Levy’s Bagels & Deli

I’m cleaning up my draft reviews and was here 2÷17÷12 so this bad review is long overdue. I’m no decorator but the black and yellow outside colors make you think you’re in a Western Union or some check cashing place… which would probably make better bagels and whitefish salad anyway! Round bread with a hole in the center does not mean it’s a bagel! Tasted more like pretzel dough but more bland. They sell Dr. Browns in bottles which is always good but no Celrey soda ??? I don’t know about the deli meat because i was going just for breakfast bagel/​fish but as far as bagels are concerned I guess it’s better than Lender’s bagels or a Fast food chain. The whitefish salad was too loose and with no discernible whitefish flavor. Ain’t nuttin New Yawk about this place food wise.

Wouldn’t make it in New York? I can’t vouch for that; but, it is definitely a great fit here in Vegas. My wife ordered the Monte Cristo. I had the Reuben. We shared a side of pierogis. EVERYTHING was amazing from the food to the service. The bread is made in house. The waitress hit a home run with her suggestions. Now, I’ll return the favor and suggest that you check out Levy’s!

CLOSED! VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE!
Wouldn’t you know it. As soon as I find a place I like, it closes. I had a very enjoyable breakfast a couple of times recently at Levy’s. I took a few of the tasty baked goods home.
When I dropped by a couple of weeks ago the shop was deserted. The phone is disconnected. Apparently Levy’s is done for, kaput. Sorry to see ‘em go.

I live close to this deli and I can’t believe it took me 2 years after they opened to go in and try it. My mistake for not having tried it earlier. I have now been back quite a number of times. I have a number of favorites, but my favorite of favorites is their stuffed hamburger. You can get it stuffed with mushrooms or onions or a little of both. I believe it’s supposed to be ½ lb burger, but it seems to be even bigger than that. The flavor of the meat is so incredible. It is served on a challah knotted bun which is baked in the store. I also recommend a reuben sandwich made with pastrami (it’s a matter of preference, but I prefer pastrami over corned beef). The sandwich is filled with a generous portion of meat. If you’re into reubens, then you will probably find this to be a favorite.
They do have a nice display of sweets, and I always take home a large chocolate chip cookie. Everything is baked in house. Great bagels as well.
I find the wait staff friendly and attentive. My glass was never empty.
I strongly recommend that if you’re looking for a great deli, this place is worth trying. I saw they had a sign that they won the «Best Deli» award in 2011.

Bagels were standard for my breakfast stops on my way to work for many years in NYC. When I re-​located to Las Vegas, I quickly learned that Mom and Pop Bagel Shops aren’t found easily, and most people call the «roll with a hole» that Einstein Bros. makes a «good bagel». Luckily I stumbled upon Levy’s and they provide a much better bagel than the competitors. Everything is made in house by Mr. and Mrs. Levy who are native New Yorkers that really know how to make their customers happy. They have many different bagels, both sweet and savory along with a variety of homemade infused cream cheese. If your not in the mood for breakfast, you can satisfy your sweet tooth by choosing a pastry from their full selection.

I came because I wanted perogi’s.
I was disapointed.
Haven’t returned since the first time.

