Weintraub’s Jewish Delicatessen

My family has been going to Weintraub’s for years! It’s pretty much a requirement that if we’re passing through central MA, we must stop at Weintraub’s! It’s no fancy shmancy establishment, but for what Weintraub’s is… it’s great!
Genuine Jewish deli foods at super cheap prices with lovely service is what you can expect! The old school deli counter, checkered walls, and history of the area hanging on the walls brings some wonderful nostalgia.
Since I don’t go here too often, I usually end up getting the same thing to get my Weintraub’s fix — potato pancakes, cup of cabbage soup, hot pastrami on light rye, and a Dr. Brown’s cream soda. Oh and of course the yummy half sour pickles on the table as well! The potato pancakes are always so perfectly golden and the applesauce complements them well. The cabbage soup always warms me up. And the pastrami sandwich is always perfection! The sandwich is definitely on the small side, so I’d recommend getting some apps/​soup/​etc to go with it like I do.
Eating that meal at Weintraub’s always brings me back to a feeling of pure joy! If I know I will be up in the area, going to Weintraub’s is just the icing on the cake!

I have been going there for many years. I remember the son of the original owner who sold it 25 years ago to the bus boy David. He has poor attitude and does not speak. When he was the bus boy he threw the bus tray as he was apparently disgusted about something. Weintraub just gave him a long look. That was when the place did a great business. Nobody goes there anymore. The food is still good but I eat alone, nobody else there. The pickles looked like they were cut a week ago, all shrivled up slices. I wonder how filthy the kitchen must be. My soup came from upstairs in the back across from the filthy bathroom. The soup was great though and so was the corned beef. A couple of months ago I ordered the hard salami and the waitress asked me if I want anything on it, I just gave her a look. She suggested lettuce & tomato with mayo for my Kosher hard salami? So, speaking of goyum. The other review from another patron says they don’t have cheese? Let me explain, they of course have cheese there, but it’s a Kosher place so you can’t have it on your corned beef or any beef. They will make you a grilled cheese sandwich if you like. Don’t order bacon either, it’s not Kosher and that is something that do not have. Don’t ask for ham either please, it’s not Kosher. Some goyum are so stupid.

FANTASTIC JEWISH DELI… authentic, cheap, fresh and delicious, a truly Worcester establishment

Worst dive I have ever been in. The history behind the business makes it a local icon, but that is where it ends. Nostalgia from a by-​gone era. The place reeks of spicy mustard and old grease. The guy who runs the joint, David, made several sandwiches while we were there, yet never washed his hands. Our waitress reeked of alcohol and was visibly impaired at 1 p.m. in the afternoon. In addition, we watched the owner sweep up coleslaw that fell to the floor, put it in a silver serving dish and back in the fridge. What???

I must admit, being a Weintraub myself, I am biased. But the charm of this deli, and the incredible food, is hard to deny.
Try the chopped liver or corned beef :) you won’t regret that.
Can’t wait for my next visit.

When I graduated from college, life decreed that I’d start my professional career in of all places…(ta dah!) Worcester! It was the late 1970’s.
I lived really close to a funky part of town just off Kelly Square, and the centerpiece of this area was an awesome street named Water Street. It had two bakeries, a Lebanese-​Syrian grocery store, and Weintraub’s Deli.
There were 3 or 4 eerily similar looking brothers that ran Weintraub’s, and we were in there every Sunday to buy something or other– either some corned beef or smoked salmon, or great Kosher bologna.
We were on our way to Framingham today, and with some time to spare, we diverted onto Route 290 to swing by and see if Weintraub’s was still open after all these years. We were so thrilled to see they were still in business. Water Street has changed a lot– all sorts of bars and taverns and even a hookah lounge. I was so happy to see that Weintraub’s is hanging tough.
It still looked the same; the booths and pictures on the walls didn’t look too different from the way we remembered the place. Sad to say the place was all but empty.
We nostalgically picked up a half pound of bologna, a quarter pound of smoked salmon, and a potato knish for about $ 13.
We told the old guy working the counter that we used to be regular customers about 35 years ago. He gave us the saddest smile of acknowledgement.

Corned beef sandwich was small but tasty. Gratis bowl of pickles were great. However. The potato kinish was inedible. It had mush for crust, like it was microwaved raw. Really disgusting.

A shadow of its former self, pricey for what you get and just not a great sandwich anymore. Maybe I’m a product of the «super size» generation, but the sandwiches here are similar to what you’d make at home.

Unfortunately, this place is downright awful. As someone from Boston who loves NY Deli’s, I struggle in Boston as it is; although Sam Lagrassa’s and Mike Sobelman’s deli in Brookline is pretty good. But Weintraub’s, it is terrible. The place is dirty, the food is lackluster, and the portions wouldn’t fill my neighbors cat.

Fantastic place to check out in Worcester. Great delis are hard to find in Mass but this place has it all. From homemade pickles at the table go to fresh corner beef and pastrami on rye. Their chopped liver was was fantastic. Cabbage soup had a soulful home feel to it.

