Ruven’s (Delray Beach)
***** Ruven’s, 13800 Jog Road, Delray Beach, Florida 33484, (561) 499-9003.
Bingo!— Home Run!
If you are looking for a terrific-New York Kosher Style Deli—your wish has been answered. Say hello, to Ruven’s which opened last Wednesday in Delray Beach. For right now, the joint is open 7 days a week from 8am-3pm—look for “dinner” to be added sometime in late March.
Just some background info… “this” Ruven’s is owned by Steve Ratinetz who in the mid 1990’s-2003 owned/operated Ruven’s in Plainview, New York—which was an absolutely terrific kosher deli. My January 25, 2011 Ruven’s of Long Island writeup- has more “history” if you are a history-buff.
You know and I know, that South Florida has more bagel delis than you can shake a stick at…just for the record, Ruven’s is not and I repeat the word NOT, a bagel deli. For sure, it has the requisite “500” types of bagels, bialys and onion boards—that said, this joint is all about pastrami- corned beef- brisket- turkey- stuffed derma- potato pancakes- blintzes, chopped liver-stuffed cabbage-fried kreplach-matzo ball soup—that rival the best stuff served in NYC, Chicago…or for that matter, anywhere that you formerly called home.
If there is one thing that Jeff Eats knows—it’s good deli.
This afternoon, in no particular order– I did a “taste test” of pastrami, corned beef, brisket, turkey off the bone, matzo ball soup, cabbage soup, stuffed derma, potato pancakes, chopped liver. fried kreplach…absolutely delicious.
Based on Jeff Eats’ “maiden outing”—I’m putting Ruven’s right up there with South Florida’s best New York Kosher Style Delis. Throw-in huge portions at reasonable prices…and I can’t see Ruven’s not quickly developing an enormous following.
You now know about a terrific deli—this one is a keeper!
good deli,
decor a bit too dark
ate there twice before and it was good but this time terrible.chicken on skewer undercooked,tasteless. rice pudding terrible and tasteless. mrg less than amiable. never again
brought food in for passover. delcious turkey and brisket.
highly recommend.
jeff, i live 1 minute from ruven’s. the guy who owns it use to be gm of gramercy bagels right down the road. when he was there he seemed to know what he was talking about.
i’ve had ruven’s pastrami and brisket sandwiches.
very good.
Jeff,
My husband and I have lived in Delray Beach for over 35 years. We are originally from NYC, with my husband coming from Brooklyn and mr from Queens. Over the years, delis and bagel restaurants have come and gone in our area. We probably have eaten in all or most of them in the Boca-Delray area.
We recently tried Ruven’s in Delray for dinner.Rather than bore you with details, our meals were so good, that we catered in food for a small party that we had.
The brisket, turkey, pastrami, corned beef were delicious. Same for the chicken and tuna salads and chopped liver.
All I can say, is that if you are looking for really delicious NY Style Kosher food you have to give Ruven’s a try.
Really enjoy Ruven’s food and special attention that owner Steve seems to pay to every customer.
I got no axe to grind here.
I’ve been in Boca for 22 years.
I love good deli and good bagels.
Ruven’s has delicious deli. As good as Ben’s, Pomperdale etc.
It’s bagels are just passable.
That’s the truth.
Not related to anyone.
their deli meats are excellent.
bagels, rugalh, fair.
slipper girl,
Have to agree with you. Ruven’s deli meats like brisket, turkey, corned beef, pastrami are absolutely delicious. They are better than Ben’s and all of the other delis in the area. Ruven’s bagels, rugalh aren’t all that good. I suspect that they aren’t made in house but bought elsewhere. If I had to make a list for overall delis I would put Ruven’s at or close to the top. Now, that’s really saying something because there are loads of deli competitors in this area.
this is a really good deli.
Jeff,
you got to try the turkey pot pie dinner.
delicious.
Recently took out some food from Ruven’s. Pastrami, corned beef, brisket, turkey, and potato pancakes.
I have eaten in all of the loca spots like Ben’s, Pastrami Queen, Pomperdale, 3 G’s, Too Jays, Poppie’s etc.
Ruven’s food is better than all of them.
I highly recommend that you try Ruven’s.
hands down, best deli in fl
My husband and I ate dinner there last night. Good food. Good service. Nice sized portions. Good prices. What more could you want? We will definitely be back.
one of the best brisket sandwiches i’ve had in a very long time.
food is very good. the owner tries very hard to please.
