Canter's Deli — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Canter’s Deli was recommended by several family and friends. I came here for a late lunch before going to the Cubs-Dodgers game. It’s unfortunate being a Friday during Lent. I started with an appetizer of (3) potato pancakes with sour cream and apple sauce; and then a tuna melt with American cheese on rye with creamy coleslaw. Pickles were brought out. The potato pancakes were very good. Not soggy, and had a nice crunch. I should have tried them with syrup, but didn’t. The sandwich had a nice toasted rye bread, and the cheese melted nicely. The tuna was alright. A bit dry. It could have been made better with diced scallions and celery, and a touch more mayonnaise. I liked the coleslaw. It was missing a little something more… like red cabbage, carrots, and ??? To drink I had water, and a fountain Coca-Cola. I reserved some room for dessert; boxing the other half of my sandwich, and pickles. My choice for dessert was their carrot cake. It was dry; not moist as other carrot cakes I’ve had. I tasted some coconut. The frosting wasn’t your typical cream cheese frosting, but was adequate and not too sweet. I boxed the other half for later. Thinking of the other options I passed on the apple pie. And I should have tried their pastries… Hamantaschen. My check after tax was $44.94. Service was fine. My server was Jeff, but everyone helped. Not overly attentive. The restaurant had plenty of seating. I opted for the counter. The bathrooms are clean; don’t mind the stickers and slight graffiti. Passing through the bar I was reminded of a few bars back in the day in Chicago… very low lighting. Separate from the diner is their deli and bakery. I couldn’t leave without perusing their case; and ordered a pound of assorted butter cookies. Parking is available. You’re limited in the amount of time for your visit. The first 90 minutes are free for the diner, and for the bakery you’re given 30 minutes. After that they charge a $1. I should have shown both receipts, and avoid the overtime fee. Next time I’m in L.A. I’m going carnivore.

P.S. The cookies were alright. Nothing special, and far from the butter cookies I’ve had from great bakeries in Chicago. The worst cookie was the wedding cookie. It was very dense, and heavy. The taste was not something one would relate to a wedding. More like something you’d give to someone in a divorce.

Sherman’s Deli in Palm Springs and Palm Desert are incredible. Maybe Canter’s can take a field trip to be inspired on...

I have been coming with my family to Canter's for 40 years. Such nostalgic memories. However today I received the worst service of any place in my life. I ordered a Roast beef sandwich on Challah with potato salad. I took it to go because I was going to go watch my nephew play soccer at Fairfax High School. When I arrived at the game and unpacked my sandwich I see in the box is a Ruben sandwich with French fries. Besides being the wrong order the sandwich looked all dried out and old. I called Canter's and told them they got my order wrong. The first time I called they put me on hold and never got back to me. The second time I called I tried to tell them what happened all the while they were talking over me. Then the woman on the phone said what do you want me to do about it. I said I would like the sandwich I ordered. Finally she said ok bring the sandwich back with the receipt and we'll give you a new one. I told her I am watching my nephew play soccer. So after the game I went to exchange it. When I got there I told the man who had made my sandwich I was here to get the right sandwich. He said Oh you, it's all your fault. He handed me a bag and said take this s_ _ t and don't give me more problems. I said is this my original sandwich you made over 3 hours ago. And he said yes. I said I can't eat a sandwich that is 3 hours old. Please make me a new one. He refused and said take this s_ _t again. I said don't cuss at me. I said where is your manager. He said I am the manager. I didn't believe him. I told him please give me my money back I can't eat this sandwich. He gave me $20 dollars. My sandwich cost $21.85 on the receipt. He wouldn't give me all of my money. I went to look for the manager. I found her. I told her what happened. How the man tried to give me a 3+ hour old sandwich and potato salad , how the man cussed at me and would not give me all my money back. She told me I don't have access to the register. I told her you mean you are going to let me walk out of here without all my money. She said well what can I do. I told her I have been coming here for 40 years. I have never been treated this way. I came here with my husband my kids and family. I can't believe how you are treating me. I will never come back and I will be writing a review. So much ill treatment and injustice. A really unnecessary and and deplorable experience. I will never be back. Canter's...

The WORST level of service I have experienced in a long time at a restaurant. How does this place stay in business for sit down customers?? A nice hostess sat me down and gave me a menu. I said I didn’t need a menu because I already knew I wanted to order the matzo Brie with apple sauce for lunch. The hostess said she couldn’t take my order because the server would get mad at her. Fine. Someone came to give me silverware and water. I tried to order from him, but he’s not the server. Fine. I then sat there for 10+ minutes watching and listening to my “server” JEANETTE gab with a table of two customers 8 feet away about nothing. I flagged down the hostess in the meantime to alert her to the fact that I had been waiting for 10 minutes with no one taking my order and pointed to my server JEANETTE who was still talking to the table of two nearby to my right. Jeanette eventually came and when I explained that I had been waiting started arguing with me that because I didn’t have a menu that she thought I had already been served: 1) impossible since she was the only server at my station unless my server truly had dementia and couldn’t remember whether she had taken my order or not and 2) what poorly trained server starts by arguing with a customer. The matzo Brei was fine. Jeanette brings a printed bill to my table while i’m halfway done eating in the next 7-10 minutes. It’s basically Hospitality 101 that waiters/waitresses aren’t supposed to bring a bill until the customer has asked for it and CERTAINLY not while the customer is still eating. Unfortunately there didn’t seem to be an owner or manager on site to manage things. If I’m being charitable, I’d say that there are 20-30 people working there and they should be moving people around to take orders if they are short on servers (in reality, the restaurant at 11:10 am was only 1/3 full with at least 4-5 servers that I saw, so it still comes down to terrible service by this one waitress). I’d love to talk to the owner. I’ve eaten at Canter’s for years and they need to put in place training/service standards and forcibly...