Dilly Deli

[Gold]

Tried it yesterday for breakfast.  Pretty good.  We had biscuits and gravy and something with eggs, bacon, and toast.  The breakfast menu could add some more for the really hungry, but still, it was pretty good and we'll go back.  I like what they've done with that space.  It seems more comfortable.

[carltonplace]

I liked it. Service is quick and friendly, nice open floor plan, food is tasty, portions are huge. Personally I could split a sandwich with an extra side. My only complaint was the olive tapenada which was incredibly salty and which I think had anchovies in it. Olives are already salty, anchovies are salty and if they added sodium it was salty. Everything else was great especially the Thai slaw.

[Nik]

Tried it yesterday for breakfast.  Pretty good.  We had biscuits and gravy and something with eggs, bacon, and toast.  The breakfast menu could add some more for the really hungry, but still, it was pretty good and we'll go back.  I like what they've done with that space.  It seems more comfortable.

Is there a website? I forgot they had breakfast and would like to see what else they have.

[Gold]

It was pretty standard stuff for breakfast; eggs, sausage, buiscuits.  Therir menu says they use a lot of local and fresh ingredients.  Looked like they were making Bloody Marys yesterday.

[mrburns918]

It was pretty standard stuff for breakfast; eggs, sausage, buiscuits.  Therir menu says they use a lot of local and fresh ingredients.  Looked like they were making Bloody Marys yesterday.

My girlfriend and I had Bloody Mary's Sunday morning and they were really good.

[DrinkLocalBrews]

Visited the Dilly Deli with my wife 3/16 for dinner after Guinness Pint Night at McNellie's. One note, I am not a food critic, restaurant reviewer, or involved in the ownership/operation of the Dilly Deli. That being said, I do feel like sharing my excellent experience.

We were promptly greeted upon arrival around 6pm and seated in an area towards the back of the deli. The dining area is spacious and has strong amounts of sun from the west in the evening. This makes a natural feeling environment. Being warm natured I opted for shaded area of the back of the deli. The beer list is nice as you would expect, and at least four beers were available on tap. I choose McNellie's Pub Ale from Marshall Brewing Co. It arrived at the table soon after ordering and I anticipated it's mild carbonation and well balanced malt and bitter flavor to be an excellent accompaniment for deli food. The menu has varied selections for the sandwich enthusiast.We had been previously advised to look for the "Mondy," a chicken sandwhich with a Thai influence and peanut sauce. However, the wife and I were both in the mood for more traditional deli-fare hoping to determine if New York Style may have finally made it to Tulsa. I ordered Margie's Rueb and my wife a ham and swiss. First we sampled the French Onion Soup. The soup arrived at the proper temp in a white crock with a nice crouton and topped with a modest amount of swiss cheese. Perfectly executed in my opinion, all of the rich flavor of the onion broth combined with the sweetness of the onion combined with the an amazing piece of bread from Farrell Family Organic Bread. The classic flavors of the soup are here but the star is perfectly toasted rye bread crouton. The texture when properly toasted holds up in the soup and when swiss is applied with a lighter hand the diner can get a perfect bite of all ingredients without fighting the crock. This town has some fine examples of onion soup, but I have never seen the crouton executed a perfectly as this night at the Dilly Deli. Our server, Josh, brought our sandwiches shortly after the arrival of our soup. A small fault I will chalk up to being one of only two tables in the deli and opening week bugs. Nonetheless, the sandwiches stayed warm while we waited and this allowed one of my favorite rueben experiments to be slightly prolonged. You see I passionately seek out corned beef and pastrami and the inclusion in sandwiches. And more often than not the bread on the sandwich is a bit of an afterthought. However, as previously mention the fine folks at Farrell Family Organic Bread are once again at work here providing an artisanal marbled rye that held up the corned beef, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on the sandwich even when asked to wait a few minutes before eating.  This sandwich is a knockout, generous portions of corned beef, slightly spicy bread with the character and tooth to hold up to the ingredients and maintain it's structure. The corned beef itself was sliced very thin and tender and applied in an ample portion at approximately one inch of meat. It would crumble in the fingers under light pressure and wielded excellent moisture. Our server provided the info about the bread, and when asked he went to the kitchen to verify the meat source. He returned promptly to report that the meat is certified organic and provided by a large scale meat producer. So it's not fresh out the family secret brine and braised to perfection in the kitchen. It was damn good. Sauerkraut, russian dressing, and swiss were all applied with a light hand helping to keep the integrity of the sandwich and provide a condiment style compliment to the meat. It should be noted that even the second half of the sandwich remained intact with no soggy bread or escaped fixings. I value this execution highly as this is where most ruebens fail. As my side I chose potato salad. This was executed in a typical deli style. Large chunks of new potato dressed with mayo and mustard, chives and green onion. This was well seasoned and had a good balance between mustard and mayo flavor. The mustard does not play a color only role here. It is fully noticeable to the palate. I highly recommend Margie's Rueb.

