Road Trip: Shapiro's Deli-Cafeteria
So, you're in the heart of Hoosier country, and you need a nosh. What to do? Easy. Head to Meridian Street, in downtown Indianapolis, where you'll find a gen-u-wine Jewish deli. A couple of friends and I did just that over the Fourth of July weekend. Shapiro's has been serving kosher food in Indy since 1905. Since 1905. You can read the fascinating story of this business and the family that runs it on their Web site.
When you walk in, you'll see the deli up front. Then, to the right of the deli, the large cafeteria beckons. The first items you see when you grab a tray and get in line are the desserts: cakes and pies galore.
As you run your tray down the line, you see so many different dishes it makes your head spin. My head was spinning so fast I forgot to take photos, so I'll just have to try to describe the scene for you.
In the sides-and-salads category: Potato salad. Chicken salad. Tuna salad. Cottage cheese. Bean salad. Deviled eggs. Marinated mushrooms. Pickled herring. And so on. And so forth.
Then it's on to main-dish options like corned beef, roast beef, stuffed cabbage, meat loaf, beef stew, spaghetti with meatballs, and baked chicken. (And hey! They serve Swiss steak on Sundays!) We all went with the stuffed cabbage. Ground beef and rice are wrapped up in cabbage leaves, and the whole schmeer is baked in a sweet-ish tomato sauce.
If you get a main dish, it comes with "two hot vegetables." So for my vegetables, I got, ahem, macaroni and cheese and a potato pancake. Yeah, I starched it up, what can I say? If you wanted an actual green vegetable, you could choose from spinach, boiled cabbage, and green beans.
And don't even get me started on the sandwiches. Obviously, there are corned beef and pastrami. Housemade, to use the parlance of the day. And smoked salmon, kosher salami, roasted turkey, chopped liver, and baked tongue, to name a few more. Let me just say that these are the largest sandwiches on the third rock from the sun. You must have one on Shapiro's own rye bread.
Feeling puny? Have a nice bowl of chicken or matzo-ball soup. Feeling hearty? Eat some borscht!
I love the children's menu ("for our guests age 12 and under"). For $2.75 you can get a kosher hot dog or corn dog, spaghetti, grilled cheese, or chicken. If you want a side with that, add $1.00 (baked beans, fruit cup, mac and cheese, etc.).
Yeah, they pretty much have your kosher food needs covered at Shapiro's. If you don't live close enough to nip in on a regular basis, do as I did and take a cooler with you. That way, you can stock up, in the deli, on meats, breads, and desserts to take home.
Prices are reasonable, and the value is fantastic because portions in the cafeteria are enormous and this is real food. A pastrami sandwich will set you back $10.15. Smoked salmon sandwich: $11.55 (remember: largest sandwiches on Earth). The stuffed cabbage dinner is $10.50. Swiss steak goes for $13.80. Meat loaf: $9.45 (remember: dinners come with two large sides and two thick slices of rye bread topped with dill pickle spears). A bowl (not a cup, a bowl) of soup: $4.30.
If you buy meats in the deli to take home, you'll spend some money. A pound of corned beef or pastrami goes for $15.99. However, bread prices are very reasonable. A half-loaf of rye, which is the size of most normal loaves of bread, costs only $2.95 (the full loaf, which could make sandwiches for a small army, is $5.10). And they have bagels, of course: $1.25 each or $8.95 for a dozen. You can also take home whole pies and cakes, cookies, cheeses, and more.
I wish I'd gotten a photo of one of Shapiro's sandwiches, but, as you saw, I indulged in the stuffed cabbage dinner. My thought was to take home the ingredients and make my own sandwiches. Here's a shot of the last of the pastrami on the rye bread.
After I took the photo I topped the pastrami with Swiss cheese and Plochman's mustard and warmed it up in the toaster oven. I can't tell you how delicious the pastrami and corned beef were. You must have the experience for yourself, because I would hate for you to miss out on this wonderful food.
Is it too shmaltzy to say that I heart Shapiro's? Don't be a shlub! Go eat there soon!