Last week I had some friends over to watch the Miami/Dallas game. Brought food in from Ruven’s. Chopped liver, brisket, pastrami, white and dark turkey meat, turkey legs, corned beef. The food was really good. I have eaten and taken out from ben’s, Gramercy, 3 G’s, Flakowitz, Pastrami Queen and the food that we had was better than all of them.
This is a new player.
Definitely try Ruven’s.
My wife and I had lunch at Ruven’s. A simple western and she had a caesar grilled chicken salad. Food was good and service extremely pleasant.
Wouldn’t really expect this, but Ruven’s cheeseburger and Nathan’s style French fries are as good as the stuff served at the gourmet burger joints in the area.
Ruven’s the “new kid on the block” is very good. I’ve ate dinner there twice and the food is delicious, the portions huge and the prices super reasonable. I highly recommend that if you like good NYC kosher style food that you give Ruven’s a try.
Thanks,
K.B.C.
Here’s one I’ll bet that no one ever considered.
TRY THE FRIED CHICKEN. It is delicious. One of the best I’ve had in a restaurant.
this has become my favorite nyc kosher style deli.
Ruven’s recently started Turkey Bonanza on Monday & Tuesday Nights. All kinds of entrees based on fresh hand cut roast turkey right in the dining room. Have been there twice and this is one of the best turkeys that I’ve eaten in a very long time.
Both times my wife and I had Dave as the our waiter. Love this guy’s old fashion service. He use to work as a waiter at the Pines Hotel and the Homewack Hotel in NY’s Catskill Mountains.
The combination of delicious food and old “mountain” service is a big time winner.
Try Turkey Bonanza! It is really good and ask for Dave.
the fresh carved turkey is delicious.
tried turkey bonanza, delicious, huge portions, reasonable prices.
Enjoyed the food.
Have to rate it foodwise one of the better delis around.
Have been there five times.
Service is a bit spotty. They got to work on this.
TURKEY NIGHT what a clever idea.
Tried it last week and my wife and I really enjoyed the fresh hand cut off the bone turkey.
Jeff,
Tried Ruven’s.
Enjoyed the fresh turkey off the frame.
Good cole slaw and pickles.
Found the rye bread a bit on the stale side.
The turkey gumbo soup was good but came out luke warm. Had to send it back for reheating.
The french fries were fine.
The derma was terrible. Tasted like someone had mixed sugar into it.
The rugulah is lousy.
Service is ok.
Prices reasonable.
That’s the story.
I have lived in Delray for 25 years, Originally from Brooklyn.
As far as Jewish style Fl. delis go, Ruven’s does a nice job.
I have eaten there a handful of times for both lunch and dinner and the food is good.
Ruven’s has only been up and running for a short time. I think that it will only get better as the owner feels his way for what works and doesnt work.
One thing I am sure of, his turkey, brisket, corned beef and pastrami are as good as it gets in the area.
Ruven’s neighborhood is jammed with NY style delis. 3 gs, gramercy, flakowitz, and tons of bagel places. Huge competition for the dollar.
From: steven ratinetz
Subject: ruven’s
Message Body:
Jeff….it was brought to my attention that you had a bad experience at Ruven’s one night when i was not here, something about an under cooked turkey pot pie. Please allow me to apologize. I would like to invite you back for a turkey pot pie on me. I would also like you to try my chopped liver and stuffed cabbage. Both have been tweaked numerous times and I think I finally perfected it. I haven’t had 1 stuffed cabbage returned since I changed and tweaked the recipe. That goes for the chopped liver as well. Hope to see you in Ruven’s shortly
Your friend
Steve
recently was at a house party where ruven’s supplied sandwiches.
delicious, corned beef, pastrami, chicken and tuna salad.
We live in Delray Beach. We were originally from Plainview, Long Island. There were three Kosher Deli’s in Plainview and Reuvens was the greatest of all three. Steve the owner of Reuven’s moved to Florida and reopened Reuven’s Deli in Delray Beach. He brings the same excellence service and tasty food to Delray Beach. You must try the pastrami, it is extremely tasty and the most delicious pastrami available in Delray, Boca, Boynton and beyond. In my opinion it certainly surpasses Three G’s, Ben’s Deli, Too Jays and Gramacy. All the food I have eaten there is excellent and mouth watering.
The pastrami, corned beef, brisket, and turkey is out of this world. Don’t forget to try the chopped liver and the matzoh ball soup. You will love it. When my family comes to visit from New York, that is where I take them and they love it,
Ruven’s is a very good NYC style deli.
