Canter’s Deli

If you specifically come for the pastrami, it’s great. However, there’s is a particular special they offer on Caviar app (delivery for those who doesn’t know) that if you order at the restaurant, the waiters wouldn’t have no idea.
It is called «The Spicy» it’s a version of the pastrami that’s got jalapeño, spicy mustard and the bread is toasted or penned. It’s an awesome choice, they need more pastrami on it…
Other sandwiches are ok overall. Parking is bad here and the wait can be nagging

Best spot in LA!
Canter’s Fairfax is the ultimate sandwich, their pastrami is the best you’ll find anywhere. The same goes for their chocolate chip rugelach and their matzah ball soup — don’t miss out on this place!

Upon rereading this review, I feel I’ve left the impression that the food wasn’t great. It was very good, but you can’t judge by one sandwich, and the one I had wasn’t the greatness I’d anticipated, it happens. I’m going to be in the neighborhood soon and can’t wait to try them again, because if I don’t get some more of those dills, I will die.

I ordered food from Canter’s through UberEats. When my order arrived, I realized that it was missing the soup I paid for and also one of the sides that comes with Chicken! I called the place, was on hold for like 5 minutes, the guy was extremely unhelpful and unprofessional.
Also, the food that actually have arrived tasted like plastic! DO NOT RECOMMEND ordering from them! I contacted UberEats and waiting for my refund! What a waste of my lunch!

Check one World famous, iconic eatery off my master list. What can I say about Canter’s. Caught a taping of Bill Maher’s Real Time at C.B.S. (thanks for the tip, Mikey!)and headed straight here. From the door: liked what I saw, loved what I smelled. It didn’t smell like Subway or Jersey Mikes, it smelled like good Pastrami, Corned Beef and Rye bread. In other words, a legit Jewish Deli. All good delis share that scent and you recognize it immediately. Fairly crowded on a Friday nite, but we were shown to a table right away. Pretty sure I saw a couple of incognito celebs. (Lauren Hill?, a Guns and Roses dude? A crazily hot hooker?) Then our Server, Laurie (?) arrived. She WAS our Canter’s experience. Tales of literally every celeb from Obama to Bono while providing the kind of service you write home about. The Food: not amazing, sorry. Ordered a $ 15.50 corned Beef and Pastrami sandwich, very tasty and huge but tons of C. Beef and very little chipped Pastrami pieces falling out everywhere. A small paper cup of too sweet but good Potato Salad. (I hate little paper portion cups on my plate, it’s cafaterialike.) Bottom line, $ 75 before a tip for 3 sandwiches, 2 beers and an egg cream soda, basically $ 30 per person with tip. Bottom, bottom line, I’d SO do it again. It’s about more than the food, it’s the sights, sounds, smells, storys, and history. It’s the whole Knish! My Son said he’d like to sit at the counter, have a drink and people watch all day. Worst part, just missed Joe Freaking Perry who stopped by to play a couple of tunes. L.A. What a town!

