Goldberg's Delicatessen and bagel's — Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

It seems only fair to compare this to the other NY deli in the area, Pomperdale. The king vs the young upstart!

Sandwiches: most important imo. If we're talking classics like the Reuben, corned beef and pastrami they're both 5-stars but I give the slight edge to the newcomer, Goldbergs! You'll pay more but they're both expensive. On the other hand Pomperdale has a more extensive sandwich menu with better options. Edge: push. You're in great hands either way.

Bagels: Pomperdale takes this handily but with a caveat. I've only had bagels at Goldbergs once. Here's my issues. Pomperdale runs out of bagels if you sleep in. Goldbergs didn't even ask if I wanted it toasted and toasted it anyway (not my preference). It was fine but the toasting hides a lot of bagel flaws so I'm skeptical.

Also Pomperdale's lox is excellent. I don't think they make it in-house but it's tender, tasty and they give you a nice amount. It was still good at Goldbergs but I felt they skimped on the amount and it was bland, tbh. And the tomatoes were mealy. Don't get me wrong it was adequate and sufficient-it wasn't bad per se (and maybe it was a bad day?) but Pomperdale's has been consistently good with excellent lox.

Breakfast: I don't know because I don't eat breakfast (outside of bagels)!

Ambiance: Goldbergs all the way. You can eat at Pomperdale but it's just some tables and you're better off taking it home-it's a deli for crying out loud! Goldbergs is more like a restaurant so if you're looking to sit and be served go to Goldbergs.

Misc: I think Pomperdale offers more traditional deli miscellaneous fare like different fish salads, etc., but Goldbergs offers more take home desserts like coconut macaroons and things like that.

Winner: I'll call this a tie! I'd probably say Goldbergs for eating in but Pomperdale for take out because it's slightly cheaper and has a better selection of special sandwiches and their pastrami and corned beef-though I give the slight edge to Goldbergs -is still fantastic.

Either way we're all better both exist and I'm happy...

This review pertains to Sunday, 04/07/24. We have been going on numerous Sundays since Goldberg's opened. The food has always been very good! We have always had reasonably good service until today. We usually arrive by 8am before the major rush, because sometimes it is pretty crowded by the time we leave. There is almost 3 to 6 of us, today there was 4. The only problem with the food today was something must have gone wrong with the biscuits, they were dense and hard, could hardly cut through it. This review is regarding the service we received, OR did not receive today!! We have had this wait person before and we are very familiar with the curt responses when taking our orders, but today she was beyond that. We brought a new person with us today to introduce them to Goldberg's, so we took an extra few moments to allow them to look over the menu. Throughout our meal she never came back with any coffee until we were almost through eating. When we were done, she kept saying she would be right back. We sat for over 20 minutes, holding up a credit card to pay for our meals, and we had never received the check! In the meantime, she cashed out 3+ tables that came in after us. Finally we decided if we stood up she might come back. She came by saying AGAIN, I will be right back. Someone else came and cleared the table, and still she didn't return for us to pay. SO, we finally went to the counter to see if we could pay our bill there. I guess they called her up, and with attitude she said that she was busy taking people to tables. Well she may have seated a few people, but she passed out table repeatedly and we could never get her attention to pay our bill. Today was probably our last time to eat at this...

Last week we were visiting my Ft. Lauderdale Florida cousins and the 4 of us had a wonderful Lunch/Brunch at Goldbergs. When we arrived the place was busy and nearly full, and we were seated at the last table for 4.

Kaylee, a very nice waitress immediately took our drink order as she gave us menus. she came back 5 minutes later with our drinks and took our orders. We had a few questions and she had every answer.

My Florida cousins both had omelettes...one filled with house made corned beef, and the other with ham. They were accompanied by toast...one thick slices of rye bread, and the other with a perfect toasted fresh egg bagel. Slices of tomatoes and crispy chunky potatoes were on the plate too. They enjoyed every morsel, especially the fluffiness of the omelettes, and the top flight fresh baked bread products.

It used to be that delis served the best soup outside of grandma's kitchen. Not any longer. EXCEPT this guy Goldberg must be using someone's grandma's recipe. My wife had a delicious bowl of chicken soup, filled with veggies and a huge, not too soft, not too hard matzoh ball. She had a half corned beef sandwich on rye with brown spicy mustard. It was all perfect.

All the salads for sandwiches are homemade, and I chose the salmon sandwich. It was delicious and it was served on a perfect onion bagel with a slice of onion, tomato lettuce. I love a good knish, and I also had one filled with kasha.

An observation. All 4 of us smiled through our meal, and customers at the other tables were also all smiles. Not only does Goldbergs have damn fine deli foods, but the place has a GREAT VIBE all around.

My only wish is that my hometown of Cleveland, which has become a deli desert, had...