It really is the best of kind in the area.
Good solid food.
If you live in the neighborhood try Ruven’s.
zdog, correct, good solid food. reminds me of the delis of my days in queens circa 1960.
good food and good prices.
solid old favorite food.
reasonable prices.
good place for deli.
I really enjoy Ruven’s.
Nice owner. Good food. Good service. Good prices.
This is a very good Kosher Style NYC DELI.
I enjoy the food.
This comment is for you Jeff, the problem with your site is that most of the comments, Ruvens being a perfect example, are from the owner of the Restaurant himself. By using false names
he is able to praise the restaurant numerous time, with lies about the food and service being the best. I live near Ruvens and it is a known fact that the restaurant is doing poorly and no amount of false praise is going to help him survive.
Sorry Jeff but your site is just a joke because the comments are not given by real customers
Roberta,
I see you called Jeff’s site a joke.
Lady you must be a nut or something.
I dare you to google any restaurant listed on the site and I’ll bet you that Jeff Eats comes up right at the top of the search.
For the record, I am in the advertising business and I happen to know that on average this site draws close to 60,000 different readers a month. That’s enormous traffic.
HELLMAN
Roberta:
Just had a chance to read your post.
Roberta, when “comments” come in, they aren’t automaticaly posted. Jeff Eats checks content, to make sure that they aren’t too over-the-top. I will tell you, very few aren’t printed. We are really into that First Amendment thing.
When the comments are reviewed, the IP adresseses are checked. If a particular IP address shows up too many times on the same review, it might indicate that “someone” is trying to load the dice pro-or-con about a particular restaurant. When Jeff Eats sees that, most of those comments aren’t printed.
On Ruven’s…unless the owner has a “ton” of IP addresses, almost all of the comments came from different computers.
That’s all we can tell you.
Thanks for reading…
jeff, i think that roberta is a competitor trying to talk ruven’s down.
i love the food.
ruven’s is one of the better bagel-delis in the area.
From: EJMAC
Subject: Ruven’s Deli
Message Body:
I like my pastarmi fatie not lean and they do it right ! Taste better that way to me. Really nice people. Hope they sick around longer then the rest in that location.
two seatings for thanksgiving.
both sold out.
great meal.
love ruven’s.
food and prices are right.
one of the better delis restaurants in the area.
Jeff Eats:
Have been living in Delray Beach for over 30 years. Was born and raised in Brooklyn. I know good deli and Ruven’s is one of the best delis in Florida.
Many in Florida like restaurants because of price and portion size. These things overshadow GOOD FOOD.
Ruven’s gives you all threee, good food, prices, good portions. Their service is also good and friendly.
jeff, two of my favorite real delis are zinger’s and ruven’s.
both have delicious food.
good food. good prices.
I know Ruvens’ has been at this location for awhile. I just went to try it for the first time a few weeks ago. For the money…it is very good and everything is made fresh. Sweet potato fries, cranberry sauce, cole slaw…so far everything has been very satisfactory. I am not from NYC, but I have eaten in Delis’ there. For this area – Ruvens is certainly way up there. So far I have eaten there 3 times and tomorrow I am going in for lunch which will make 4 times in a short time since I started going not too long ago. I do have a favorite place where I purchase my bagels and bialys…so I am not commenting on that as I have not tried Ruvens for that.
definitely one of the better delis in the area.
got to agree, they do a nice job.
They get an older crowd.
The food is delicious and priced right.
My favorite deli item is turkey off the bone.
Ruven’s makes the best.
Really like this one.
Food and prices are right.
decent food at decent prices.
We met the owner the day we ate there because we and the other couple we were with were from Woodbury, near where their Plainview, NY restaurant was. What a nice guy and I hope it does well.
But, for some advice, two of us had corned beef sandwiches and the corned beef tasted like the Hebrew National meat you buy at the supermarket deli counter. It was salty, had a plastic texture and very red. I have a steamer tray and I can make the same sandwich myself from the meat I get in Publix. I’d never go back there again unless I heard they changed it. The potato pancake was one of the worst I ever had. My wife had a brisket sandwich which was just Ok and our other friend had roast chicken and she never complains.
The San Marco shopping center could use a good deli and mybe Ruven’s will get better. As for now, I’m staying away and so are many of my friends in the area. But we are rooting for it to get better. I would love to know where all these glorious reviews are coming from. Seems a little contrived.
I thought my pastrami on rye and ff were delicious.
the food is good and priced right
I agree 100% good food at good prices. They try very hard to please.