Category Archives: Pictures

Taking Danny’s Home

We had an errand to St. Clair this week to the West Marine there for fresh flares since ours expire this month and we intend to do some Lake Erie sailing.

For some silly reason, I’d never figured out just how close that store is to Danny’s Deli. It was too early for a sit-down lunch, but it wasn’t too early for a take-out lunch and so I asked my entourage (never run errands without your children) what they thought. I have an adventurous three year-old and a bold seven year-old and so of course the answer was yes.

I called to make certain they were open and we walked the two-thirds of a block and crossed the street.

We ordered a pound of Corned Beef, cookies for three, paid for our purchases and headed back West Marine where we left the car.

I’m not sure who was more excited, but perhaps the children were.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way home to get some Deli Rye, then scooted the rest of the way in anticipation. Imagine my surprise when the other three, who were running late, were still at home! (Translation: We’d have to share. With three others.)

I never did get any pictures taken. That pound fed all six of us and the only things left were a couple of pickles.

I guess I’ll just have to get two pounds next time!

Bridget’s Corned Beef

Bridget Callahan blogs about many interesting things and recently snapped a picture of left-over Corned Beef in some walk-in refrigerator on East 4th Street (presumably) where her boyfriend works. Given that we’re in the aftermath of St. Patrick’s Day, the scene makes sense.

I encourage you to read her post; she makes some astute observations about what East 4th Street (one of my favorite lunch and coffee locations) has become.

$140 worth of Slyman’s

Our combined bill came to $140.70 and $109.25 of that was all beef, glorious beef!

We had Corned Beef sandwiches, Pastrami sandwiches, take-home boxes of Corned Beef, sides of various kinds and (of course) deli pickles. It was an all-out Corned Beef fest.

First, a bit of background.

The Corned Beef idea was gaining some traction at the office and there were several folks who wanted to make the pilgrimage to Slyman’s to prove, once and for all, that they have the best Corned Beef in Cleveland. The original plan was for the group to trek out there, grab a table and sit down to sample and enjoy, but once the full invitation list was fully counted, we concluded that a group that large would be quite unwieldy and that we should do take-out instead.

Oh, did I mention that this was a Friday during Lent? Fridays during Lent may be a great time to visit a Corned Beef restaurant famous for its Corned Beef and also its long lines.

Then again, for some people, it may not be.

For us, it worked though, since the drivers were able to get there, pick everything up and drive on back in a very short amount of time.

My job was to get us some place to eat all this Corned Beef goodness. Some of the less-pretentious and more-functional conference rooms were booked so I called in a favor and got the Situation Room with its fancy table and chairs.

And truthfully, we needed it since a total of ten folks showed up for lunch.

I would love to say that I enjoyed my sandwich, took the full pound home and made that last for the next two days’ lunches. The truth is that I thoroughly enjoyed every morsel of my very large Corned Beef sandwich, snatched a few slices from the pound that was headed home and then later watched as my wife and children devoured it for dinner a few hours later. (On rye, of course!)

And that, I’m beginning to understand, is how Corned Beef should be enjoyed.

Fully.

Thickly.

Soon after slicing.

On Rye.

With friends.

Danny’s Deli

Oh, the delight of great Corned Beef! Sometimes there isn’t much else to say!

A work colleague, having discovered my delight in the great Corned Beef sandwich, invited me to his favorite place, Danny’s Deli. It’s his understanding that Danny’s and Slyman’s share a common beef source but that Danny’s is better. We decided to venture out in January to have a taste.

I’m happy to report that it was delightful.

The brisk sharp air, the long walk to the bus and the long wait for the bus all no doubt contributed to the sharpness in appetite we each felt as the order was placed and the smells antagonized us.

But the journey and the cold were well-worth it. They delivered an excellent Corned Beef experience (as you can see by the picture).

The beef was lean, steaming hot, well-seasoned and properly jammed (mashed?) between two slices of very good rye bread.

And the cheese! There’s an art or craft to mastering how to properly assemble a Corned Beef sandwich and the folks at Danny’s have certainly mastered it.

I look forward to many future visits.

Flannery’s Pub

Flannery’s Pub isn’t known for their Corned Beef but I was there and thought I’d give it a try.