As a reward to all Rex’s readers for his recent Review of The Day… Rex will bless you. Rex will bless you like he did those thousands of people when he was pretending to be an Archbishop. You tell one priest that you aren’t into Altar Boys… BOOM…defrocked. Rex would have been pissed if Rex wasn’t melting down candelabras and turning them into Iphone parts. All good things must come to an end… soon Rex was roaming the countryside… the cities… the beaches… the dumpsters of the Northeast. From Maryland to Maine Rexy was a seeker… a poet (Roses are Red… Violets are Purple… this doesn’t rhyme F U!)…a part time amateur dentist… and full time stud. These were great days. Rex was alive. Rex was kept by chubby women looking to «work off» the winter weight. Rex for 3 days was Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Mass General… until he threw up inside a heart transplant patient. It was during this time Rex fell in love. Twice. First was with «Three Eyed» Karen. Oh, how I miss Three Eye… looking into her blue eyes… and the one weird grey one on her neck. The second was bagels.
To people outside of the Northeast they just don’t understand the beauty and wonder that a great bagel can provide. The perfect bagel is slightly crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. It can be served as is or sliced and toasted. It can hold butter, cream cheese, lox, cold cuts… almost anything. The only incredible sadness of great bagels is that one day later you have a hockey puck… or you need to slice them thin and bake them to make chips. Still… for that one day. That one great day. You have a circle of perfection that makes that wedding ring on your finger seem more stupid and meaningless than you already know it does.
As with most foods in Vegas it is very, very tough to find a great example of a food delicacy. For about 3 years Rex «Bagel Genitals» Marvin refused to even buy bagels in this town. Rex denied a part of himself… much like he did for those 6 years he didn’t buy Donna Summer commemorative plates. Oh… the dark years… so dark… so cold. Rex digresses… Rex sobs… Rex moves on… no bagels for Rex for 3 years… until…a very good friend, Dr. Slash «Degree from Antarctica» McCutter, invited him to discuss his latest… um…troubles…to Levy’s Bagels and Deli. Rex reluctantly ate the bagle handed to him, an Everything… after explaining to Dr. Slash that he would end up tied down naked in an ape habitat after giving the apes Viagra, Monster and more Viagra… after seeing the small smile on his face as he protested his fate… and then begged me to do it… Rex was worried about the quality of Levy’s. From the first bite all those great memories of eatin bagels with Three Eyed Karen came rushing back. Rex was home… and not the home where had his hand broken for giving the thumbs up to his drain cleaning fourth step-father…oh no… this was the good home… where he tied down his fifth step-​father and had a large neighbor lady with horrible gas pains treat him to the sounds of the musical fruit… for 5 hours. Ah… good times.
Levy’s bagels were perfect. Rex went on to try several other flavors all were very good. The best savory being the Onion and the Everything. The garlic needed more garlic and the Poppy was never a favorite of Rex’s. The best sweet was by far the Cinnamon Raison, while the Blueberry was good but not great.
The real revelation was the rest of the menu. First THEY MAKE THEIR OWN CREAM CHEESE! For those of you who never had homemade cream cheese you will never eat that store crap again. You will use it for grout in your tub. Second, the Challah bread French toast was great and the stuffed Challah bread French toast was even better! The omelets were good, the pancakes were good. Rex has never been there for lunch but the breakfast food are excellent.
The bad… good portions, not great, good specials but nothing that made me have to come back for a good deal, and the waitress service was a little slow. Sadly, the Knishes are frozen and brought in… and they taste it. Lose it from the menu or make it fresh. The Lox, which I think was brought in wasn’t great, and if it is made in house… not good. A great Jewish deli has great Lox. Period.
All in all… it is a great place for bagels and breakfast. Like Rex says…“Gotta hole… Rex will fill it… sort of… and then never be heard from again…”

«BEST OF LAS VEGAS — DELI — REVIEW JOURNAL EDITOR’S CHOICE 2011»
Well set the Delorean, because my experience here wasn’t the best of anything.
To be fair, I didn’t try any of the items they’re probably known and liked for (namely Bagels, Stuffed Cabbage, Corned Beef). Went here for lunch with a friend and decided to just go with a classic Club Sandwich. My friend ordered a side of fries so I grabbed a handful of those as well.
The club was okay overall, the ham and turkey tasted fine and there was plenty of it to enjoy. The bacon tasted gristly to me though and not in a good way (sometimes I can like gristle). I actually pulled out the bacon from the 2^nd half of the sandwich and just straight up removed it. You read that right: I REMOVED BACON FROM A CLUB SANDWICH AND AVOIDED EATING IT. It’s, it’s… it’s just not right The fries were, for lack of a better word, awful. I’m drawing a blank thinking of a fry I’d rather not eat again.
Last but not least was the price. My sandwich was $ 12 before tax. I’m not against paying $ 12 for a flawless sandwich, but just thinking about the other eats even in the same shopping center I could get for $ 12 (let alone the extra I paid for a drink) and my head starts to hurt.
YOU RUINED BACON AND FRENCH FRIES LEVY. Be happy with your 2.

