, homestyle food. And, the Orange County Superior Court is about a mile from Benjies, too! So go pay your $400 speeding ticket, and then eat your sorrow away at Benjies.

If you can keep Benjies in the back of your mind when you visit any of these locations, you’ll be happy you did—your day will become much more enjoyable!

To experience a true, New York-style deli right here in Orange County, drive or walk directly to 1828 N. Tustin Avenue in Santa Ana.  The restaurant is open 7 days a week 7 AM – 9PM, and Karaoke is 9PM- midnight on Friday nights.

If you want to hold a private party for an event, contact Benjies Deli to reserve the Bamboo Lounge and discuss ordering food for the event. Call (714) 541-6263 and ask for Lloyd Weinstein, whether you want to book a private party or have your home event catered.

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