Langer's

. “Aporkalypse.”(Calvin B. Alagot / Los Angeles Times) (Calvin B. Alagot / Los Angeles Times) Langer’s (69) During a recent lunch at this Westlake landmark I fretted over my order, debating whether to branch out from the deli’s momentous pastrami sandwich. Maybe

perfection; it’s you, in a brown, tufted booth, with the happy cadence of clattering silverware and myriad languages ringing through the dining room. — B.A. 704 S. Alvarado St., Los Angeles, (213) 483-8050, langersdeli.com The #19 sandwich at Langer’s Deli

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pastrami at Langer’s? It’s actually made by RC. Same goes for the smoked brisket at Canter’s, Brent’s, Nate ’n Al’s, and almost every well-known deli around town. RC also produces the chili that tops the famous burgers at Original Tommy’s and Pink’s Hot

the town in the deli-meat business,” says 48-year-old owner Matt Giamela. In 1958, Alex Russak opened a 5,000-square-foot factory focusing almost exclusively on Jewish deli cuts. The company started working with Langer’s in the 1960s, and other

. and Melbourne, Australia, and via Goldbelly. 609 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood, barandque.com. Langer’s Delicatessen It’s been an L.A. institution since 1947, but people across the country get the Jewish deli’s classics delivered—like the No. 19 sandwich

class parameters of the deli experience — has more in common with the ecstatic chaos of Gjusta than with the comforting orderliness of Langer’s. It can be overwhelming to narrow the options. I’ve grown attached to some favorites: A rippling, flaky square

½ pounds of burger impaled on a skewer with hot links, pastrami and bacon, dressed with egg and chili. No ornate trimmings needed, though: A single-patty model more than holds its own. 2022 Hall of Fame The No. 19 at Norm Langer’s Westlake landmark should

up for a late breakfast at Sqirl, where we covered our wobbly patio table with thick-sliced brioche toast plumped out with ricotta and jam and cups of “horchoffee.” For lunch, there was the #19 at Langer’s. For dinner, fried pig tail, minced chicken

Banh mi are essential to Los Angeles, as embedded in the culinary landscape as tortas, shawarma, French dips, subs, hot chicken and Langer’s No. 19. The snap and sting of pickled carrots, daikon and chiles mingle with splintering bread, unctuous

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abundantly if you can — leftovers make for excellent multiple meals — and don’t forget a side of steamed rice. — B.A. perillala.com Ugly Drum Cross Langer’s No. 19 sandwich with the kind of smoked brisket scholarship that Aaron Franklin inspires out of Austin

if not quite Langer’s — arranged on a plate with an equal quantity of what may be the best sliced deli tongue you have ever tasted, cured in the manner of corned beef but with a bounciness and depth that corned beef rarely approaches. A mushroom

of the Los Angeles pastrami sandwich with well-steamed pastrami in the tradition of Langer’s but served in juicy, thick-cut slabs. The sandwich never quite surpassed the work of the masters, but it was good enough to be a contender in any serious

wedge. The pastrami is perhaps less consistent than the high-quality industrial product places like Langer’s and Art’s tend to use — it can be crumbly at times — but when it is right, which has been almost all the time lately, it is superb: yielding