Not sure how I’ve missed this place, the sign caught my attention. The pickles are absolutely great, the kosher salami sandwich terrific, and the bagels rate an A. Now if only they served Kreplach soup (see my other reviews).
Highly recommend the place, not inexpensive. The waitress might want to consider slowing her pace from 80 mph to 25 mph :)

We came here the morning after New Years because they were dedicated to being open while all the other restaurants in the shopping center were closed. We were happy to find someone open because we were starving!
I should have really tried their bagels because that is what they are known for but I was hungry for something salty and sweet. I decided to go with their Monte Cristo sandwich to fill that craving. It was a huge sandwich it could have been easily shared by two. I could barely eat half of it. The meat was good quality but I was hoping that the raspberry jam would already be in the sandwich. Things got a bit messy when I tried to put it on myself. If you have had a Monte Cristo at Memphis Barbecue I would consider that a better sandwich. Levy’s version was still good but I think the difference was with the jam. The one at Memphis’s had more zing to it.
When we were leaving they had a nice display of breads that was hard to pass up. We left with the Challah bread pronounced holla… if I remember correctly. It was too bad that I missed the ½ off table near the door before I bought the loaf. The Challah looked very pretty and golden but the taste didn’t blow me away because it wasn’t as soft as I thought it would be. I’d like to try some of their bagels in the future.

Once again, Groupon makes me try new places. I had the dinner for 2 Groupon and decided to check it out when I saw beef tongue sandwiches on the menu. I love the stuff (so much that my dad once brought me back a full pound of beef tongue from NY while on a business trip) and hate driving all the way to Carnegie once a year for it (and paying the marked up prices for it). The sandwich here was just as good, the price was way less, and the service was great. It’s quieter and a fabulous alternative to Carnegie. I will be back very soon!!!

The bagels I got at Levy’s were, for me, about a 3.5 in taste, keeping in mind that I’m one of those terrible bagel snobs who will give strangers the stinkeye for fouling the word «bagel» with adjectives like «blueberry.» Maybe it’s because we arrived three hours after opening, but I suspect that this is just their style — a little denser than is my preference.
I’m bumping up to the full four stars for a few reasons, the most important being this: SALT BAGELS.
You know you’re not in a good bagel town when it’s so dang hard to get salt bagels. Some places will do a special order, but that’s cheating. If you have any pride in your bagel trade, you have to have a few salts on the shelf, if only as a wink to snot-​noses like me that you know what’s going on.
So, Levy’s has salt bagels, and that makes me happy. I’m also happy with the breadth of selection you’d expect from a great Jewish deli or a good Seinfeld episode: babkas, knishes, latkes, challah, black and white cookies, Dr. Brown’s soda… you know the tasty stereotypes.
I also felt that the service was good. The woman asked a couple of times if we were ready, the second time explaining that she didn’t want to be rude and have us feel ignored. (Maybe some of the complaints of rudeness in other reviews has fallen on listening ears. If so, I have to respect an establishment that takes note and makes changes.) This woman had a bit of the Back East personality that some call brusque, but she was quick, polite, and passionately made sure that we were going to freeze any leftover bagels tonight. («Even if you’re eating them tomorrow. Slice and freeze!») High five for professional pride (and no preservatives).
I can’t go higher than four stars because, like I said, I’d give the salt bagels about a 3.5. Enjoyable, but not lip-​smackers. Also, my husband wasn’t really into the raspberry linzer torte, although he admits that having a linzer torte from the BonJour bakery the day before probably spoiled him.
How can I sum this up? I probably won’t bother to visit Levy’s again, but if they opened a location in the southwest, I’d be giving those salt bagels some second, third, and fourth chances.

