Perly’s is a Jewish Restaurant and Delicatessen serving “traditional Jewish cuisine with a twist.” In the heart of downtown, they are open Wed. to Sun. from 9:00 am till 3:00 pm. The place originally opened in 1961 and has had 3 owners with the current ones taking over in 2014 and adding the twist. It’s a long place with one side taken up by the long bar that ends in the kitchen space. The area that’s left is divided in two with booths and tables. The marble bar had stools opened and we took that as there was a wait for tables even later in the afternoon. Music was in the background, windows to the street provided additional light to the many fixtures, a black and white movie played silently on the screen above the bar, the ceiling looked like an old tin one and a pair of larger semi-circular booths flanked the doorway.
Set-up
Food
All sandwiches come with a deli pickle and the choice of a side. We both chose the garlic and dill fries. They were a large thick cut and were coated. It made them stay really crispy on the outside while keeping a creamy potato inside. They were quite good, maybe better than the sandwiches. The pickle was crisp and not overly strong. I liked it.
The Goy Vey sandwich held turkey, mayo, beef bacon, lettuce, tomato, and cheddar on Challah bread and was served cold. The bread was not toasted but you can request that. That might have helped soften the cheese. There was a ton of turkey in the sandwich and while it was moist it was bland. In fact, there was so much turkey the sandwich really was out of balance. The bread was good but the sandwich had no spark.
The Reuben sandwich contained corned beef, Russian dressing, Swiss cheese, and kraut and was served on toasted rye. It did come out toasted and the bread had seeds. However, the bread was way too little to hold all the meat. It needed more dressing and our server did bring some which helped bring out the flavor. The kraut was moist with good flavor and the cheese was nicely melted. It was a good Reuben and not greasy but far from the best I’ve had.
Very nice report. All three of us have been to that place in probably the past six months. I wish I had tried their corned beef or pastrami, but I had been eating a lot of red meat on that trip and went with smoked fish on a bagel for a change of pace.
Thanks! Should we say, great palates eat alike?
Oh my goodness, I ate at Perly’s on April 1 – how funny to have nearly crossed paths with Frankie!
My experience seems a bit night and day with yours, but I think that’s just because we ordered different things. My fiance ordered the Jewbano, which packed quite a lot of flavor into a small sandwich, and I ordered the Schnorrer (also tasty, if a bit basic). Might be worth giving a second shot!
Thanks! The place sure has a good reputation so maybe another visit is in order if we get back to Richmond. Hope our paths will cross in the future!