Manny Hattan’s New York Delicatessen

I gave BF a choice of three different places for Friday night’s diner. He picked Manny’s and I’m glad he did. He was late so I waited inside at a table. The Host and waiter were so friendly. They both spent time amusing me at my table while waiting for BF to show. After questions on their draught beers, the waiter recommended the New Castle. It was a good choice so dark and creamy. There is a bar when you first walk in. They serve wine and beer only.
While perusing the menu, I found some interesting selections. Hmmm, do I try the Curious Eggrolls, or maybe the Pierogies, than again Reuben Sliders, or perhaps the Blinchiladas? Decisions, decisions. So what do I order? A Pastrami Reuben! Yeah, I know, you can take the girl out of Jersey but you can’t take the Jersey out of the girl. BF selected the Austin Cheesesteak with an easy on the jalapeño’s.
They were quick bringing out our dinners. I eyed my sandwich which was two inches thick. Since it was too tall to comfortablely bite into, I pulled some pastrami off. The pastrami was lean but it taste so good. The whole sandwich was a delight to the tastebuds. The side of hand tossed slaw left something to be desired. It did taste fresh made with a vinegar based dressing but lack something. BF was pleased with his cheesesteak especially since they didn’t overdo it with the jalapenos. His side was the Kettle chips they make on site. His only complaint was they needed more seasoning. Personally, I like them.
Ricardo came to check on us again and said he would pack my half of uneaten sandwich in a box. Then the real challege started, what’s for dessert. We were seated close to the Host stand so I went to get a menu to search for desserts. The manager was watching me so he came over. He started to describe the Messy Fudge sundae. They take a wine glass and dip it in fudge sauce. Put four scoops of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream, then more fudge sauce, real whipped cream, and a cherry. Okay, he had me hooked on glass dipped in fudge. They weren’t kidding when they called it messy. Fudge on the plate to hold the glass in place, fudge dripping down the glass, after a couple of spoonfuls, fudge all over my face.
As Arnie would say, I’ll be back.

We took some friends to Manny Hattan’s this morning and were shocked at the changes they recently made. They changed their name to Manny Hattan’s Uptown Kitchen. They took out the deli counter and put a bar type counter there. the area that held the Carnegie Deli Cheesecake and other desserts is no longer there. Heck, the entrance has been redone!
And yes, they changed the menu too. No longer are there New York deli sandwiches there. They’ve been given Austin names. If I wanted Austin food, I would have gone to Kerbey Lane for that. Our waitress had absolutely no personality, and I was dismayed to be unable to find the Latkes on the breakfast menu. But they moved it over to their appetizer section… and anyone who has been properly schooled by Jewish friends and/​or relatives know that you only serve applesauce and/​or sour cream with potato latkes. Now they offer salsa, guacamole, etc. with latkes? BLASPHEMY!!!
So yes folks, the Manny Hattan’s New York Deli is no more. It’s dead. BAD MOVE.

Tried this restaurant twice. Yikes is all I can say. The food was not hot and seemed like it had been frozen. As average to poor as the food is, the service was worse. I never saw a manager either time I was there.
They even did my pet peeve. The waitress half way throught the meal asked us to pay so she could go home. Yikes. Won’t be able to try it again.

Why the Manny Hatin’?!
This place is wonderful! The breakfast knishes are delicious. The combos are awesome as well… it’s hard for me not to get a Flat Iron + Souper Bowl! If I still have room, the Carnegie Deli Cheesecake is pretty much the best in town (even if it is a NYC import)! The prices are not unreasonable for what you get… and what you get is great food!

It was a bit over priced, but the food was satisfying. Nothing fabulous, but far better than fast food. I would go when they have specials, otherwise it’s not worth it.