Wait… this place was voted «Best of?» (It even says it on the outside of their building.) This place was decent. However, it in no way can compete with Bagel Café.
A friend of ours recommended this place, after he had discovered their bakery cookies. We decided to get breakfast.
I had 2 eggs scrambled with bacon, onion and cream cheese. It was very good. The price was perfect.
However, my husband had a bagel sandwich, and we were a bit disappointed. For a place that prides themselves on being a NY deli, their bagels are pretty bad. Sorry. They’re small and flavorless– my husband described it as being «just like those ‘Lender’s’ bagels in the freezer section.»
Their bakery treats are very good though. Macaroons and Chocolate Susans are awesome. I wasn’t a fan of the Mandel Bread. The bread itself was great, but I don’t like chocolate chips AND raisins in it.
For the price, this place is pretty decent. Come here for the bakery, or some brunch, but dont come to have a great bagel.

Any deli that can make me think of home is a keeper in my book. This place would’ve been 5 stars had it not been for the owner who is a complete prick.
When I walked in there was only 1 old couple eating lunch and I wanted a few pounds of deli meat and a half dozen bagels. Not only did it take 10+ minutes I also basically got berated by the owner for asking for a sample of the corned beef. I am pretty picky when it comes to corned beef and wanted to make sure it was worth the $ 13.95 a pound before I paid. He acted like I had just taken a shit in his cereal and I found it to be in poor taste… even if I had dropped a deuce in his wheaties.
I’ll be back here often, but I really hope the owner either stays away from customers or learns that the Jewish deli business is about getting to know your customers and being a kind human being.

If you’re looking for a Jewish deli with a display case of sweets that will make you gain weight with just a glance, head this way. I didn’t even sample the sweets, but I kept my eye on them the entire time. From black and white cookies to rugelach, glancing at the beautiful offerings was visual feast enough.
I was surprised to see this is a sit down place with table service, as I had always imagined a counter place. The menu had more than I anticipated as well with everything from a full breakfast to meatloaf.
I had a half-​chicken salad sandwich on challah and some matzo ball soup. The chicken salad is not fancified with nuts, grapes and such, however it is a delicious traditional creation. The chunks of chicken are huge, and they don’t skip on the scoop. Some chicken salads might be admired for their creative twists, but this one should be admired for its heartiness. The bread was a teensy bit dry, but I finished the sandwich no problem!
The matzo ball soup was good, but not incredible. I prefer more carrots, celery and such. However, the flavor was nice, and the thin noodles were an interesting addition to me.
I also grabbed a couple of bites of my husband’s onion bagel, and based on that taste test, I would go back to purchase bagels.
The prices aren’t cheap. My half-​sandwich with soup was around $ 11. Maybe I have gotten used to Asian lunch specials, but that is a tad bit more than I might want to pay for a quick lunch.
Either way, I am making a plan to get back and see if those sweet treats live up to their visual hype.

I stopped yesterday to buy some bagels in my quest for better ones than I get at the big chain. I had a salt bagel this morning, and it was quite good.
I really look forward to going back and having some lunch. Levy’s appears like it will be my stop for bagels more often.

My third time to Levy’s. Today we had lunch.
On my first visit we popped in for bagels and coffee. No lattes, cappuccino, or espresso. BOO! However, the bagels are perfect! Boiled first, as a good bagel should be, creating a lovely outer shell with a chewy center. Toast it, slather with butter and cream cheese and voila! Breakfast of champions. Good coffee too. Admittedly, I was hooked. Went back just days later for another awesome bagel. Stick to the regular cream cheese. The veggie cream cheese dissapointed… really just bell peppers mixed in.
For lunch, I had a half chicken salad sandwich on an everyhting bagel with a «cup» of chicken and brown rice soup and a soda. $ 13. Served with a delicious pickle too! I use the word «cup,» but it was bowl sized if you ask me! The chicken salad is creamy and yummy with big chunks of chicken. No canned or shredded imposters here. The soup was served HOT which makes me happy!
Momma had a turkey reuben on housemade rye bread. Approximately 1 lb. of meat piled high; served with pickle and choice of potato salad or coleslaw. She claims its the best! And I quote, «Deeeeelicious!»
Friend had philly cheesesteak. Wasn’t a fan. Bread was good but meat was bland. Expected… shouldn’t order an Italian sandwich in a Jewish deli.
We also had 3 raspberry butter cookies. These buttery shortbread treats melt in your mouth!
Service is friendly and attentive but slow. Don’t go here if you are in a hurry. Things take a little longer than they should but worth the wait!
Also, Levy’s has a big menu. Breakfast with corned beef hash, pancakes and more. Burgers, salads, bagel dogs, lox, knish, perogis and so on…
Can’t wait to go back!

