What on earth
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Wow your elitism knows no bounds, also this coming from a person that judges food by how well it tastes after delivery is rich. Unfortunately some restaurants have to make a living appealing to the masses. You’re probably just better off ordering chipotle
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There’s a big difference between not for you and mediocre. What restaurant, not just in LA county but the entire country, makes a better Jewish style pastrami sandwich?
By the way, I enjoy many of your posts.
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Warrior: there seems to be a consensus that the food at Langer’s other than the pastrami sandwich is not good. It’s just a question about whether a restaurant should be judged based on its signature dish or all its dishes. Reasonable arguments can be made on both sides. Not sure why this thread blew up like this!
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Penoy: I find this discussion very useful as people share different perspectives.
Thanks for the clarification @RedDevil !
Warrior and I will emphasize more that the certain opinions are based on our personal preferences only.
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Really? Not my experience at all. Corned Beef is just as good as the pastrami, maybe better! Many other very worthy dishes…whitefish…
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Isn’t this a given? No one person is the arbiter of truth when it comes to food. Everything anyone has ever written here is a personal preference and should be taken as such.
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The tuna melt is great. We always enjoy the matzo ball soup, crispy fries, pickles and other items on the menu outside of the world class rye bread, pastrami and corned beef. Like as good or better than any deli you can find.
Must try the whitefish next time. The only disappointing item I’ve had at Langers is the knish but it’s from a very myopic Queens deli view of what a knish from my childhood is supposed to be.
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Langer’s knishes are awful-- everything about them is wrong. The chopped liver, on the other hand, is decent.
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Wholeheartedly agree! Always thought I was the only one.
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The BBQ Chicken is my favorite thing on Bludso’s menu when it’s not overly salty, which I think they’ve toned down.
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Why would you judge a restaurant based on its worst dish? No one is forcing you to order the bad stuff. If it was me, I would simply not order the bad things.
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You blew it up yourself with the “mediocre Americana trash” comment. 
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I have not heard that consensus. For example, the corned beef and the blintzes are both good.
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I understand where you are coming from with this philosophy and I think it makes sense in certain contexts. For example, in a team sport where your weakest link is a disadvantage that can be exploited. But when it comes to a restaurant? I don’t think it makes sense. I go to restaurants for the dishes that I eat, not for the dishes that I don’t eat. The dishes that I don’t eat don’t impact me at all.
And if this is your measure, is there a single (classic) Jewish deli in the world that is better than “mediocre Americana trash”? With menus as extensive as are characteristic of the Jewish deli, there are always bound to be at least some dishes that are mediocre or worse.
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I think it does apply to some restaurants - like adding an obligatory menu item to please a specific group while putting no effort into making it taste good. Example: most chicken tacos at taco trucks are dry & flavorless. But I don’t think that applies to Langer’s or other large menu restaurants that are great but bound to have a few clunkers.
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It’s not really “fair” at all–a balanced take would be to also make a judgement based on the strongest dishes as well so that one sees the restaurant holistically.
FWIW, I actually like ordering the ubiquitous chicken (sometimes roasted, maybe boiled 
) dish every chance I get because I’ve found that it’s sort of a blank slate for a particular restaurant to put it’s spin on.
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This standard doesn’t really make sense as applied to a number of restaurants that have particular specialties. For instance, there are restaurants like Pailin that truly specialize in Northern Thai cuisine, and reach soaring heights. But they also serve some shitty basic options like egg rolls and other stuff needed to pay the bills and appeal to a broader community of people that just find them on Postmates on a random Tuesday night.
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If this line of reasoning is used for In-N-Out, then the sad fries there by definition make it a crappy burger joint.
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