I do love this place. It reminds me of all the jewish delis we’d visit in NY when i was growing up.
I’m a big knish fan. The first thing I grab when I’m in the city is a knish from the street vendors. Manny’s knish is more like a pastry crust w/​delicious potato filling. I now prefer Manny’s over Gabila’s Knishes, but that won’t stop me from hitting the knish cart when i’m in the city.
The portions are out of control big and the prices match. NYC food w/​NYC prices.
But if you’re in the mood for some good, delicious deli food, Manny’s is the place in austin.

I have to say I’m a convert. I used to firmly believe that if you wanted a proper brisket or Reuben sandwich you had to go to a certain unnamed deli on W. 6^th Street.
Well, something happened not so long ago. I went to Manny Hattan’s instead and had an absolutely delicious meal, was treated with friendly service, and had a nice conversation with the owners of the restaurant.
It’s a family run business which I’m proud to support, but that’s far from the only reason I go there. If you want food you can often only find in New York such as full and half-​sour pickles, actual Carnegie Deli cheesecake, matzo ball soup, and black and white cookies then this might be your place. Oh, and did I mention they also serve a great egg cream?
If there’s one downside to this place, I guess you could say it’s not as cheap as going to your local Subway sandwich shop, but heck, where else are you going to find this stuff in Austin, Texas? And, if you want the food the way it should be, isn’t it worth paying a couple of dollars more? I certainly think so.

I love the flat iron with bacon. How can you go wrong with bacon and cheese?
Also, ask for the ½ pickles. Oh goodness! That’s the main reason I come here. Although, my hubby is from BK, NY so he really likes this place. I am not such a big fan of the roast beef, corn beef hash, yadda yadda… but again… the ½ pickles.
Trust me.

Growing up in South Louisiana, I’m the first to admit that I don’t know enough about Jewish deli food to be able to say whether something is authentic or not. But I can damn sure tell you if it tastes good.
And what I got here tasted great.
I was having a weird, inexplicable craving for chopped liver (it happens), so I convinced my gf that we should go to lunch. We had the following:
Pickles and sauerkraut brought to our table: I just couldn’t get enough of that sauerkraut. Seriously, I didn’t even think I liked sauerkraut, but I had the waiter bring out more halfway through our meal.
Latkes: Very good, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, with sour cream on the side. Tasty tasty.
Soup sandwich combo: chopped liver sandwich with matzo ball soup. I got some tomato slices to put on my sandwich and holy god, it was good. The half sandwich that comes with the combo was PILED with chopped liver, to the point that I could only eat half of it. The chopped liver was great, perfect seasoning, smooth consistency with a few larger chunks here and there. .. yum. And my soup was just awesome.
Gf got the club sandwich and declared it very good. She was more in love with the fries that came with it.
I got an egg cream. It was fantastic. And I loved it enough that now I’m making them at home ALL the time.
Lastly, we each got a piece of cheesecake to go. And that is some serious cheesecake. They aren’t messing around. You know how good cheesecake is always way heavier than it looks? Yeah, this looked light as air, but when you picked it up your wrist almost bent double. My piece lasted me 3 days because after a few bites I had to give up and roll around in ecstasy.
The price: yes, it’s a little overpriced. All that up there? Ran us over $ 60. Seriously. Which is why I haven’t been back yet. But I’m starting to have a craving for a Reuben sandwich that I can’t control, and I’ll probably suck it up and go get one very soon. If they didn’t cost so much I would probably go and get something twice a month.

I’ve been to Manny Hattan’s a handful of times because I used to frequent that shopping center and although I love sushi at Sushi Sake, I also love a little variety in muh life!
So, my impressions of the deli are I think I’d rather the 24 hour delicatessen joint on West 6^th Katz over this place. I will have to say that I wasn’t that impressed and the food was OVER-​priced at Manny Hattan’s. I don’t really remember the atmosphere in the restaurant, I always ordered my food to go so I never got past the front door. One thing that’s nice is that they were pretty lenient on the amount of meat they stuffed into the sandwich. They were still not $ 10 lenient though.: /​
Maybe if they started staying open 24 hours, I’d go back on one of those nights headed back North from dtown. Maybe if they started serving those amazing fried pickles with awesome ranch dipping sauce like Katz then I’d go back. Hell, maybe I’m craving Katz right now, who knows! One thing I do know is that this posting turned into complete PR for another restaurant. My bad.