Canters use to be one of my favorite restaurants. When I saw that there was a groupon for them and bought it without hesitation.
The service from the waiter was great and The food was ok (just ok!) but I can tell that their quality has really gone down hill because their food use to be fantastic. All in all I spent about 80 dollars on food for my mother, my friend and myself, and I had an enjoyable experience, except for one instance where the manager came running down the isle and decided to rudely scream at my friend to move his leg out of the way.
The booth was way too small for us and we had no way to all fit comfortably but he complied anyway.
So I get the bill, I tell my waiter goodbye and thank you for the good service. I leave her a tip on the table and I head over the the cashier to go pay. Why they just don’t have the waiter take your payments like every other restaurant is beyond me, but I honestly didn’t mind the 10 plus minute wait to give them my money because, well, they deserved!
This is when the shit hit the fan. I had the absolute worst encounter with the cashier ever. I swear I must have been having a nightmare because I have never been treated so badly in my life. It could NOT have gotten any worse.
Before I pay, I see the cashier fighting with the customer ahead of me, but I didn’t think anything of it. I continue to wait 10+ minutes and When he is finished with the guy ahead of me I walk up to the counter and he completely ignores me. He then turns around and snatches the bill out of my hand nearly giving me a paper cut. WTF!
He then gives me an attitude because I had the audacity to ask him what a symbol on my bill meant. He tells me I need to go back and talk to my waiter and not ask him any questions before rudely answering my question anyway.
He starts raising his voice nearly screaming at me what the symbol on the bill meant all the while I’m just standing there quietly looking at him wondering how could someone so rude possible still have a job there.
What was the point of going out of the way to be mean to people? Why tell me to ask someone else if your going to answer the question anyway?
All I did was ask him one simple question which required 3 words to answer. He could have simply said «this means…» And the Whole thing would have been over, but Instead I had to spend nearly 2 mins of my time standing there listening to him moan and groan about how much he hates his life, how he hates his job hand how it’s all my fault! Remind you, I’m standing there silent this whole time
He then snatches my credit card from my hand before I’m ready to give it to him, looks at me and as rudely as possible says «well are you going to give a tip?» I tell him I left my tip on the table for the waiter and he proceeded to force my card through his machine almost breaking it!
Once he is done with his tirade and his childish tantrum storm is finally over, I muster up the courage to politely ask for him to validate my parking ticket so that I can leave. He refused to validate my parking, telling me in the ruddiest way possible «do it yourself» (because he is too lazy to do it I gather) and literally throws my card at me. At this point I should have called the cops and had him charged with assault (or better yet I should have reached over the counter and turned him into a deli sandwich) but I decided to go speak with the manager instead
BIG MISTAKE
I quietly and calmly explain to her (the same lady yelling at us earlier) that I had a good time at the restaurant, that my waiter was great and the food was good (which it wasn’t but whatever) and she smiles.
I then tell her that the guy at the cashier is being a little rude to the customers, (rude being an understatement but I wasn’t trying to get anyone in trouble) and before I can even finish that sentence she cuts me off, rolls her eyes and basically told me to get the hell out of her restaurant
Idk if she is bipolar or what but I have never seen anyone flip from smiles and giggles to raging demon monster so quickly. If I stayed there a second longer I swear horns would have sprouted out of the front of her head and black hell fire would have came raining down upon me. Never in my life have I had someone stare at me with such murderous intent. You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes!
I hurried up and grabbed my things and got out of there as fast as I could, and I will NEVER be going back. At this point you couldn’t even pay me to eat there.
I now understand why the staff there are allowed to be so rude. The manager does not care and in fact encourages her employees to treat their customers like dirt
So if you have any self respect and you don’t want to be treated like your worst than the dirt on the floor then avoid this place at all cost
If you don’t mind being treated like crap in order to spend your hard earned money on over priced mediocre food than Canter’s deli is the place for you!

Canter’s Deli is an LA institution and rightly deserves its place as one of the best delis in the country.
A few times a year, I develop a strong craving for an awesome pastrami sandwich, and Canter’s offers the best I’ve had in southern California. I order the grilled pastrami on rye with melted swiss cheese and steak fries. With the fragrant and crisply griddled rye bread; the salty, smoky pastrami; and the melted cheese, some of which leaks out the side and crisps on the griddle, I die and head to deli heaven.
The steak fries, too, are particularly good. They are very crisp and fried golden brown. If you’re like me, you order a side of russian dressing to dip.

Best pastrami sandwich I’ve ever had, served with steak fries (my fave!) You can definitely share it get two meals out of one order. The free rugula cookies with Unilocal check-​in were so good that I bought a couple more on my way out. Yes, the décor and appearance of the establishment is on the older side but that’s part of the old school deli charm! Staff was very friendly but a bit slow at times. They have a lot for parking but it was madness and full, so I parked on the street instead. Although I tend to stay on the west side, I would gladly battle fairfax traffic for another sandwich!

Great food but if you’re eating in the restaurant its EXPENSIVE!
$ 47 for 3 people to eat lunch and 2 were sharing a meal.
Chopped liver & pickles are outstanding.
Check
for coupons. Do not let them bully you by telling you the coupon is for eat in only! You CAN use it for to go orders, ask for a manager. Annoying check out people.
If taking to go, check the weight! Nearly overcharged for takeout but deli Mgr made it right.
Be alert. Don’t get overcharged.