Weintraub’s simply put is a myth. You ask people about this place and they’ll tell you a 100 different stories. Many have either never been inside the place or were too mystified by the old school tile work and pictures of Bob Kraft to notice that their is absolutely nothing special about the food here.
The biggest myth about this place is that it has the best corn beef and pastrami in town. Many believe this because they think the place makes its own. Bullshit! Weintraub’s has as good a pastrami or corn beef sandwich as anyone that carries Hebrew National because that is all it is. Of course you do get the pleasure of paying twice as much as you would anywhere else. That is, if you buy it by the pound. If you’re actually dumb enough to buy a sandwich, they’ll take a couple pieces that have been stuck in between the blade of the slicer for a few days, stick it on a day old Widoff’s bulkie and then take your first born as payment. If you want cheese, don’t bother to ask, they refuse to put it on their sandwiches.
Soups like sandwiches are way overpriced and seem to be far from special. Kid behind the counter claimed it was homemade, but if it was i would rather just get the fancier canned shit. If you’re gonna half-​ass a chicken soup you might as well not try.
Originally i was going to give this place two stars because food quality at least merits that, but based on fake mystique surrounding this place and the obvious efforts of the owner to capitalize on that, I can’t.

My family and I have been going here for years. The hot turkey sandwich and kosher pickles are still BEYOND delicious. Being able to have a Dr. Brown, look at old pictures, and eat delicious Jewish food with the fam twenty five years later makes this place a staple in our restaurant history. Dad went there since he was a little boy and I followed. If you don’t have time to sit and eat, get a yummy sandwich or tasty quart of soup to go. They also deliver and Dave, the owner, still treats his clients the best! A MUST HAVE for Worcesterites or those stopping in.

I happen to stumble upon this place last weekend and I’m so glad I did! This place doesn’t look like much from the outside (or inside for that matter) but the food is worth it! They’ve been in business since the 30’s I believe and they serve up awesome, fresh, inexpensive eats! They put pickles on your table upon sitting down– we asked for seconds they were so good. I had the pastrami on rye with onions and spicy mustard– I would have had cheese but they don’t serve any. It’s odd– a deli with no cheese but I honestly didn’t miss it! The waitress actually told us the cheese thing has to do with it being all kosher and if people bring in cheese it’s kind of offensive and they a charged like .25 cents for the plate the cheese touches? Interesting but wouldn’t turn me off from going again when I’m in the area!
All in all worth it!

The best Deli in Massachusetts! The delicious mouth watering pastrami will bring you back to eating with your grandparents as a child. This place is authentic and I am so glad I have a place like this to go to in a state with some of the worst bagels I ever had, hahahaha. The owner is very nice and the service is very quick.

I was officially in Worcester for a hot dog tour but there were a few side trips on the way. We hadn’t even intended to stop at Weintraub’s but since Widoff’s was across the street, we passed by on the way.
The two reasons I went in?
A. When we passed the first time, a gentleman was leaving. The aroma that wafted after him was incredibly delicious & enticing.
B. On the way back, I saw a sign in the window that advertised Hebrew Nationals.
That was enough to convince me. Since I was on a hot dog tour, I just *had* to stop in for a dog. I also got some bread pudding to go. The dog was yummy and the specials board (plus the wonderful smells) are enough to get me back in on my next trip.
I would have tried more but I had to leave room for the dogs. One pieve of advice, I’d skip the bread pudding. It was just meh.

Stopped in to Weintraub’s for lunch yesterday. The place is another Worcester institution, operating at this same location since the 1920’s. The waitress told me the current owner has been here for 22 years.
In a word, the sandwiches are awesome. A little pricey for the portion you get, but incredibly tasty. Most of the deli meats (roast beef, brisket, corned beef, tongue and turkey) are home made.
I usually order the roast beef on dark rye, and did so this time. It is so good, I haven’t tried any of the other sandwiches. The meat is lean and moist. Melts in your mouth. Other places, I usually get lettuce and tomato and mustard. Not here, I enjoy tasting the beef that much. The sandwich was served up with sliced half sour pickles and potato salad.
I also had a cup of mushroom barley soup which was very good. By the way, they always have matzo ball and cabbage soup on the menu, and all the soups are homemade.
The deli has plenty of tables to sit down in, and has been renovated recently. Nothing fancy. Nice old photos of the deli on the wall along with Patriots memorabilia (I hear Pats owner Robert Kraft pops in on occasion).
I’ll come back!

I walked in recently and was pleasantly surprised. It was not dark and dingy like I remember it from my last visit a few years ago. I had run in to pick up a corned beef sandwich while Mrs B was across the street at the bakery.
I was greeted promptly at the counter and was able to watch him slice the meat and prepare my sandwich.
My sandwich was a nice size for the price and was great tasting, though not as good as from Katz’s Deli in NYC (sorry, the NY snob in me). I plan on returning soon to enjoy a sit down meal.