I had many problems with this «restaurant». It’s a deli, so I don’t understand having a wait staff, especially given the style of food it served. I had the pastrami sandwich, the portion was enough for 2 meals. The meat is flavorful but had too much fat for my taste. I had my sandwich grilled and it came out a bit greasy. Lastly, I don’t think I’ll be paying $ 10 for a sandwich again any time soon.
Note: The highlight of the meal was the carrot cake. It was delicious, moist, and big enough for 2 to share.

Manny Hattan’s used to be a tradition for my wife and I. Back when there was only one Costco in Austin, we would make the trek up there, have lunch at Manny Hattan’s, and then go to Costco afterwards. We had both of our children at the North Austin Medical Center less than 5 miles away. My wife made me bring her a sandwich from Manny Hattan’s the night that both were born. As you can see, this place was ingrained into our very existence (until we had to move to Dallas,) which is why I’m really surprised to see all of the bad reviews of this place.
Most of the bad reviews seem to focus on the service and the price. On the service, I sort of agree. I never really had BAD service, but the waiters/​waitresses seem to all have this «I don’t give a damn,» attitude about serving your food. As far as the price goes: yeah, the food is a little pricey, but there is nowhere that I have found in all of Texas that serves up legit NY Deli like Manny Hattan’s. Don’t get me wrong, you can certainly find better «real» deli in Manhattan, but this is the best I’ve found in all of Texas.
To start with, they give you half-​sour and sour pickles when you sit down. They are a bit stingy with the pickles, but you can keep bugging them to bring more. Their sandwiches are excellent. My favorite is the «Statue of Liberty,» which is Pastrami, Corned Beef, and Cole Slaw (on the sandwich.) The Corned Beef and Pastrami are prepared just right. Their cole slaw is great — it is orange-​ish in color because it has lots of carrots in it, which is just fine by me. My wife loves the «Brooklyn Bridge,» sandwich, which is Roast Beef, Turkey, and cole slaw. I’ve tried that sandwich before, as well, and the turkey is moist and flavorful, not overly dry like some deli turkey. I’ve tried many things over many years (all of the reubens,) and it is all great. Their french fries are possibly the best anywhere.
For dessert, you can get a slice of Carnegie Deli cheesecake, or have some of their homemade goodies. I love their Black and White cookies — just like the ones that I used to get growing up. All in all, I really like Manny Hattan’s. If you are looking for authentic NY deli in Texas, give this place a try. It isn’t perfect, but then agan, who is?

I live on the complete opposite end of the world (Austin) than this restaurant, but my mouth continually reminds me of the precious hour I spent there a couple of months ago.
It was ridiculously busy during there lunch hour and they were down several servers, but my waitress effortlessly floated between her half a million (slight exaggeration) tables and I never wanted for anything.
The memory of my reuben sandwich makes my mouth water even now– it was so big I had to eat it with a fork and a knife!
I’ll be back soon…

The food was subpar to average at best. The portions were reasonable. The service was middle of the road. The kicker was the pricing was out of control for this type of food. You would pay less for the same meal in midtown manhattan then in what is the north side of Austin.
I can not say I would recommend this place.

The food is unimpressive, but worse, it’s heinously over-​priced. I went to school in upstate NY, and you can get better food for half the price at a real deli. For two sandwiches + tip, it cost more than $ 30 to eat at Manny Hattan’s. For mediocre sandwiches?!?
Customer service here is kind of crappy and the interior is just hokey, like they were trying to be an upscale Subway with a NY feel.
Fail.

Dining in here has always been a solid experience for us. The reubens, deli sandwiches, and patty melts are good, as is the kreplach soup. I also love the fact that they sell frozen H&H bagels to take home. Make sure to order more lox spread than you think you’ll need, because darn if lox spread + H&H everything bagels isn’t just as delicious as it gets.
Pick up a container of rugelach on the way out, while you’re at it. Yummy cinnamon raisin cookie/​pastries.

