By Pam George
At Lucky’s Coffee Shop in Talleyville, don’t rely on the menu to describe a Reuben’s ingredients. The writeup reads: “It’s a classic! So, if you don’t know what it is, just ask your server.” The listing for the BLT is equally cheeky: “It’s also a classic … but this one you shouldn’t need to ask about.”
Customers may beg to differ. An increasing number of restaurants are adding items to tried-and-true recipes — even Lucky’s, which puts cranberry-garlic aioli on the turkey club.
Classic or updated, there are at least six standard sandwiches in our area’s delis, sub shops and casual restaurants: egg or chicken salad, the club, the BLT, the Reuben, and pastrami or corned beef. Here’s where to find your favorites.
‘Salad’ in a Sandwich
Lettuce is clearly not a requisite for egg or chicken salad sandwiches. Blame mayonnaise, which was once considered salad dressing. Anything mixed with it became a salad. (Waldorf salad, anyone?)
In the U.S., chicken salad recipes first appeared in 19th-century Southern cookbooks, including Sarah Rutledge’s The Carolina Housewife: Or, House and Home (1847) and Abby Fisher’s What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking (1881). One of the earliest printed recipes for egg salad sandwiches appeared in the 1896 edition of The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Farmer.
In their pure form, chicken and egg salad include mayo and celery — that’s it. “Our egg salad has only a few ingredients, but you wouldn’t believe how much we sell,” says Jo Garwood, who’s worked at Bachetti Bros.’ deli counter for more than 16 years.
The approach is so simple that it’s hard to imagine what differentiates a good egg salad from a bad one. However, Bon Appetit magazine stands by firm yolks and high-quality mayonnaise. Instead of celery, Bon Appetit’s recipe uses scallions.
Some people incorporate mustard, and that’s a tame addition. At Good Ease in Talleyville, chicken salad includes cranberry and pecans, while Greenhill Deli and Pizza in Wawaset invites customers to include onions, pickles, peppers and cheese.
The bread can also make a difference. Cantwell’s Tavern in Odessa puts its roast chicken salad on rye, but Smiley’s Diner in Newark spoons chicken salad on a croissant with bacon, lettuce and tomato. Buckley’s Tavern in Centreville also uses a croissant. However, the mix includes curried chicken, walnuts and dried cranberry, which co-owner Tom Hannum says is a top seller.
Similarly, The Pub at Frog Hollow in Middletown blends roast chicken breast with fresh dill, sweet dried cranberries and mayonnaise and tops it with lettuce and tomato. “The ingredients hit all the notes I like in a good chicken salad,” says Executive Chef Marie Cropper. “We grill the sourdough, so it’s a nice warm, toasty crunch.” The sandwich’s name, The Bushwood, is a nod to the country club in the 1980 comedy Caddyshack.
In The Club
Speaking of country clubs, the Saratoga Club House in Saratoga Springs and the Union Club claim bragging rights to this double-decker sandwich, which traditionally includes turkey, bacon, lettuce and tomato. Because Sarasota Springs served the sandwich with chicken, some say “club” stands for “chicken and lettuce under bacon.” Pickles & Chips in Brandywine Hundred specializes in chicken salad, so of course, it’s a club sandwich option. Or choose ham-and-cheese, tuna, turkey or roast beef.
The possibilities are numerous. “We cut to order so we can do anything,” Garwood agrees. “You can get turkey, ham, roast beef or a little bit of everything.” To be sure, the club is a platform for creativity. For instance, Brew HaHa!’s Greenville location features the Delaware Club: turkey, Gouda, peppered bacon, avocado mash, lettuce, tomato and garlic mayonnaise on multigrain toast.
In May, Mickey Donatello of Corner Bistro in Talleyville will debut a new menu with a grilled chicken club layered with avocado, mayonnaise, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and Havarti. He hasn’t decided on bread.
The new Hayworth & Finch in Trolley Square also uses grilled chicken for its club, which includes candied bacon, avocado slices, tomato, shredded and iceberg lettuce and mayonnaise on a toasted brioche bun.
Better With Bacon
Purists might maintain that H&F’s sandwich is more of a BLT than a club; it only has two pieces of bread. However, the BLT likely evolved from the club. The ingredients — bacon, lettuce and tomato — have been around for some time. Bu the term BLT didn’t become popular until after
World War II. Post-war supermarkets made the ingredients more readily available. (Granted, customers had to cope with mealy out-of-season tomatoes, which is still the case.) As for the initials, credit the servers’ shorthand on an order pad.