Shapiro's Deli and Cafeteria
808 South Meridian Street (downtown and very easy to get to off the Interstate; here's a map)
Indianapolis, Indiana
317-631-4041
Open 6:45 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day
(There are now also locations in Carmel, IN, and at the Indianapolis airport.)
P.S. If you go to Shapiro's, you might see a celebrity. Or two.
P.P.S. Many thanks to my friends Stubearto and Shirley for making the trip so much fun. On the way to Indy, we listened to a radio show produced by Uni High students for which Shirley was interviewed. The show was about the women's liberation movement and how it played out in Champaign-Urbana. The students ended the show with one of that movement's anthems. So now, somehow, I'll always associate Shapiro's with "I Am Woman"!
When you walk in, you'll see the deli up front. Then, to the right of the deli, the large cafeteria beckons. The first items you see when you grab a tray and get in line are the desserts: cakes and pies galore.
As you run your tray down the line, you see so many different dishes it makes your head spin. My head was spinning so fast I forgot to take photos, so I'll just have to try to describe the scene for you.In the sides-and-salads category: Potato salad. Chicken salad. Tuna salad. Cottage cheese. Bean salad. Deviled eggs. Marinated mushrooms. Pickled herring. And so on. And so forth.
Then it's on to main-dish options like corned beef, roast beef, stuffed cabbage, meat loaf, beef stew, spaghetti with meatballs, and baked chicken. (And hey! They serve Swiss steak on Sundays!) We all went with the stuffed cabbage. Ground beef and rice are wrapped up in cabbage leaves, and the whole schmeer is baked in a sweet-ish tomato sauce.
If you get a main dish, it comes with "two hot vegetables." So for my vegetables, I got, ahem, macaroni and cheese and a potato pancake. Yeah, I starched it up, what can I say? If you wanted an actual green vegetable, you could choose from spinach, boiled cabbage, and green beans.And don't even get me started on the sandwiches. Obviously, there are corned beef and pastrami. Housemade, to use the parlance of the day. And smoked salmon, kosher salami, roasted turkey, chopped liver, and baked tongue, to name a few more. Let me just say that these are the largest sandwiches on the third rock from the sun. You must have one on Shapiro's own rye bread.
Feeling puny? Have a nice bowl of chicken or matzo-ball soup. Feeling hearty? Eat some borscht!
I love the children's menu ("for our guests age 12 and under"). For $2.75 you can get a kosher hot dog or corn dog, spaghetti, grilled cheese, or chicken. If you want a side with that, add $1.00 (baked beans, fruit cup, mac and cheese, etc.).
Yeah, they pretty much have your kosher food needs covered at Shapiro's. If you don't live close enough to nip in on a regular basis, do as I did and take a cooler with you. That way, you can stock up, in the deli, on meats, breads, and desserts to take home.
Prices are reasonable, and the value is fantastic because portions in the cafeteria are enormous and this is real food. A pastrami sandwich will set you back $10.15. Smoked salmon sandwich: $11.55 (remember: largest sandwiches on Earth). The stuffed cabbage dinner is $10.50. Swiss steak goes for $13.80. Meat loaf: $9.45 (remember: dinners come with two large sides and two thick slices of rye bread topped with dill pickle spears). A bowl (not a cup, a bowl) of soup: $4.30.
If you buy meats in the deli to take home, you'll spend some money. A pound of corned beef or pastrami goes for $15.99. However, bread prices are very reasonable. A half-loaf of rye, which is the size of most normal loaves of bread, costs only $2.95 (the full loaf, which could make sandwiches for a small army, is $5.10). And they have bagels, of course: $1.25 each or $8.95 for a dozen. You can also take home whole pies and cakes, cookies, cheeses, and more.
I wish I'd gotten a photo of one of Shapiro's sandwiches, but, as you saw, I indulged in the stuffed cabbage dinner. My thought was to take home the ingredients and make my own sandwiches. Here's a shot of the last of the pastrami on the rye bread.