It’s the real deal. I grew up in New York.
Everything was good. Get the corned beef and pastries. Bagels aren’t bad. Check-​in on Unilocal for amazing rugelach.
The ceiling is insane. You’ll know what I mean.
It’s wonderful to see people of all ages here. Guy at the next table was reading a newspaper and reading scripts.

One of the best places in LA! We’ve been hearing great things about Canter’s for years, but for some reason didn’t make it in until today. We won a few gift certificates at the Wags and Walks Muttin’ But Love Gala back in April for Canter’s, so we finally checked it out and LOVED IT!
We had a celebrity sighting as soon as we walked in the door, which never gets old! Everyone from the hostess, to our server and the ladies at the bakery counter were so nice, helpful and energetic. Oh ya, and the food was also great. I had the Greek salad with chicken (and a side of dill pickles) and my husband had the pastrami. Both were excellent! We also split a Bloody Mary which was delicious and definitely not lacking alcohol.
It’s also open 24 hours which is so nice, as it’s often hard to find a great restaurant at midnight or whenever we’re coming home from a night out. We completely fell in love with Canter’s today and will probably be back this week!

When the folks I went with got there, a waitress was literally being yelled at by a manager in the middle of the dining room O_​O HOLY CHIT!
Ok the food is decent here. But the service and the management are atrocious. I was totally stunned. A place with the reputation that this place has to be like this. WOW.
Apparently their is quite a bit of turnover in the staff which is easily noticed on why.
The food was quite pedestrian for my sandwich. I ordered a ham n cheese that i thought would be hot, but yeah it was a normal cold ham n cheese. Still decent, but yeah it was totally tempered by the whole scene of the restaurant. Which I found to be completely UNACCEPTABLE.
The server had a bunch of bad jokes that just didnt play well and made most of the folks at my table completely uncomfortable. To the point that several people apologized to him for what we didnt know. Seriously we didnt know what to say or do and hoped that our food wouldnt be messed with.
In the end it was somewhere I knew I would never want to go again. Seriously the staff/​management ruined any chance I would want to come back here. I just dont see a reason to put myself through something like that again, famous deli with good grub or not. It just isnt worth the hassle or the intimidation of the yelling/​dressing down a server in the middle of a packed house during dinnertime. WOW. Just so not worth it IMHO.

I walked in to check out the place since I was waiting for a reservation at a restaurant down the street. All the baked goods looked amazing so I wanted to buy a few items to take home. This was the crappy part. All the staff members behind the counter were busy doing everything else but helping the customers. Took a while to get any assistance, and I had to ask for it. I ended up buying some Fig Bars, which were pretty good BUT pricy.

Our waiter seemed pissed off before he even came to take our order. There’s a difference between efficiency and impatience. It’s not helpful to tap your feet and roll your eyes when taking an order.
We ordered a chopped salad and two Mish mosh. The chopped salad never came and the Mish mosh came out lukewarm 5 minutes after ordering. The waiter was nowhere to be found and we never received the salad — we were charged for it.
While ordering black and white cookies, my husband got the check from the waiter unbeknownst to me. I saw him pass by our table and asked for the check but the waiter looked me in the eyes like he wanted to murder me and said «I already gave it to the gentleman». I’ve never felt so alarmed before in a restaurant. Scary.
I used to live in the neighborhood a few years ago and would come here a lot. It’s gone really downhill in that time. As it stands right now, I really don’t want to be murdered while eating Mish mosh, so I’ll pass on coming here ever again.

I definitely enjoyed my experience here.
Thanks to my buddy Brandon’s recommendation I tried to Fairfax. Corn beef and pastrami together. Yummy!
You get two free cookies when you check in on Unilocal.
The menu is enormous and diverse. You will not be bored eating here.

Love the food and atmosphere! Like a NYC deli restaurant: lively and a bit noisy! Waitress Diane is always friendly and ever so efficient. How could you not like this place?!? And for dessert be sure to check in for some free dynamite choco chip rugelach. Scrumptious!
P. S. Don’t judge the grub by my pics; the camera on my Motorola Defy XT sucks.