Manny Hattans has a different special every week day. On Monday, kids’ meals are free with the purchase of adult meals. This makes Mannys on a Monday a great deal for parents.
We went early in the evening and the deli was not crowded. We were greeted promptly and taken to a booth. All of the employees were friendly and nice to the kids.
We all munched on the free pickles the waiter brought to our table as we perused the extensive menu. (The pickles were delicious — we had some that were full sour and some that were half sour). The sandwiches are all about $ 10 but they also are easily twice the size of the $ 5 one I had at Subway the other day.
I chose the Park Avenue which is chopped liver, tomatoes, and turkey on rye. The sandwich came with a small cup of potato salad. The photograph is of half of the sandwich (the other half I had for lunch a little while ago), This was really yummy. I liked the combination of liver and turkey a lot. John had a patty melt (medium rare) on challah (he doesn’t like rye). His was extraordinary. You can see how buttery toasty the bread looks. Using the challah for this sandwich is brilliant. His came with french fries. They were the battered kind, crispy and good. The kids had a grilled cheese sandwich and a hot dog, one chose fries and the other fruit. The kids’ food was ordinary, made to satisfy the average child’s palate.
There are lots of other sandwiches that I would like to try. I think we’ll be back, especially on Mondays.

Coming from Boston, I used to take this type of deli for granted. I understand that I can’t get good BBQ in Boston, so I shouldn’t expect good New York deli food in Austin. I’m glad they opened this place. The food here is generally quite good, even compared to the places in Boston, but it’s inconsistent and overpriced. So is Katz’, and during regular hours I would always pick Manny Hattans over Katz’.
I mainly go here for breakfast. The bagels are vastly superior to Einsteins. I’ve bought frozen dough for a dozen bagels and baked them at home. Challah is really good for thick slices of French Toast.
The service is generally very slow, even when the place is not busy. They’re not friendly about allowing substitutions with your order. I used to eat here frequently with my friends, and now most of them are reluctant to go back. The common complaints are that it’s overpriced, slow, or not as good as is used to be. That said, if you crave this type of food, this is the place to go.

Bleah…
Too friggin expensive. I had a half sandwich and soup with a diet coke and paid over $ 13.
The sandwich, one of their «signature» ones, was fine… a real cholesterol-​laden gem.
The soup (Chicken Noodle) was horrid. Tiny little noodles provided no substance, and the chicken — not much to be found. There were five or ten tiny squares of chicken in the bowl, which begged the question «Just how do they get same-​sized squares of chicken like that?!» I imagine them in the back with a bunch of boiled chicken breasts, cutting them up into miniscule cubes and then measuring an exact amount into each bowl like some sort of Weight Watchers follower.
Chicken soup in a deli is supposed to be full of flavor, with nice fat noodles and chunks of chicken swimming in an oily sea of rich broth. This was more like a fingerbowl with some noodle flotsam and chicken jetsam.
We were eating just after the traditional lunch rush, so it was not crowded at all, but the service was in a word … poor. The gal switched our drinks, then when our plates came, she had our sandwiches and sides mixed up.
I probably won’t be rushing back to Manny Hatten’s anytime soon.

Every Sunday after my soccer game I get a strange craving for diner-​ish food. Although Manny Hattan’s is not exactly a diner, it momentarily fulfilled my desire. The coffee was delicious, but the three-​veggie omelet was way too greasy. Whew. The toast was crisp and the fruit cup was ripe, but the bagel that came with my meal was lukewarm and semi-​toasted.
I really appreciate Manny Hattan’s for it’s attempt to bring to Austin the great food of New York. I just wish they weren’t so… average.
The restaurant is easily accessible if you live up north — it sits in Gateway Shopping Center at the convergence of HWYs 360 & 183. If you live south, maybe skip it.
Possibly worth a visit.