My wife enjoyed her hot ham and swiss on white with tomato. Again the star of the sandwich was the bread maintaining its structure throughout the meal and offering that artisanal flavor and tooth. The sandwich came without any condiment or the offer for a condiment. I believe that my wife would have preferred some mayo. I tried the sandwich and it was not dry as the tomato and meat both gave nice moisture. The ham was again organic. The color was of natural ham, not the pink pressed stuff from the box marts and had nice pleasing flavor. Overall she was satisfied. Her side was tabouli, which had a tremendouly fresh appearance from parsley that had not wilted or been in tabouli that was a few days old. The freshness was enhanced by a good amount of green bell pepper. Each sandwich was $9.50 with one side and the French Onion Soup $4.00. Out the doors to the east of the Dilly Deli is a nice outside seating area offering some picnic tables for dining and a bocce ball court. I am a huge fan of al fresco dining and will treat this area as a bier garten during the pleasant days of spring and summer in Tulsa.

Overall my wife and I had a very satisfying dining experience and would highly recommend the Dilly Deli. Service was excellent, prompt without being intrusive. One other note to mention is that we noticed a young family of four in the deli. Both children were under 6 yrs old. Games were available for the children and a kid friendly menu offered a hearty hot dog that made we jealous as it walked by for service. A gooey looking grilled cheese also looked promising. These both came to the table very shortly after being ordered. I am proud of what is happening in this area of Downtown Tulsa and encouraged to see that success is breading success for local entrepreneurs. Keep up the good work Tulsa!

[DrinkLocalBrews]

Visited the Dilly Deli with my wife 3/16 for dinner after Guinness Pint Night at McNellie's. One note, I am not a food critic, restaurant reviewer, or involved in the ownership/operation of the Dilly Deli. That being said, I do feel like sharing my excellent experience.

We were promptly greeted upon arrival around 6pm and seated in an area towards the back of the deli. The dining area is spacious and has strong amounts of sun from the west in the evening. This makes a natural feeling environment. Being warm natured I opted for shaded area of the back of the deli. The beer list is nice as you would expect, and at least four beers were available on tap. I choose McNellie's Pub Ale from Marshall Brewing Co. It arrived at the table soon after ordering and I anticipated it's mild carbonation and well balanced malt and bitter flavor to be an excellent accompaniment for deli food. The menu has varied selections for the sandwich enthusiast.We had been previously advised to look for the "Mondy," a chicken sandwhich with a Thai influence and peanut sauce. However, the wife and I were both in the mood for more traditional deli-fare hoping to determine if New York Style may have finally made it to Tulsa. I ordered Margie's Rueb and my wife a ham and swiss. First we sampled the French Onion Soup. The soup arrived at the proper temp in a white crock with a nice crouton and topped with a modest amount of swiss cheese. Perfectly executed in my opinion, all of the rich flavor of the onion broth combined with the sweetness of the onion combined with the an amazing piece of bread from Farrell Family Organic Bread. The classic flavors of the soup are here but the star is perfectly toasted rye bread crouton. The texture when properly toasted holds up in the soup and when swiss is applied with a lighter hand the diner can get a perfect bite of all ingredients without fighting the crock. This town has some fine examples of onion soup, but I have never seen the crouton executed a perfectly as this night at the Dilly Deli. Our server, Josh, brought our sandwiches shortly after the arrival of our soup. A small fault I will chalk up to being one of only two tables in the deli and opening week bugs. Nonetheless, the sandwiches stayed warm while we waited and this allowed one of my favorite rueben experiments to be slightly prolonged. You see I passionately seek out corned beef and pastrami and the inclusion in sandwiches. And more often than not the bread on the sandwich is a bit of an afterthought. However, as previously mention the fine folks at Farrell Family Organic Bread are once again at work here providing an artisanal marbled rye that held up the corned beef, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on the sandwich even when asked to wait a few minutes before eating.  This sandwich is a knockout, generous portions of corned beef, slightly spicy bread with the character and tooth to hold up to the ingredients and maintain it's structure. The corned beef itself was sliced very thin and tender and applied in an ample portion at approximately one inch of meat. It would crumble in the fingers under light pressure and wielded excellent moisture. Our server provided the info about the bread, and when asked he went to the kitchen to verify the meat source. He returned promptly to report that the meat is certified organic and provided by a large scale meat producer. So it's not fresh out the family secret brine and braised to perfection in the kitchen. It was damn good. Sauerkraut, russian dressing, and swiss were all applied with a light hand helping to keep the integrity of the sandwich and provide a condiment style compliment to the meat. It should be noted that even the second half of the sandwich remained intact with no soggy bread or escaped fixings. I value this execution highly as this is where most ruebens fail. As my side I chose potato salad. This was executed in a typical deli style. Large chunks of new potato dressed with mayo and mustard, chives and green onion. This was well seasoned and had a good balance between mustard and mayo flavor. The mustard does not play a color only role here. It is fully noticeable to the palate. I highly recommend Margie's Rueb.