This place is a landmark in the city and I’ve always wanted to try it. It’s appeared in some of my favorite movies – most notably Swingers. Plus, it’s open ²⁴⁄₇!
I wanted to try their famous pastrami, but was in the mood for an omelet. So I did the Create-​Your-​Own Omelet with pastrami. The pricing is a little odd though. While most other omelets are around $ 10, the Create-​Your-​Own has a base price of $ 11.50, with $ 1 extra after 3 ingredients. So I got mine with pastrami, turkey, spinach, and Swiss cheese. After subsituting egg whites for regular eggs, it came out to $ 13.50 – $ 2 more than the Deli Omelet with egg whites, which has 5 ingredients – 3 of which are meat types.
Nonetheless, my omelet was amazing! One of the best I’ve had. Possibly top 3 or 5. The pastrami was delicious and full of flavor. The turkey was moist and the egg whites were tasty and buttery as well. The Swiss cheese was melted on top, giving it a uniformity in flavor. The hash browns were also really good! Although the pricing was a little unconventional, it came with a lot of food.
My fiancée ordered the Bacon & Eggs ($ 9.75), which came with toast and hash browns. The eggs were really buttery and good, and the bacon was thick and flavorful.
Also, if you check-​in on Unilocal you get 2 free chocolate chip rhubarb cookies. They were tasty as well.
I’m definitely going back to Canter’s. Besides the retro step-​back-​in-​time atmosphere, this place has some solid menu options and doesn’t just sit back and rest on its laurels, relying on its reputation.

A neighborhood favorite for years!
Never really had a bad experience.
Start with pickles and maybe a chocolate chip Danish. Then have a bowl of matzo ball soup. And perfection!
Menu is big, good deli, delicious bakery. Food is fast. Open ²⁴⁄₇.

The 2016 Unilocal 500, Review #049:
Everyone in the world has written a review about this place, so I will make my review longer than most — I am hoping to make Merideth E., who posted her review just before mine, chuckle… she wrote the opposite in her intro :-)
WHY CANTER’S?:
I have never been here before and the reason I am here is a credit to the movie Swingers (1996 Vince Vaughn/​Jon Favreau).
I watched opening sequence frame-​by-​frame and jotted down all the places featured in it. Canter’s was one of them. I am not sure if the place was added into the sequence for the restaurant or the bar/​live music. I, personally, did food and a peeked into the music scene for a minute.
SIMPLE FOOD MADE SPECIAL:
I ordered a turkey sandwich… one with tomato, pesto and Muenster … oh, and it looked like it was put onto a press that left visually pleasure grill marks on it as it melted the cheese. Chips were abundant soda was from a can with a tumbler full of ice… and because I checked in on Unilocal,I got two free chocolate chip cookies.
Other food on the table included Los Angeles Magazine’s BEST WAFFLE IN LOS ANGELES waffle and a Ruben sandwich. No complaints from anyone.
HARMONY:
Do note that this place has the power to attract the late night celebrity crowd and at the same time locals, both regulars and those who pilgramage here occasionally. Together I watched them hang out at Canter’s an arm length away from each other like it was nothing. Just like back in NYC. Maybe this is why I love this place and L.A. in general.
SIDE NOTE:
There is nothing quite like running into someone that shaped the way you listen to music when you were a teen (and living just outside of NYC) and there is no greater honor that being able to share a few brief words with them in order to convey a sincere, «Thank you.» Canter’s attracted that person when I visted and on the person’s way out I generated a smile from them and received a thank you back.
THE REVIEW:
I enjoyed tasty, well-​prepared food served without much wait time! Oh and my table received great service from Marco and Angel and also a nod to the ladies at both the register and the bakery needs to be made as well. Parking is on the same side of the street, just past the restaurant but, I found a spot in front of the door (Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 0010 hours and again, coincidentally, on Saturday, April 17, 2016 at 0030 hours). Be sure to get validated for the parking — if you are going to the parking lot just aouth of the restaurant.
NEXT TIME…:
I will try the live music/​bar side of things prior to getting my grub on.
Keep it up Canter’s!
(Four stars now, five stars on my next visit). 5… you got it.