Had brunch here a few weeks ago with my wife. As usual we split our meals.
I ordered a breakfast burrito with avocado, green chiles, and bacon. It came with two sides; I chose a sesame bagel with veggie cream cheese and sliced tomatoes. It was all good but forgettable. The breakfast burrito was kind of small but was about the right size considering it came with two sides.
My wife got the Challah French toast stuffed with bananas. It was quite good and was some of the best French toast I have had recently. Overall we enjoyed our meal, but I am not sure we will be back as there are better places in town.

4 times during the year, I have to work weekends intensely. I’m talking about a 7 day work week, 200 conference calls, at least 10 hours a day… yes that is quarter ends for me. During these weekends, I like to make myself feel better by getting an amazing breakfast and coffee to start the day.
Cutting the long story short, I ended up at Levy’s because Red Velvet didn’t open early enough (they’re right next to each other). This is a bakery/​deli run by Jewish people. Lots of interesting items like Challah French Toasts, Pickled Green Tomatoes and for the omnivore, Matzo ball chicken soup etc. I ordered oatmeal with brown sugar and bananas and a plate of fruit. To go.
The order takes about 20 minutes to prepare. They have about 5 people working in the kitchen and 2 tables of customers. It’s oatmeal guys… and cut strawberries/​cantaloupe. Not rocket science.
Then came the drama of getting the bill. The woman at the counter was going on and on to a customer about the woes of AMEX fees. Yes… they are high… you can choose not to accept AMEX cards. I was going to use my AMEX but decided against it. After a 20 min wait for food I had no patience to listen to a tirade against a credit card company. She asked me what I had. I said «Oatmeal and Fruit.» She rang me up at $ 5.95. I paid, left a tip and was ready to gather my items when suddenly she wails…“That’s not it! You got the fruit plate… that’s more!” I ask her how much I owe. She spends another 5 minutes playing with the calculator. Really guys? It’s a calculator. The bill came up to another 3 dollars. I gave her 4 and ran out of there.
I was going to give them 2 stars for the above mentioned experience, a $ 10 fruit and oatmeal breakfast (very steep) and also because I thought the bagels at Einstein’s looked more appetizing than theirs… but then when I got to work and had the oatmeal… it was really good. Thick steel cut oats and brown sugar in a milky concoction. They redeemed themselves just slightly. Maybe they deserve another try.
They are a local, family owned restaurant and serve lots of interesting and traditional items… I mean, how many Jewish places are there in town to eat at right? But they need to get their act together. Most customers don’t really want to know your gripes with credit card processors and don’t need to wait 20 min to get oatmeal and then wait another 5 min for them to perform simple math.
I thought Red Velvet Café was slow on the service but these guys are probably a little worse. I might visit again only if Red Velvet’s closed!

After reading the newspaper highlight of this place, I decided to check it out since it’s so close to my work. The newspaper article might explain why the place was so busy today.
The staff was polite and courteous, however they were very busy. We still got our food in a reasonable amount of time, the time it took to get the bill is another story.
I had the lox platter which included cucumbers, olives, a pickle, tomatoes, lox, red onions, cream cheese and a bagel. It was delicious! The lox were fresh and thick, not skimpy scraps like some bagel places tend to have. The pickle was so fresh you could almost think they had pickled it the day before. I also had a side of potato salad, which was a little bland for my personal taste, but I’m used to southern potato salad with Mamaw’s sweet pickles in it. My coworker enjoyed the pastrami sandwich and said it was wonderful.
There was a lag in the time it took us to pay our bill because of their credit card systems going down, but I’m not going to hold that against them. I’ll more than likely do take out next time!