My wife enjoyed her hot ham and swiss on white with tomato. Again the star of the sandwich was the bread maintaining its structure throughout the meal and offering that artisanal flavor and tooth. The sandwich came without any condiment or the offer for a condiment. I believe that my wife would have preferred some mayo. I tried the sandwich and it was not dry as the tomato and meat both gave nice moisture. The ham was again organic. The color was of natural ham, not the pink pressed stuff from the box marts and had nice pleasing flavor. Overall she was satisfied. Her side was tabouli, which had a tremendouly fresh appearance from parsley that had not wilted or been in tabouli that was a few days old. The freshness was enhanced by a good amount of green bell pepper. Each sandwich was $9.50 with one side and the French Onion Soup $4.00. Out the doors to the east of the Dilly Deli is a nice outside seating area offering some picnic tables for dining and a bocce ball court. I am a huge fan of al fresco dining and will treat this area as a bier garten during the pleasant days of spring and summer in Tulsa.

Overall my wife and I had a very satisfying dining experience and would highly recommend the Dilly Deli. Service was excellent, prompt without being intrusive. One other note to mention is that we noticed a young family of four in the deli. Both children were under 6 yrs old. Games were available for the children and a kid friendly menu offered a hearty hot dog that made we jealous as it walked by for service. A gooey looking grilled cheese also looked promising. These both came to the table very shortly after being ordered. I am proud of what is happening in this area of Downtown Tulsa and encouraged to see that success is breeding success for local entrepreneurs. Keep up the good work Tulsa!

[joiei]

Moderator, is it possible to marry these two Dilly Deli topics?  There is some cross posting going on and it is confusing to have two open topics on the same topic.   Thank you so much. 

[Admin]

Moderator, is it possible to marry these two Dilly Deli topics?  There is some cross posting going on and it is confusing to have two open topics on the same topic.   Thank you so much. 

Done.

Gave me a chance to do some things not possible on the old site (splitting, merging, etc.)

[orion]

Went over to check it out, very nice what's been done with the place. Food was good and lotta buzz about the place. Looks like a lot of curiosity seekers just like myself traversed over there.  Like Yogi Berra it was deveju all over again, tasted a good product with the sandwiches named after various people  Ella's across the street from TU where I live already has that same basic formula, who have been open for just over a year, I have been an almost daily customer of them since mid summer last year. Dilly Deli does a good job and will have a lot of downtowners as their customers..both have great quality products but I tippling my hat to Ella's for its originality and home feeling

[AVERAGE JOE]

I had dinner there this week. I enjoyed the experience, but I'm glad to read these comments because I'm worried about the place.

Basically, it boils down to price for me. I had the Dragoo and enjoyed it. It was a nice sandwich. Very tasty, in fact. But $9.50? I know it comes with a side, but still. Perhaps I'm not the target audience, but to me a sandwich is something inexpensive you eat when you can't afford a full meal or don't have much time. It's not a "meal out" so to speak.

If I take a date to Dilly Deli and we each have a sandwich and one beer, that would be $30 before tip. And we'd have had sandwiches for dinner. Maybe $30 ain't what it used to be, but for that I can typically take a date to any number of local places for an entree. Maybe it's just a mental issue (of which I have many) but going to a deli for sandwiches should be more on the cheap(er) end of the date spectrum IMO.

Based on what Eliot posted above, the ingredients (especially the bread) are driving the cost. But if that Dragoo I ordered was $7.50 instead of $9.50, I'd be at Double D for lunch or a quick dinner all the time.

Actually, here's a crazy thought -- how about splitting the sandwich from the side? Drop the sandwiches down a couple of bucks, maybe throw in a handful of chips or just serve it with a pickle. The sides would be totally a la carte, like $2-$3 each. Then if I throw $10 at lunch or a sandwich for dinner, it's because I ordered TWO things on the menu and upgraded my meal. It was my choice, that's on me. Call me nuts (you wouldn't be the first). But I'd have the option of getting out of there with just a (really tasty) $6 or $7 sandwich, which is so doable.

