Pastrami Joe's Deli

I haven’t ate there in a few years thought I would grab something on the way to the office today—I got the hot chicken and pastrami sandwich—it was so dry the chicken was actually a different color—it was extremely hard too —I couldn’t eat it, it literally was choking me, even the pastrami was dry which is shocking I ended up trying to feed it to a homeless cat who wanted no part of it—I ended up having a protein shake for lunch and wasting $12

Pastrami Joe’s is a deli in downtown Marshall, Michigan, that is just off of the main thoroughfare. It was a nice summer day and there were people enjoying lunch at the sidewalk tables outside of the restaurant. Inside the restaurant, there is a small dining room and a counter where they will take your order at the cash register. After ordering we just had time to fill our drink cups and find a table before the order arrived. I was amazed to get our Reubens in 6 minutes. This place knows how to prepare a sandwich quickly! The Reuben arrived on a colorful green-and-white checkerboard paper and it really stood out. The first thing that I noticed when tasting it was that the bread tasted like it had been toasted perhaps before it was grilled. The type of crunch elicited by my first bite definitely seemed more of the “toast” type of crunch than I was used to. But that was probably good, because by the time I got to the second half of my sandwich, that bottom slice of rye had gotten rather soggy. The Russian dressing had a little bit of a sweet flavor, which mixed well with the tangy sauerkraut. The sauerkraut was quite plentiful. I was able to taste the slice of Swiss cheese and it was delicious and subtle. The corned beef was sliced thin and piled nicely into the sandwich with a light and beefy flavor. Overall the Reuben was delicious. It was a little drippy and required napkin usage, but it wasn't too messy. I would definitely order another Reuben from Pastrami Joe’s if I am back in Marshall. Maybe not right away, but I did finally figure out that “PJ’s Reuben” didn’t refer to a Reuben that one would eat in one’s pajamas—it is obviously a reference to Pastrami Joe himself.

The service was very kind and the food was excellent. I'm rating 4 stars only because the prices are too high vs the portion size you get. I ordered the Joe's hot pastrami, which was delicious, however for 9.99 I didn't expect a small sandwich that I could have prepared at home myself. My girlfriend ordered the hot Italian grinder which was 3x the sandwich I got for about the same price. I could purchase the ingredients and make 5 of these sandwies for that price. All in all the food was delicious and I'll certainly stop in again next time I'm in Marshall. But I'll be inquiring about portion sizes before ordering next time

Pastrami Joe’s is the best place in the BC/Marshall area for a good deli sandwich. This is a locally owned small business; it is not fast food and it is not Subway. The ingredients and items you are being served are so much better! My personal favorites are the Gobbler and Turkey Mama, but everything they have is delicious! I can get a drink and 1/2 sub sandwich (6 inch, perfect lunch size) for under $10.

I got their Heavenly Heap sandwich. It tasted really good. Unfortunately they were pretty skimpy on the meat. I don't need one of those monster sandwiches. But this was pretty skimpy. I think subway gives you more meat. And however they sliced the meat, it tended to all want to come out of the sandwich when you took a bite. On the plus side the meat was very tasty and moist. I'd go back for the flavor, but not if I was really hungry. Or maybe if they lowered the price a bit to match how much meat is in the sandwich.