Everyone in the world has written a review about this place, so I’ll keep it short.
A fun ²⁴⁄₇ deli that only gets more interesting the later it gets. World class people watching here. Also, the biggest matzo ball I’ve ever seen, floating around in warm broth, cured what ailed me. The egg salad was meh, definitely needed more salt, but the rye was really tasty — just enough flavor without being overwhelming.
My son had a waffle with a side of bacon and the bacon was great. I didn’t get to sample the waffle though, because he snarfed it down too quick. I’ll assume it was pretty good.
Parking is behind the building in a lot. Be sure to get your ticket validated so it’s free. Parking in LA is no joke. You’re going to pay.
It was cool to see the photos of President Obama when he made an impromptu visit in 2014.
Not a short review after all, but an interesting place to visit.

Monday lunch.
Pro– there’s a complimentary parking lot with validation. The pickles are good and fav is Canter Fairfax, meaning pastrami and corn beef sandwich! Staff was friendly and attentive. Plus you can Hollywood star watch like we saw Sean Austin, aka Sam the hobbit.
Con– sandwich was not big enough!

We were recommended this place for the deli, and let me say — the deli was great. I don’t even like Reuben’s, and I liked this one. The pickles are grand, too, and the prices are pretty good. But what I’ll remember it for is the bakery.
It’s worth remembering that I’m from SF, and I really love SF (big surprise, right?). We have a zillion amazing food places… and we have a ton of amazing different bakeries of various ethnicity… so it pains me to say I wish I knew of a place like this closer to home.
High hats. Cheesecake. Cookies. Pastries. Everything was super amazing. I must find a place like this near SF… with the sort of traditional American style that then goes bigger and sweeter and even BETTER, not fancier and smaller…
Don’t get me wrong, fancy and small has its place too, and there are some delightful places like that… but man, do I love Canter’s Deli… this will for sure become a regular stop.

This is just a place to go to because we’ve all heard of Canters. Came here and the Reuben I had was actually pretty good. Very hot and all the right flavors. Think cut steak fries were great too.
I’ll always recommend getting a couple chocolate chip Rugelach’s

Pastrami has always been my favorite deli sandwich but I figured if I’m trying canters then I should really try their corned beef on rye. It doesn’t come with coleslaw or some of the other fancy sides some other delicious delis give you but still I really enjoyed my sandwich and my pickle which does taste homemade. The sandwich is Served warm and really hit the spot.
The chocolate ruglah is also a must! Perfect amount of sweetness and just the right size for after your savory sandwich is done!
Next time I need to try the coleslaw but for my first time this was more then enough food to start with.

My review is for their Matzo ball soup, it’s a old whatever diner, this isn’t a place where you come and have some world class service, u come you eat you leave.
That’s what I did, I’m From New York so when you go to diners you eat and leave, they don’t care about u and don’t want u in there they don’t even like you… So stop your whining from the people below.
Their soup was amazing, I am a broth person so to me the broth is the vehicle that delivers the soup contents. If you like full of flavor broth perfect salt content with delicious matzo giant matzo balls floating around you must try theirs. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

Service was not good.
Hostess not welcoming. Blah apparently she talked to a patron rudely and he was not having it.
Waiter slow. Blah
Food is basic.
Upon leaving to cash out, the cashier was so rude. She didn’t speak, she took my card and then placed it on the counter. I politely asked her to please place the card in my hand. I silently walked off. Because this is how I was treated.
Don’t count on me coming again.
First & last time.

A classic LA spot with a very large menu. 24 hours for breakfast, lunch, or dinner no matter the hour. The freshly baked bread is delicious and they put a lot of meat on their sandwiches. Matzo ball soup is delicious and don’t miss out on the chocolate chip rugelach — beat I’ve ever had!

I’m really not sure what the hell just happened. Literally just called in to place a togo order and the guy on the phone was very rude, saying «we’re not taking togo orders, you can come inside.» Wtf? I’ve been ordering togo and grubhub orders from them for the last couple of years. Never have I heard of such a stupid thing. I mean, why even answer the phone then?!?
I really couldn’t believe that he said no to my togo order, that I asked him 2 more times to make sure that he really isn’t taking pick up orders and that I had to come inside to do it. Each time he answered more rudely than the next.
My husband ended up going in because he wanted the matzo ball soup. ended up talking to the guy that answered the phone and asked why I wasn’t allowed to place the phone order? The guy then begins to aggressively speak to my husband and threatens him by saying, «if you want to be a tough guy, let’s take this outside and I’ll show you what a tough guy is!» Yes that’s right, THREATENS TO TAKE IT OUTSIDE! Are you f-​en kidding me?!? I’m sorry but last I checked being a total asshole and threatening the customer is #1 NOT TO DO in the customer service for dumb a-​hole handbook!
My husband ended up speaking to the manager who was a very sweet woman and tried to make the situation right. But how the hell can you make this right?! I do give her credit for being very pleasant to my husband and quickly taking the guy aside to speak to him.
But sorry Canters love your matzo ball soup. but we won’t be coming back anytime soon if that guy is still there.