It was hot, a bit small and a little greasy (oddly enough, that added to the taste and the experience).

All in all, it was a pretty good sandwich.

But not a great Corned Beef sandwich.

The search must continue.

Karl’s Inn of the Barrister’s

Karl’s Inn of the Barrister’s at 1264 West Third Street is a local favorite. I was directed here by some coworkers who threatened to get physical with me if I didn’t consider trying it. No one was exactly sure of the address and since I didn’t want to wander in the general vicinity, I looked them up, got their address, gave them a call and had this (loosely recorded) conversation:

Me: Do you do take-out?
Them: Yeah, of course.
Me: Do you have corned beef sandwiches?
Them: Whaddaya think?
Me: Can I get a corned beef sandwich to go?
Them: Sure, whaddaya want on it?
Me: Make it the way you like it best. With a coke.
Them: <pause>Whatever. It’ll be a couple minutes.
<click>

Or something like that. On my way over I tried to convince myself that they weren’t being rude, just curt. Or efficient, yeah, that’s what it was. The were just being efficient. Didn’t have time for silly questions.

It was ready by the time I got there. On the counter, even. I grabbed a root beer from the case behind me, slapped down $10.95 for both items and palmed a business card from the counter in front. The price seemed a bit steep but I was willing to wait to pass judgment until I was back at my desk.

Karl looks just like his picture/drawing (below) and his son (I think I heard him call Karl “Dad”) can be seen below and to the right of the Miller Light sign (right). Both were extremely polite, pleasant and exhibited great customer service. I won’t be so timid next time!

Superfluous apostrophes bother me (and this guy, too), so I wondered about their sign on the way back. Should it be “Inn of the Barristers” or “Inn of the Barrister’s”? They don’t seem to discriminate, so I won’t either. If they can make a great-tasting sandwich, who cares, I suppose.

Back at the desk, the ruler showed that this was by far the tallest sandwich so far, right at 3″ thick. And I’m fairly certain it was also the heaviest. Karl certainly makes a good sandwich, too. Pressed between to slices of rye, with a little yellow mustard and some mild white cheese (swiss?) it was a delight to eat.

Karl’s menu shows that I had the “Barrister’s Famous Corned Beef Sandwich” and that it should have received “one pound of corned beef stacked a mile high”, not the three inches I received. Three inches seems about right—I’m not sure what I would have done with a mile of Corned Beef! Was it a pound? It’s too late to tell now! (Their prices must have changed from this menu or else my root beer was a full three dollars.)

It was a good sandwich, the biggest I’ve had yet. Is it the Best Corned Beef in Cleveland? With over twenty on the still-expanding list of known remaining candidates, I suppose it’s still too early to tell.

The Blue Fig Bar and Grill

As anticipated, the trip to The Blue Fig Bar and Grill was a bust. Not only did Jay tell me he suspected it was closed but several reconnaissance trips down the HealthLine toward home had shown me nothing to indicate that it was open, despite the tantalizing “Restaurant Open” sign in the front window.

The consistently unlit “Open” sign did nothing to deter me either.

And so I had to stop. Here is an establishment that claims to have:

CORNED BEEF
best in town
parking in rear

What’s not to get excited about?

Free time and the weather aligned Thursday this week allowing me to stop at East 36th and Euclid to snap a few pictures of what may have been the best corned beef in Cleveland.

What was there to lose? The sky was clear, the weather warm and it was still early April. By standing on a Euclid Corridor (Healthline) station island (yes, in the middle of Euclid Avenue), I was able to get some really nice shots of this now defunct restaurant.

Not to be confused with the Blue Fig Hookah Cafe, the Blue Fig Bar and Grill appears to have been a “welcome retreat after a long day at Cleveland State or Tri-C”.

If anyone knows the story behind this establishment, please leave us a comment and we’ll look into it further. Given that hand-painted “The Blue Fig Bar and Grill” sign seems to be placed over an older sign, I wouldn’t be surprised if the “Corned Beef” sign around the corner belonged to an earlier restaurant at this location.

I wasn’t able to obtain a sample of their corned beef for rating purposes but the old “Corned Beef” sign has to be one of my favorites so far.