Manny’s Gourmet

I work a block from here. It’s a little expensive, but this place is very different than the standard «gourmet deli» joint for several reasons:
1) The quality of the food. Yes, the sandwiches are made from your standard Boar’s Head meat, but everything else, the rolls, the hot peppers, the way the put the sandwich together so that all the proportions come out right, is appreciably better than your standard New York corner store sandwich. This is the first of these stores I’ve been to that puts real, marinated hot peppers on your sandwich rather than peppers pickled in formaldehyde. Not only can you taste the difference, you can tell the sandwich is going to taste better as soon as you look at it.
2) This is the first gourmet deli I’ve been to that offers Yemeni food. I rarely indulge because it’s too heavy for my current health kick, but it’s quite good here.
3) The owner is a really nice guy who loves to give out free samples of his new food offerings.

Update– looks like the Health Department closed them down tonight– was walking past and saw the huge NYC DOH signs plastered on the door– CLOSED… I went back later to see if there was a reason written and they were replaced by handmade signs saying closed and under new ownership. I bet its the same clueless yo yos that run it though.

This place just opened a couple of days ago. I decided to try it out because of the 30 percent discount. I ordered a chicken Ceasar wrap to go which was $ 5.49. I also got a bag of chips. The place looks nice, but at the same time a little disorganized. There is absolutely too much stuff going on in there. Hot food, sandwiches, gelato, smoothies, etc. The counter seem flustered with a customer that was giving him a hard time. I can guarantee that the place will be robbed soon the way the register was positioned.
When I got to my office and sat down to eat my wrap, it was a hot mess. Who put this sh*t together? It tasted ok, but it was not wrapped well so everything fell out. I have had jumbo sized burritos from Chiplotle’s that have not fallen apart on me. I wish one of those gourmet delis from Williamsburg would take its place like Mr. Pina.