Sometimes the old expression give it another chance does not always hold true. Tonight the service was a little better than the prior time but the corned beef was majorly fatttty. It was not tender and basically a waist of $ 15. I guess I just had to learn the hard way.

A Los Angeles landmark that offers one hell of a Pastrami sandwich.
I love a great Pastrami. It should be the perfect balance of salty, peppery, and smoky. It should be succulent and moist, but not wet or greasy. Oh — and the rye should be flavorful enough to lend character to the sandwich. Some people take it with mustard, some with Russian dressing, some like Swiss cheese or cole slaw. There is no silver bullet recipe and that is what makes looking for the best flavor combination of all time a marvelous quest.
Canter’s is the cross town rival to Langer’s and Nora Ephron’s called Langer’s the «the finest hot pastrami sandwich in the world» in The New Yorker back in 2002. That is pretty impressive considering a NYC native made the remark. Also, Canter’s wait staff feels like part of the legend and rumor has it that they actually share employees with Langer’s. The restaurant is massive and offers two separate dining rooms, an old school bar that Guns ‘N Roses apparently enjoyed chilling at in the 80’s and even a full sized bakery. I walked in on a Sunday afternoon and the place was packed. I was still seated within five minutes and sipping on a Ballast Point Sculpin while watching the NFL playoffs.
Let us get down to the sandwich:
The Pastrami itself is a monster of gastronomy — thick cut and the perfect amount of saltiness, and not at all fatty. The Pastrami meat is solid and deserves it’s reputation. Canter’s rye bread, though, is the stuff dreams are made of. Moist and exploding with flavor and the most amazing crunchy crust I’ve ever experienced (Yes, better than Kat’z). I never even knew I liked rye bread that much until I bit into this sandwich. If nothing else The Canter’s wins the in the bread arena of the Pastrami war.
On to the direct comparison. Is Canter’s better than Langer’s? No, it is not. But it is still a great Pastrami and deserves it’s position in the «Big 3» of LA’s Pastrami scene along with Langer’s and Wexler’s. Don’t take my word for it, go and see for yourself.

I come here a lot for comfort food.
Like the soups
Pickled tomatoes
Pastrami sandwiches
Thanksgiving dinner
Open 24 – 7
Service is usually nice and fast

I’m giving 3 stars because they do have some good eats here. Their matzo ball & kreplach soup is amazing, but their corned beef only gets 1 star.
I seriously don’t understand all the 5 star reviews for their corned beef sandwich. It’s like chewing on old rubber labia. If you truly love corned beef do yourself a favor and go down the street to Magee’s at the Farmer’s Market — that is The Best corned beef sandwich. Seriously, that shit will melt in your mouth. But if you like chewing on old rubber labia, Canter’s corned beef is your go to spot!

OUTSTANDING! I literally had been waiting for 20 years to go to this place and finally got the chance fo go. I took my family of four in the heart of dinner time and got a table withim 5 minutes despite the fact they were packed. You can tell they train their staff well in all facets of the restaurant business. I took a few moments to just sit and watch the workers and everyone helps eachother out. If a piece of trash hit the ground it was up within a minute, the wait staff was attentive and knew the expansive menu well. The quality of the food is top notch from the dinned menu to the bakery.
I ordered the Corned Beef Reuben, it tasted as great as it looked. The price is on point, they load the meat on, they rye is fresh baked and the saurkraut is killer. I could go on and on, but I won’t.
I highly recommend this restaurant. When you are done eating go buy the Canter’s Coffee Cake, it’s excellent! Also keeo your eye out for a possible celebrity sighting or some writers collaborating… This place is a Hollywood staple!

