Check It Out: Loeb's Deli

Sandwiches are awesome. Whether you’re standing in line at Subway, tucking in to some $20 swank-wich piled high with top-shelf toppings or even whipping one up yourself, you do so with the confidence that unless something has gone horribly wrong along the way it’s going to be pretty damn good. There is something in the way that sandwiches can flit so effortlessly between simple to complex without losing anything in translation that sets them in a class of their own as far as food is concerned.

Despite this though, like bratwurst is to Germany or wine to France, sandwich snobs always seem subscribe to the belief that delis (particularly of the New York variety) are the end-all be-all when it comes to the matter, and while I’m personally partial to my own creations, they do have a point. The problem with so-called “New York style” delis though is… you guessed it, they’re tough to find outside of the big apple. It’s a shame for most, but Washingtonians can take heart because for almost 40 years Loeb’s Deli has been providing Foggy Bottom with some of the finest lunch fare in the District. Located near the intersection of I and 15th, Loeb’s is decidedly a lunch joint, only serving weekdays from 6:00 to 4:30.

One’s relationship with their sandwich of choice is an intense and personal one, so I certainly won’t presume to suggest what you should get at Loeb’s, but I always go for a Reuben and a bowl of Matzo Ball Soup and the combination has yet to fail me thus far.

If your lunch break finds you in the area, or looking for something new, head over to Loeb’s Deli and get your sandwich on the way it was meant to be done.