A BLT is a breakfast dish with a few changes. For instance, Cosmo’s Restaurant will put the ingredients on an English muffin or bagel. Add avocado if you wish. The White Dog Café in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, adds avocado spread, fried eggs and spicy aioli. It comes on toasted brioche. Nearby PureBread Deli, which has five locations, tweaks the original with the Vizsla sandwich: smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado and mayo on focaccia bread.
Bacon is meat enough for many. Some chefs prefer a second protein. For instance, Bank’s Seafood Kitchen on the Riverfront puts turkey on its BLT, which otherwise is a classic — right down to the white bread toast. Brandywine Brasserie in Wilmington makes chicken the star. The bacon is double-smoked, and the spread is a lemon-garlic aioli on sourdough.
But one of the more popular — and interesting — embellishments is salmon. Dorcea in Wilmington’s Midtown Brandywine section grills its salmon and uses Dijonnaise instead of plain mayo.
“We were looking for a way to get a distinct seafood sandwich on the menu,” says co-owner Tony Bomba. “Salmon pairs well with a BLT.”
The folks at Ashby Hospitality Group must agree. The company’s McGlynns Pub blackens the salmon, served on rye with lemon-dill aioli. Ashby’s newest acquisition, Stanley’s Tavern, grills Faroe Island salmon. Both establishments use a brioche roll.
The Renowned Reuben
Like many classic sandwiches, the Reuben also has multiple origins. Many credit Reuben — or Reubin — Kulakofsky, a Lithuanian-born Jewish grocer in Omaha. Reportedly, he created the sandwich for poker players in the 1920s. The game took place at the Blackstone Hotel, and the owner liked it so much that he put it on the hotel menu.
Others praise Arnold Reuben, the German-Jewish owner of Reuben’s Delicatessen in New York. When Broadway actress Marjorie Rambeau paid a late-night visit, Reuben used available pantry supplies to create the sandwich. (Some believe the creator was Alfred Scheuing, a chef at Reuben’s.)
The Reuben at Charcoal Pit.
Goober’s classic version includes corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing on rye bread. Some restaurants use Russian dressing. What’s the difference? Thousand Island includes pickle relish and is sweeter, while Russian is spicier.
You’ll also find a traditional Reuben at the Charcoal Pit of all places. “A lot of people come in specifically for the Reuben, and outside of our traditional fare — cheeseburgers, cheesesteaks — it’s our most popular sandwich,” says Zach Busby, who leads the marketing for Capano Management, which owns the restaurant. “We go through roughly 45 pounds of corned beef a week.”
The Old Faithful is also offered at Two Stones Pub locations, which puts the meat on marble rye.
The Rachel, meanwhile, is made with roast turkey, coleslaw or sauerkraut, Russian and Swiss. Some maintain that this combo is a California Reuben. A Rachel has coleslaw instead of sauerkraut. Drip Café in Hockessin relies on roast turkey and an apple-cabbage slaw for its Rachel served on pumpernickel rye.
Avoid “name calling” at Capriotti’s, which sells the Cole Turkey, a roast turkey sub with coleslaw, provolone, Russian dressing and mayonnaise. Similarly, PureBread Deli dubbed its Reuben the Irish Setter.
Cropper at The Pub at Frog Hollow favors thinly sliced corned beef and house-made Thousand Island dressing with hard-boiled eggs. A dash of Sriracha is the finishing touch.
The Deli Delights
Corned beef and pastrami are the OGs of the deli world. The first is beef brisket cured in spices and large salt grains, known as “corns.” Pastrami is also a cured meat, typically brisket. But after brining, the meat is smoked and steamed. The techniques preserved meat in the days before refrigeration.
For a cold corned beef special, try the sandwich at Gaudiello’s in Trolley Square, which is essentially a cold Rachel. When it comes to pastrami, Stanley’s sticks to the classics — a half pound of house-cured and smoked pastrami on rye with mustard. Great Big Jerk in Wilmington folds its hot pastrami on a hoagie roll with coleslaw and American cheese.
The options are welcome considering that you must go north to Philly or south to the beach to find anything resembling a Jewish deli. When the craving for pastrami or corned beef strikes, these calorie-rich sandwiches will do the trick.
Above: The Reuben at Charcoal Pit.
Pam George has been writing about Delaware’s dining scene for two decades, and in 2023 received a Community Impact Award from the Delaware Restaurant Association. She is also the author of Shipwrecks of the Delaware Coast: Tales of Pirates, Squalls and Treasure, Landmarks & Legacies: Exploring Historic Delaware, and First State Plates: Iconic Delaware Restaurants and Recipes. She lives in Wilmington and Lewes.