Warrior vs. Langer's: threat or menace

I understand where you are coming from with this philosophy and I think it makes sense in certain contexts. For example, in a team sport where your weakest link is a disadvantage that can be exploited. But when it comes to a restaurant? I don’t think it makes sense. I go to restaurants for the dishes that I eat, not for the dishes that I don’t eat. The dishes that I don’t eat don’t impact me at all.

And if this is your measure, is there a single (classic) Jewish deli in the world that is better than “mediocre Americana trash”? With menus as extensive as are characteristic of the Jewish deli, there are always bound to be at least some dishes that are mediocre or worse.

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I think it does apply to some restaurants - like adding an obligatory menu item to please a specific group while putting no effort into making it taste good. Example: most chicken tacos at taco trucks are dry & flavorless. But I don’t think that applies to Langer’s or other large menu restaurants that are great but bound to have a few clunkers.

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It’s not really “fair” at all–a balanced take would be to also make a judgement based on the strongest dishes as well so that one sees the restaurant holistically.

FWIW, I actually like ordering the ubiquitous chicken (sometimes roasted, maybe boiled :nauseated_face:) dish every chance I get because I’ve found that it’s sort of a blank slate for a particular restaurant to put it’s spin on.

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This standard doesn’t really make sense as applied to a number of restaurants that have particular specialties. For instance, there are restaurants like Pailin that truly specialize in Northern Thai cuisine, and reach soaring heights. But they also serve some shitty basic options like egg rolls and other stuff needed to pay the bills and appeal to a broader community of people that just find them on Postmates on a random Tuesday night.

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If this line of reasoning is used for In-N-Out, then the sad fries there by definition make it a crappy burger joint.

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Mediocre California trash IMO. Chipotle >>> InO

Or sofritas at your beloved chipotle! @warrior

Sofritas are terrible… And I like Tofu… Steak or go home.

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Am I an outcast b/c I think actually think the Chipotle sofrita isn’t bad? :frowning:

The fries aren’t sad if you think of them as weird, salted potato shavings! :slight_smile:

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Warrior: even I don’t like the sofritas very much. But I think a Chipotle chicken burrito with beans (pinto or black), brown rice, hot salsa, and fresh guacamole is solid quality and reasonably healthy. I think the quality level is higher than Sugarfish, which seems to be what people are objecting to.

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Langer’s

Warrior: 4/10. Today’s order from Langer’s is not good, in my opinion. The lox bagel is acceptable. The bagel has a touch of maltiness but is otherwise dry and lacking flavor. I like that the lox isn’t too salty, but it is very bland for some reason. Wexler’s would be a much better delivery option for a lox bagel. The salad with iceberg lettuce, canned black olives, etc. isn’t acceptable to me.

Lox bagel
Salad

of course not, it’s americana trash. why would it be good?

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You order a salad at Langers what did you expect here? Did you expect everything to be from Santa Monica’s Farmers Market or something?

I don’t understand why you don’t order a restaurant’s specialty. Than fault them for eating something they are not really known for. That is one of the great things about eating in LA is a lot of places specialize or do certain things very well. There could be some hidden gems in the menu I guess.

If I wanted bagels I would get Courage or Murray’s. If I wanted a 10/10 salad I would go to a Farmers Market or something.

Maybe you should lower your expectations on certain menu items.

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Looks great!

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And you wonder why the thread blew up…?

I think it’s totally fine and valid to report on random menu items. I still disagree that the restaurant as a whole should be judged by that.

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You have a thread full of peeps recommending good things on Langer’s menu but you order two things nobody has mentioned. Is that on purpose?

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Knish Nosh?

Warrior: hi TheCookie. I explained this above. We generally avoid eating red meat. There was a debate about whether a restaurant should be judged on its full menu or its signature item. Some people argued that Langer’s actually has quality items across the board, which is what induced me to try Langer’s again. For this particular delivery, I ordered the items that suited my dietary preferences (these were pretty much the only ones) and rated the delivery based on those items, which I thought sucked (consistent with my experiences at Langer’s 14 years ago, when I wrote it off as a restaurant I would never return to). I have no doubt the pastrami sandwich is amazing given all the raves. Peony and I might try it just for science.

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Yes, I got that you avoid red meat. But quickly perusing this and the Langer’s thread, I’ve read good things about the tuna melt, whitefish, turkey sandwich, big “soft, pillowy” matzo balls (possibly mediocre broth), deliciously fluffy egg salad and that rye bread! I’m not suggesting this is enough for you to go out of your way to ever order anything from Langer’s again. Honestly, I think delicatessens aren’t for you and that’s cool. But what’s the point of being on a food board if you’re only interested in your own opinions? Calling a place “Americana trash” because you don’t eat the things they’re famous for is kinda wack.

P.S. I too try to avoid red meat when possible (hard when you live with an uber-carnivore), but I break that rule for Langer’s pastrami and plan to try the corned beef too! :wink:

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Warrior: some of that stuff (e.g., whitefish) is not on the DoorDash delivery menu. And other stuff I didn’t want to eat. I ordered the stuff on the menu I wanted to eat, it wasn’t good, and I reported on that. People could just politely make their point that other things on the menu are good instead of attacking me. I’ve done nothing wrong.

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