Kosher delis have all but disappeared from the Long Island landscape, with only a handful preserving the old world culinary tenets established generations ago. But Lido Kosher Deli remains.
For nearly 60 years—and 30 of those years with owner Wally Goetz at the helm—Lido has churned out homemade, Jewish comfort food like matzo ball soup, heaps of juicy pastrami, knishes, latkas, kasha varnishkes and hot dogs that snap with each bite. It is a time-tested standard of service, dating back to the Bronx in the 1930s.
“Grandpa Hugo started it all on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. It was a little Kosher butcher store,” said Goetz, who lives in Lido Kosher’s surrounding Long Beach community. “Three generations later, we still offer old fashioned Jewish soul food that you really can’t get anywhere else.”
Lido Kosher is an essential dining adventure—a must-try destination as much for its family-friendly setting as for its food. The eatery’s menu overflows with dinner specials like Roumanian tenderloin, roasted spring chicken, Hungarian beef goulash and tongue polonaise; combination sandwiches like the Super Deluxe, a triple decker corned beef and pastrami with cole slaw and Russian dressing; and Bonni’s Best, a triple decker with pastrami, corned beef and fresh turkey. Meanwhile, Lido’s sliced brisket is otherworldly in its lusciousness, with fat generously marbled throughout the meat.
Goetz said Bonni’s Best is one of Lido’s most popular sandwiches—the pastrami is succulent, with the perfect percentage of fat providing a lushness to counter the peppery exterior of the meat. The turkey, roasted daily, is fresh, moist and miles ahead of any typical deli meat. The sweet potato fries are the perfect side dish for any meal and are cut in such a way that some are creamy, while others are crunchy.
A trip to Lido Kosher wouldn’t be complete without sampling the deli’s famous knishes. Available as both the square, Coney Island style and in-house prepared baked variety, the knishes are warm, creamy and comforting. Goetz offers five versions of the baked knish, including classic potato, kasha, spinach, vegetable and even apple. Then there’s Goetz’s hush puppy, featuring the best hot dog you’ll ever have wrapped in a baked knish.
Of course, Goetz offers the all-time champion of Jewish comfort food, matzo ball soup—and Lido Kosher stirs up fresh pots of this ancient cure every single day. The broth is made with freshly roasted chicken, with dark meat providing that deep poultry flavor crucial to the soup. The matzo ball, heavenly dense and comforting, soaks up all that love and sends it straight to the heart of the eater’s stomach.
With full-service dining, free delivery, a take out counter and catering, every customer that walks into the deli is immediately treated like family—just as they would have been treated by Grandpa Hugo all those years ago.
Lido Kosher Deli, 641 1/2 E. Park Ave., Long Beach; 516-431-4411; www.lidokosherdeli.com.
