The Original Wolfie's Restaurant, Deli and The Rascal House Bar — Restaurant in Sarasota

A horrible experience all around last night.

1. Greeter initially refused to seat us at regular table (vs. high top table, which wasn't an option for my friend), claiming empty tables were reserved for a party of 8. As we were leaving to eat elsewhere, he offered us one of those tables with a time limit of just under an hour. Later, that changed to an hour, then to an hour and a half. When a table for 2 opened up, he refused to move us there because that table belonged to a different server. He eventually sat another group at the other "reserved" table long after us.
2. The server was as impatient as she was busy while taking our orders. I specifically asked for the pickle to be served on a separate plate because I hate pickles, but my friend wanted to try it. When the food finally arrived, the first thing I had to do was sop up the pickle juice from my plate with a napkin. Worse, I didn't realize I was served a hot pastrami sandwich instead of the corned beef I had ordered until I took my first bite. The server was MIA, so I told the greeter about the mistake with my order.
3. The greeter said he'd get me what I ordered. I asked, based on initial time to receive our food, if the fries would be cold by the time I got my hot corned beef sandwich. He said he'd get me new fries. I would have thought he'd have figured that out on his own. Again, I asked for the pickle on a separate plate. Didn't happen.
4. A different man eventually brought my meal. Based on his attire, I had no clue that he was the manager until my friend asked who he was. The servers and busboys were better dressed. Perhaps he was working in the kitchen?
5. My friend asked for her Nova lox sandwich on Challah instead of a bagel. She literally laughed when she saw the sparce serving of lox and cream cheese. Once she realized the manager was at the table, she asked him about her order. He awkwardly explained how many ounces of lox came with her order and that it looked small due to her choice of bread. When she asked about the small serving of cream cheese, he did bring her some extra. She did enjoy her order of kishka.
6. Never got an apology from the server, greeter, or manager about my order.
7. Saturday dinner time was very busy and loud. Perhaps due to the indoor/outdoor sheltered dining area acoustics, it was difficult for my friend and I to hear each other as we tried to converse. Add to that, they had a live musician at the opposite end of the restaurant. Couldn't hear the music... just noise.
8. I ate there just under a month ago. It was a weekday early afternoon. While my dining companion wasn't as pleased as I was with the food, I was thrilled with my corned beef sandwich that day. The sandwich I ate last night wasn't near the same quality. We met and chatted with the owner that day last month before he dealt with another customer complaining about overcooked dry brisket. Nice man who would have been very unhappy with the way his employees handled everything last night.

So, I sadly return to my search for a good Jewish style corned beef sandwich because I won't be bringing anyone else to this knock-off of the famous Jewish...

Went to the “So Called” Wolfies / Rascal House Deli in Sarasota and needless to say we will not be going back… Yep, your’s may differ but our culinary experience there was anything but good.

So yesterday, with the highest of expectations thinking “Hey We’re Going To Wolfies”, here’s what we experienced… Again your milage may vary, this was just our experience.

Our Kinish was deep fried, ok… But never drained, came out swimming in a pool of funny tasting oil that had to be soaked off the plate with one napkin and then wiped down with another, then even after it looked like it was wet, it was so soggy you couldn’t even cut through it with the knife.

I ordered my Corned Beef, juicy not too lean and they brought me out a sandwich that was leaner than lean. I took one look at the sandwich and had to chase down the waitress to send it back. The sandwich came back out a few mins later looking like they just stuck a piece or two of fat between the slices to appease me. Sandwich was still dry but ate it anyway. In my opinion, Certainly not a Corned Beef I’m used to being served at a kosher style deli.

The pickles on our plates were seriously maybe 2.5” in length(Maybe the size of a thumb),they were cut in 1/2, so basically the 2 of us had (1) very small, very salty pickle to share… You’d think for $17.00 for a 6oz sandwich they could spare a pickle. Note: My Buddy had the $20something Ruben, again his too came with the 1/2 a tiny pickle.

To top it off, my sandwich’s rye bread was missing the entire crust on one side of the sandwich.

See the pictures I posted…

After the waitress sensed our dissatisfaction, they sent the manager to the table where we voiced our dismay, showing him how bad the knish was and he said that’s how they make them. I showed him my sandwich missing the crust off the bread and advised him they have a real quality issue here. My feelings were he looked at us, keep in mind, 2 each with a lifetimes history of eating Deli as if we didn’t know how food like this is supposed to be.

What got me was the least thing he could have done was comped us for the Knish, but nope.

Totally advised him, based on our experience, especially with the prices they charge (6 oz sandwich $17.00, Bowl of Matza Ball Soup $14.00, $7.00 Kinish), we would not be coming back.

I do have to say, the Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda hit the spot(LOL), and the little side of cole slaw that came with my sandwich tasted fine.

I seriously doubt some of the folks working there ever tasted real old school kosher style foods. Having grandparents in Miami and Living In NJ I’ve been to the original Wolfies & Rascal House Delis countless times throughout my youth and adulthood, as well as, the numerous Kosher Delis throughout the NJ/NY Metro area and this place by far was our...

Augie and I took a special trip on Sunday down to Sarasota, Florida on our way home from Floridania Fest - The Florida Memorabilia Show FLoridania Fest that was in Gulfport, Florida on Saturday. We made the time to stop by the latest incarnation of Wolfie Cohen's WOLFIE'S & RASCAL HOUSE delicatessen restaurant and lounge. We're both old enough to have eaten at the restaurant's predecessors in Miami Beach, Florida WOLFIE'S, RASCAL HOUSE and PUMPERNIK'S. We found the place in a quiet neighborhood and parked our car right in front of the restaurant. Walking in the entrance was like walking the red carpet to an awards show. You walk past the deli counters and glass fronted bakery cases to the host/hostess stand. We were greeted right away and we chose to sit inside at a high top table near the well stocked bar. We ordered endless mimosas for a very reasonable price of $20.00 per person and started perusing the extensive menus. We decided to sample a number of the legacy dishes on the menu. We started with the assorted pickles and pickled tomatoes (not free on the table anymore). The pickles and pickled tomatoes were magnificent. The flavors were there from the old days since they are using the original recipes. We then had potato latkes with house made applesauce and sour cream and chopped chicken liver on toast. Both were delicious. The latkes were much larger and thinner than the original ones and a tad dry (possibly because of different frying oils without trans fats) but still delicious. I went with the stuffed cabbage entree and it was sumptuous. Tasted just like the old days. Augie had the avocado toast with smoked salmon...a new addition to the original WOLFIE'S RASCAL HOUSE menu. He enjoyed it immensely and some of it came home with us but never made it home since he ate it as a snack on the way home. We shared a plate of the corned beef and pastrami hash with potatoes. It was such an amazing blend of flavor and texture. We were so well attended and served by THE TWINS. The server assistant/busser HECTOR was the most industrious, dedicated, kind and attentive employee in the house. All three of them are tremendous assets to the restaurant. We are happily surprised and pleased with our Sunday Brunch experience and we'll be back. We definitely recommend the restaurant to everyone who is looking for a taste of the past, favorites with flair and a lot of new treats. Well done WOLFIE COHEN'S RASCAL...