Drove to Worcester to get some hamantaschen at the bakery across the street (which is fantastic), and decided to give this little place a shot, mostly out of nostalgia, but also because my pregnant wife is from NYC and was craving a potato knish. Maybe 4 – 5 words can sum this place up: authentic, dirty, dark, and decent food. Bring wet wipes, hand sanitizer, and your own utensils and glassware.
The food: We had a hot pastrami sandwich on rye (delicious hand-​cut pastrami, but hand-​cut by an older guy with dirty hands and fingernails), a potato knish (which tasted previously frozen, a bit freezer burned, but was OK), matzo ball soup (which was decent but with relatively small balls), potato pancakes/​latkes with applesauce (which were delicious and deep fried), and best of all, DR. BROWN’S SODA (which you can’t mess up, unless you pour it into a somewhat dirty glass, which they did, but it was still damn good)!
The place: Probably about 15 – 20 booths, and 10 or so small tables in the back. Behind the deli glass is a bunch of meats sitting in the dark behind a cloudy and grimy window, and some pickles sitting in brine. Don’t look under your table, or too closely at your table, or you might lose your appetite, we’re talking heaven for cockroaches. Pictures on the walls, mostly from the 60’s make you realize that this place has a rich history and used to be accompanied by a slew of other jewish and eastern european restaurants, bakeries and delis. A little depressing if you think about it. Now there are basically two places left. We went for lunch around 11am and were the only ones there. One person was working, I’m assuming the owner, an older man with a heavy accent. The one with the dirty fingernails and a comb-​over. Nice enough guy, no complaints.
We left full, but feeling kinda (or very) dirty. If you have a baby and need a highchair, bring your own. They have two old dirty and sticky booster seats without seat belts. Next time, we’ll take the extra 15 minutes and drive to Brookline.

There aught to be a word that defines the nostalgia one has for something that one never really experienced themselves, the pretentious faux-​longing for a simpler time I never lived in. That’s how I feel when I walk into Weintraub’s, ugly and unglamorous, gloriously unfashionable, dependable and delicious, straining under the weight of years to remain stubbornly the same as it was sixty years ago.
As one of the last holdouts in what used to be the center of the city’s Jewish community, Weintraub’s is still one of the only places in Worcester that you can get a corned beef and chopped liver sandwich on dark rye. Fresh sliced, top quality red Jewish corned beef stacked high, and a hideous beige lump of chopped chicken liver, studded with hard-​cooked eggs and slathered in spicy mustard from a tableside mustard pot. Floss-​cut coleslaw with the correct balance of sweet and creamy, a bowl of Kosher pickle slices, and obviously a Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda on the side; these are the makings of a truly glorious lunch. It feels honest, somehow, and slightly sad. It’s emptier than it should be. Old ladies come and go as you eat, ordering a pound of potato salad here, a box of knishes there. You are asked with a wink if you saved room for dessert. You didn’t, but you order it anyway, and maybe a second cream soda. The rice pudding, the waitress tells you, is fantastic. She is quite correct, probably because she made it herself not an hour ago; the individual grains, still firm and toothsome, hold up to the rich custardy pudding better than most, despite the unexpected intensity of the vanilla flavor. A few shakes of powdered cinnamon, and you’re as happy as anybody eating crème brûlée at Todd English’s «Finale» ever was.
Look, I know I’m romanticizing this place. I know Dr. Brown is now bottled under the gracious auspices of the Pepsi Corporation, and that they have long since switched to High Fructose Corn Syrup, and I harbor no delusion that an old Jewish grandma chopped up my cole slaw by hand. But there’s just something timeless about this restaurant, something that lets you at least pretend that you’re getting the same experience that folks got in 1940, the year for which there is a large poster of Weintraub’s menu on the wall across from the ancient counter. Ironically, the fact that you need to suspend disbelief to feel it is probably due to the fact that here, it’s sincere. Nobody is spot-​checking them for authenticity. It doesn’t feel old-​timey because some obsessive foodie jewish deli fanatic is trying to recreate the exact experience of 1930’s Water Street; it feels that way because they just do everything the same way they have presumably ever done anything with not an ounce of irony or hipness to contaminate it.
So go find a favorite sandwich here, and maybe help them keep doing it for another six decades. It’s an experience worth repeating, and once these places are gone, they will be gone forever.

I love Weintraub’s. My father took me there as a kid and I have fond memories of traveling with him all over New England and stopping there for a sandwich and a chat with the owner.
Today, the place is a throw-​back to the old delis of the Northeast. It is tired, yes. The meat portions are on the smaller size, yes. But, you are experiencing a truely unique experience that delicious meats, well-​cooked food and friendly service truly makes up for. The prices are reasonable for the food you get.
David and the staff there are Worcester locals and care deeply about your experience. They are fun and friendly.
If you are looking for a gourmet meal, go elsewhere. If you are looking for a good no-​nonsense lunch or dinner with quality… come to Weintraub’s. You will be experiencing a piece of history and will feel richer for it in the end.
Try the cabbage soup with a hot corned beef/​pastrami combo sandwich with potato salad (#7), and french fries. You will leave very satisfied.