Ben’s is more in the vain of great Florida Jewish delis of my relative youth, Pumpernik’s and Wolfie Cohen’s Rascal House (both of which were within old-person driving distance of my grandma’s condo in Hallandale), than a New York Jewish deli. You have sit-down service, high ceilings and the communal air of hardening arteries. There’s also the “tableslaw” and bowl of pickles to send your sodium levels through the roof. But while those old school Florida delis were Jewish, I don’t know that they were kosher, as Ben’s is. That basically means–for all you Jesus-lovers out there–that you ain’t getting any cheese on your corned beef or shrimp cocktail appetizers. Luckily the meat they 
serve is so damn tasty, you need nothing but the lean pastrami on a couple slices of marble rye. They don’t get all silly like Stage Deli and pack it with more meat than a human being could possibly eat over the course of a week, but give you just enough that you’re not starving afterwards, and little enough that you don’t feel like a giant hazir. It’s actually not a bad place to grab lunch with a co-worker, or sit and casually dine on surprisingly decent meat. [MF]
209 W 38th St. (bet. 7th & 8th Ave.)
212/398-2367
bensdeli.net