This place is an institution! I’ve been here many times for either a late night breakfast or business lunches and have never been disappointed. The wait staff are always friendly and enthusiastic regardless of the time of day. I’ve always found parking on Fairfax without a problem. I look forward to coming back again.

Love canters. I literally drive all the way from the inland empire which is over an hour away just to eat here.
I finally tried a different sandwich other than the rubens.
Got the fairfax, pastrami and roast beef on a rye bread with a side of Potatoe salad. You can’t substitute fries instead FYI. We also got a side of sweet Potatoe fries which are really good here.
The pastrami melts, literally melts in your mouth. The corned beef is super soft and has a very great smokey taste to it. Best corned beef I’ve had.
Love coming here, maybe next time I’ll step out of my comfort zone and get something else

If you’re from New York like my wife and miss their style of food, Canter’s has that New York flavor you’ll absolutely love. Their restaurant is large and warm with the front area boasting with all sorts of wonderful pastries that you would find in a New York bakery. I also love their ceilings with their autumn colored glass, casting the entire place in a beautiful light.
As for some menu suggestions, the potato pancakes and chicken milanese are some of my favorites. I would go with their some of their dinner selections since you get a soda, a side dish, your entrée, and a choice of dessert for about $ 15. It’s a fantastic deal in my opinion! It is a wonderful 24 hour spot and one of my favorites after a sporting event or a concert.

From what I saw, this is a fantastic place for a Halloween midnight snack when you are trashed. Haha! Lots of entertainment!
My friends and I got here around 12:30 and didn’t sit until about 1:15 cause the lines were long and no one was getting up from the booths. But like I said, there were people in costume and everyone was having a great time so waiting wasn’t a big deal.
The place hasn’t been renovated since the 60’s or 70’s by the looks of it. They have the take out deli up front and the dining hall in the back. They have two separate dinning halls for the masses but still long lines during holiday nights.
I probably wouldn’t want to come back here unless I was in the neighborhood and it was the only place open for a cup of coffee and some midnight breakfast. The food was decent but service was slow, plates/​utensils were grimy, and tables were messy. *I know it was a holiday night, but still I expect a clean table. The food was basic diner food.
Careful with the Ubers — they are littered around the front picking people up and dropping them off. They don’t care much for pedestrian safety (ironically). :(Especially on busy nights.

One of my alltime favorite LA spots. Easily of of the best 24 hour spots in Southern California. The Canter’s Fairfax is world class and the baked goods are magical when fresh. Parking can be a pain, but the pastrami is always great and worth it. Rugala and black and white cookies… do it.

I ordered delivery from Canters through Door Dash (a great service). My husband got the ½ chicken soup w/​matzoh & noodles, and I got the large lox & bagel platter. We both LOVED our meals!
The chicken soup came in a huge container (well worth $ 16), and it was just what you need when you’re feeling tired and run down. The lox & bagel platter came with 2 bagels and tons of lox, together w/​cream cheese, capers, tomato, lettuce & onion (will ask for no onions next time).
They sent us utensils and napkins in the bag, as well. Apparently, this place is open 24 hours, so I’ll definitely check it out in person. The menu has a fair amount of selection, but be prepared to pay $ 15+ per person.

Canters is good, but it wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary. I ordered a pastrami sandwich with a side of potato salad, however it was a bit plain. I would recommend a pastrami melt if you want a little more flavor.
Me and my girlfriend came and spent about $ 50, which is a bit pricey. There are better deli’s in the valley.
Aaron J. Singer
Business Banking
Greater Los Angeles
818.912.9185

It’s a legend and the food is great. I like the old feel of this restaurant. I ordered the pastrami ruben and it was just as great as you would expect it to be. The bread was grilled and the cheese melted all over the place, just the way I like it!
If you check in on Unilocal,you get two free chocolate chip rugulas! Thank you!
You have to eat there if you live in Los Angeles, it’s the rules.

Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and those delicious pickles. It’s all I need to live.
At $ 16.00, it was good value as it was enough to easily feed 2 people.
The cashier system is a joke, but some folks like it old school.
I gazed longingly at the baked goods, but managed to resist.
Parking is validated.