After I took the photo I topped the pastrami with Swiss cheese and Plochman's mustard and warmed it up in the toaster oven. I can't tell you how delicious the pastrami and corned beef were. You must have the experience for yourself, because I would hate for you to miss out on this wonderful food.Is it too shmaltzy to say that I heart Shapiro's? Don't be a shlub! Go eat there soon!
Shapiro's Deli and Cafeteria
808 South Meridian Street (downtown and very easy to get to off the Interstate; here's a map)
Indianapolis, Indiana
317-631-4041
Open 6:45 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day
(There are now also locations in Carmel, IN, and at the Indianapolis airport.)
P.S. If you go to Shapiro's, you might see a celebrity. Or two.
P.P.S. Many thanks to my friends Stubearto and Shirley for making the trip so much fun. On the way to Indy, we listened to a radio show produced by Uni High students for which Shirley was interviewed. The show was about the women's liberation movement and how it played out in Champaign-Urbana. The students ended the show with one of that movement's anthems. So now, somehow, I'll always associate Shapiro's with "I Am Woman"!
Labels: restaurants, road trip
posted by Lisa at 5:25 AM
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13 Comments:
mouth. is. watering.
How did you like the latke? It cracks me up that they give you the largest latke known to humankind and then the tiny weeny little cup of applesauce. I wish I could try something other than the cabbage roll but they are so darn tasty!
Yum. Glad you went and had fun!
Susan
My father had a kidney transplant about two and a half years ago in Indy. He somehow heard about this place, and during one of my trips back to Indy with him for a follow-up appointment, he took me there. The food was AMAZING. The selection was ridiculous and if you leave there hungry, it's your own fault. I know for a fact my father stops there every single time he has to make a trip back to the doctor there. What a great article about this place!
dang, ive been hankering for a proper pastrami on rye, with a matzo ball soup on the side... its nice to know about a proper deli in indy. thanks for posting!
Very interesting post, Lisa.
Wow, that pastrami looks AMAZING. I'll have to keep this place in mind next time we head to Indy.
We *LOVE* this place. A must when in Indy.
Just to clarify, Shapiro's Deli is not kosher. They have kosher meat, but the food preparation is not.
The food is quite good, especially for the price. If you are ever in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area (where I am from), I would strongly recommend Cecil's Deli on the Macalester campus (St. Paul) or Mort's in Golden Valley. Neither are kosher but do both have kosher meats and are delicious.
Susan: Thanks! The latkes are almost like mashed-potato pancakes, aren't they. I expected shredded potatoes, so I was surprised. But it was tasty. I hear you about the teeny cups of sour cream, applesauce, etc. I liked the fact that there was also horseradish.
Bridget: Thanks for the story about how you and your dad discovered Shapiro's. And thank you also for the compliment; I'm glad you enjoyed the report.
Melancholy: It was my pleasure! I hope you can check it out sometime. Don't forget the cooler. :)
Thank you, Simona.
Jason, the pastrami was amazing. Haven't had any like it in years. The corned beef was great, too.
lbotp: I'm glad you're already onto the place!
Amalina: Yes, thanks for the clarification. I misspoke when I generalized "kosher food." I was thinking of the meat there. Thanks for the recommendations on delis in Minneapolis!
two small questions: first, is the rye at shapiros steamed? (im still going to order a pastrami even if it isnt steamed, but im curious)
second: are there any delis in chambana for a quick fix until you can get to nyc or indy? some place to get a pastrami or a matzo ball soup, etc. i havent been to any around here...
There are no Jewish delis in Champaign-Urbana. Nothing even close.
O'sadness.
Hi Seth, thanks for the answer. Sadness, indeed.
Sorry about the bad news, Melancholy D! You have to travel a ways to find a Jewish deli.
I'm glad you finally got there, it is amazing! I still dream about the black forest cake, and I haven't had that in almost a year. The pastrami definitely melts in your mouth. Mmm...
The satellite location in the airport is great (as is the new airport in general). Last time I flew home I bought my mom a piece of chocolate cake from it, and she said it made the 2 hour drive worth it.
Paige, thanks for the report on the airport location. And—it was you who mentioned Shapiro's to me maybe a year or two ago, wasn't it? Thanks again, and I'm glad I finally made it, too!
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