Carl's Deli — Restaurant in Clayton

I ordered a half pastrami and half corn beef rueben with Swiss on rye bread, pasta salad, and large soda for dine in. The total was about $15-$16. In my opinion a bit on the high side. After receiving the sandwich, I had to ask for my soda and pasta salad side. Granted they had a few other customers inside, but it seemed a bit disorganized. I will go into more detail on this a bit later. I must say the sandwich its huge all of the reviews will tell you that. Once I received it, I immediately thought I should have ordered a half of a sandwich. Unfortunately, that was an option I had. The sandwich came with dill pickle which I love. I grab ahold of that sandwich held together by toothpicks and noticed the bread wasn't toast and as I picked it up it began to dissolve in my hands. It became a sloppy mess after a single bite. The thousand island, meat, saurkraut combo tasted pretty good however, I just couldn't believe a sandwich of that stature didn't warrant a toasted bun. had to eat the rest of my sandwich with a fork. Which was a but disappointing. It's very rare I can't keep a kung Fu grip on a good ole sammich but the review continues. I then tasted the pasta salad however, it was a bit bland and lacked a bit of zing. As I sat eating my sloppy mess of a sandwich I noticed the employees messed up something on nearly every order. The wrong bread here, charged twice for a soda there, another couple also didn't receive there fountain soda or side dish just like myself. I also noticed nearly everyone's ruebin was becoming a sloppy mess much like mine. The restaurant could have used a good cleaning. I was hoping the food would have been delicious and could have ignored the fact it was a bit dirty. All in all, they have huge sandwichs. I would suggest ordering a half if that's possible and ask for toasted bread if that is also available.

Pros Huge Sandwich Good tasting pastrama Good tasting corn beef Comes with a dill pickle

Cons Soggy Rye Bread Dirty Restaurant Unorganized staff Bland/Boring Pasta Salad Kind...

Hot Pastrami on Rye with spicy mustard. I challenge you to find a better Pastrami sandwich in a 250 mile radius. They use Boars Head meat and then Jazz it up somehow. The meat and juices it cooks in are amazing. The flavor and tenderness of the meat is outstanding. I've had the sandwich on rye with and without Swiss cheese. I think the warm sandwich is so good that the cheese doesn't really add anything, but it certainly doesn't detract from the sandwich. The spicy mustard is just as it says and adds tremendously to the creation. I can eat a whole sandwich by myself and if I'm with a friend that wants to share, there is more than enough for two big eaters to share a sandwich. Did I mention the pickle. You get pickles with your sandwich. A firm hard crispy crunchy dill wedge. What more could you ask for? Fitz's root beer in bottles, ask for a cup of ice. They have chipped/shaved ice and the quality of the root beer really shines in that styrofoam cup with the ice.

I've seen some less than fully positive reviews about the appeal and service at Carl's. I am not sure what those people are looking for. It's all a matter of perspective to me. I go to Carl's for the Hot Pastrami Sandwich. I don't care that the decor is 1970s, I don't care that the counter staff-the owner and most days his father, are grumpy and in a hurry to serve the tremendous volume of customers they have. I like to go to places that are busy like that, I know my food will be fresh and made just for me. I would rather let the person behind me in line go next and take more time to choose if I hadn't made up my mind. Carl's isn't fine dining it's a Deli and a damn good one at that! Get a Hot Pastrami on Rye with Spicy Mustard and you won't ever go anywhere...

We were at St. Mary's Hospital to visit a family member. Not regulars to St. Louis and we happened to spy this place across the street. We saw corned beef and pastrami sandwiches on their sign, and knowing my love for a reuben my wife suggested we go there.

This is a mom and pop/hole in the wall type place, which I love most of the time. I was already enthusiastic about a fresh made delicious sandwich. Carl's did not disappoint.

I had a reuben and my wife had a turkey sandwich. Our kids each had hot dogs. The reuben was stacked high with fresh sliced corned beef and had a nice compliment of sauerkraut, Swiss and Thousand Island on a nice and flavorful rye. Just as I'd make it at home. My wife's turkey sandwich was similarly stacked with meat and was served on a kaiser roll. The bite I sampled was very tasty. The hot dogs were all beef and our kids both gave thumbs up.

In fact, when I told them I was going to write a this review, my 10-year-old daughter quickly proclaimed "it's five stars". This sentiment was universal among the family.

The service was great. The staff were friendly and welcoming and our food was prepared quickly while we waited. The dining area is adequate to accommodate a small dine-in crowd, but they obviously send a lot of meals out the door, based on the bags lined up on top of the counter. Feels like a genuine mom and pop place.

The consensus was that any future visits to this part of St. Louis warrant a return visit to...