As an LA native and now frequent visitor, I’ve been to plenty of LA delis and have my favorites. However, I’d never been to Canter’s (I don’t think) and after spending an evening going in and out of doughnut, cookie, and ice cream stores with my dessert-​loving friend, we needed to end the evening with more filling and wholesome savory food. Canter’s was an easy choice and didn’t disappoint.
Vegetarian vegetable soup — thick, packed with veggies and yummy
Hot pastrami sandwich — delicious pastrami, great rye bread… who needs more?
Afterward, we stopped by the bakery case (why? because that’s who we are). I am a sucker for good chocolate chip danish and Diamond, just down the street, is where my family usually goes. But I wanted to try Canter’s…and wow was it amazing. I could taste a little orange zest in there too but this might be the new gold standard of Jewish-​bakery-​style chocolate chip danish.

People talk about it and raveeeeeeeeee about it. Well this lady here, will not be ravin’ about it. The food was alright. I tried some of their «famous» meat things and liked them but wouldn’t brave the high traffic streets for it.
I got the Reuben which was good and I paired it with a side of potato salad which wasn’t good, sadly. The potato salad was dull and didn’t have much flavor to it. My boyfriend went with the pastrami cheeseburger which was probably a bit better than the Reuben and paired it with steak fries. We also opted for a bowl of matzo ball soup which was probably the highlight of our meal. It was delicious and made me wish I just got a bowl of that.
The location is pretty big. They have a bakery, deli, and two rooms full of tables and booths. They offer free 90 minute parking with validation in a lot right next door, super convenient if you ask me. They are also open ²⁴⁄₇ which might be the reason Canter’s is still around and popping.
Overall
Meh

I wrote a review about some boiled chicken i ate at a restaurant in Taiwan that left me totally nauseated… Well, insert THAT REVIEW HERE for the ½ plate of chicken Canter’s serves…
From the looks of my last review, I would never ever set foot in this place again, or even LOOK AT IT, as I travel down Fairfax everyday… However, man friend is on the hunt for the best burger in LA, since his beloved Burger Lounge has seemed to close down, so he forced me to go back to Canter’s with him, after I told him the last time I went… It left a bad taste in my mouth (literally). Love makes you do crazy things?
Any who… The last time I was here, I was trying to decide between the salmon and chicken plate and I went for the chicken that comes with a side of hummus and a side of eggplant salad… And after waiting quite some time (definitely enough time to COOK A CHICKEN ALL THE WAY THROUGH– with a bit of crispy skin) our meals finally arrived (he ordered the American burger).
The chicken that landed in front of me looked so unappetizing from the GET GO but I try not to judge «books by their covers» thus I dove in… My mistake. Sure the chicken was juicy but that’s partly because it was undercooked, the skin was mushy and the meat tasted kind of ROTTON!!! Even though I ate it, it was very unsettling and made feel feel sick… Thankfully, out of sight out of mind, and I wound up eating DELICIOUS SUSHI for dinner, thus this mistake of a meal was forgotten for the rest of the day, but man oh man… Whenever I see chicken again (which I happen to love), I’m going to think of this disgusting mess of raw chicken sitting in front of me… Bleh!
Okay, that’s it. NEVER AGAIN will I go to Canter’s and no amount of forcing or LOVE will

My friends and I came here on Friday night. Diner food is pretty great (as far as I’m concerned!), and although I’ve known about Canter’s Deli for a while I’d never stepped inside.
It is darling! I love old-​school diners, so this was up my alley. All those baked goods, calling out my name! And that menu. It took us ages to decide what to order: D
I chose the Lox Benedict, with hash browns. YUM. SO good, I may just type the rest of this review in caps lock ;) But I won’t.
The waitstaff were quick and attentive — thanks guys! (Our waiter’s name was Brian. Thank you for recommending the Lox Benedict!)
Oh, and don’t forget to check in via Unilocal for your chocolate chip rugelach. It’s really good dipped in coffee!

Geheimtipp unseres privaten LA-​Guides! Echtes Diner, ursprüngliches Essen, Burger vom Feinsten, Free Refill, genauso wies seit Jahrzehnten ist. Und dazu noch ein Deli mit leckeren Backwaren, die Pickles sind auch klasse!
Der Sohn des Hauses ist ein enger Freund der Guns’n’Roses und hat ein tolles Buch veröffentlich was man sogar signiert im Shop erstehen kann.
Best Choice: California Burger!