And btw, literally everything else about the placewas great. Great space, very good service, lots of choices on the menu, the whole thing. Make it so that people can get out of there with just a few more bucks left in their wallet (or spend that money on more beers instead of sides!) and it's a home run. Hell, a good pastrami on rye for $7 before a Drillers game, wrapped up to go? You wouldn't be able to get near the joint.

[Red Arrow]

Finding the line between service, product and price has to be difficult.

Leaving my considerate side: part of living the urban lifestyle is paying the extra buck for the stuff you cannot get in suburbia.  Enjoy the sandwich.

[TheTed]

I visited recently and I have similar thoughts to what's been posted. I definitely agree with others that smaller portions for smaller prices are needed. When I get a sandwich, I don't want to have any leftover, nor do I want to spend what the Dilly Deli is charging right now.

Likes
*Great urban feeling/atmosphere in that place. The space really makes up for its shortcomings
*Great quality of most ingredients

Dislikes
*The bread. Between my wife and I we got two types of bread. Two bites in, we didn't have slices of bread anymore. Just a bunch of tiny pieces of bread, sort of like a sandwichy salad at that point. Completely disintegrated under the weight of the sandwich. Maybe this has something to do with the massive size of the sandwiches.
*I have an aversion to any type of deli with waiters. Seems like an unnecessary cost for the consumer. At a deli, you order at the counter and get a number.

[BierGarten]

Dislikes
*I have an aversion to any type of deli with waiters. Seems like an unnecessary cost for the consumer. At a deli, you order at the counter and get a number.

+1

When you eat out downtown for lunch everyday, whether you are going to have to add tip to your bill or not becomes a major consideration when choosing where to eat.  If Dilly Deli were to drop the waitstaff and went to numbered ordering it would become much closer the right price point for that type of lunch, IMO. With no tip you could actually get out of there for under $10. 

[orion]

Wow, I am totally amazed how people are not really understanding food costs. I am not personally in the food business..but I have been around relatives and friends operations over the years..in San Franciso, New York, Wash DC and various locales in Europe...I have looked at this website with great interest..everybody has an opinion about how things should be in their mind (I am the same way). However trying to understand how folks think at times..every new start up has to find their way and figure out their  price point based on type and quality of product and if they want to go organic and concentrate on a certain customer. If a restaurant decides to go for a certain type of food i.e. such as Dilly Deli then price point is going to be a lot different than a corporate thing. All this concern about the cost is reflected in what they sell..if you are really concerned about it then by all means go to a corporate. However think about the quality and quantity you are getting...So what if the food is too much..get a to go box! I am sure they have such a thingthen you have eaten 2 meals for approx 10 bucks - Not such a bad deal after all. 2 people going out for 25-30 is not so bad..I did the crazy thing of ordering a mediumj pizza with a couple sides from a chain last night during the snow storm..I threw away $27 plus a 5 dollar tip for crap food (I guess I have to do that once in while to appreciate what we have in this town for moderately priced good food). I would think their foods costs would be quite a bit higher than say a diner..organic meat products and vegetable with be far higher than a run of the mill hamburger..it's just a case of zeros.

Talking about waitstaff if a non issue for a Deli..wait staff is paid pretty bad its the tips that count..Food costs from meats, cheeses, fruit and veg, grocery items,paper products, beverages and not even talking about utilities..Be thankful that a small business does that because it actually provides employment..think about that before you think about stiffing them.

I know when I go to the grocery store I have the prices as much as anyone else..I challenge someone to go to the organic store and try to find the items DD does on the open market including the breads,dressings and whatever side you are craving and try to replicate it, oh and factor in your time, enery costs, commuting costs to make that item oh and most importantly same quality as they are putting out..That is what a restaurant owner has to do all the time on a larger scale. Most people I know who are in that business do it because they  love it..Most don't have a very good profit margin..DD is probably going to be good and lucky because owner has a couple other venues right there downtown but doesn't take away from the stresses involved..

So before we slam a start up or even established venue lets all think not to do harm to them but encourage them. If there are suggestions to be made hey let the management team know in person how else they going to improve on something..these blogs are helpful..and if you don't think they don't look at these comments then you are sorely wrong..at least man up and let them know what your concerns are in a positive manner..It now different then working in an office and slamming a coworker behind their back and then backdooring them...

And no I don't know any of the folks there at DD but I do wish them the best and enjoy a new business to our community