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Categories: Delis, Sandwiches [Edit]
Neighborhood: Galleria/Uptown
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Kenny and Ziggy's is as close to a NY Diner as you will get in Houston. Long on Eastern European style Jewish food, even the goyim amongst us can relate to the stick-to-your-flanken style of food that is served here. A small variety of appetizers is available and sized to share or have as an entree (Kishke varnishkes and potato latkes), an excellent Matzhoh ball soup (the soup isn't deep enough to tell if the giant ball of cracker meal is a sinker or floater, but I believe sinker for sure!) . Entrees range from a large variety of Kosher style sandwiches to more NYCity diner-style entrees such as Meat Loaf, fish and other items.
Don't overlook the selection of smoked fish. If you are a smoked/cured fish fan, this is the best place in Houston. Of course, the ubiquitous lox (smoked salmon) can be found, but also smoked sable (a true luxury) and smoked whitefish salad (for a more finite budget). Don't be put off by the prices because, like everywhere, quality smoked/cured fish is a true indulgence and you need less than you think.
Getting more than you need however describes the sandwiches. Huge overstuffed sandwiches, these exemplify the NY Deli experience. The difference is that in Houston, the bread is smaller even though the sandwich is still over stuffed; so you end up with a very tall, jaw-breaking sandwich.
My only quibble is that the Pastrami is a kind of cure that makes it a bit dry and lean (there is something about it on the menu...Hungarian style or perhaps I am remembering some other description).....but if you eat it, try the #1 so that you get Corned Beef AND Pastrami and then use alot of the delicious deli mustard.
Homemade pickles with true Sours and Half Sours. Excellent.
Homemade GIGRUNDOUS cheesecakes (with unfortunate canned fruit toppings), giant Half and Half Cookies, and - my nephew's favorite - a foot long Chocolate Eclair that has a flavour as outsides as its girth.
The restaurant is lined with show posters and photos. The wait staff is efficient without being very personable; they have all been there a long time.
Love the food, especially with a bit of judicious selection. The staff....good enough, cuz I am not looking for best friends. The overall atmosphere is a bit sterile however. This place hasn't acquired the proper patina of grease and swagger to be properly New York, but then again, they do know how to say Thank You. That is a fair tradeoff.
We were in Houston for a family Bat Mizvah for my 2 step-nieces and were lucky enough to be included in the family dinner on Friday night after services. What was even more cool is that dinner was arranged here (AFTER) I had seen the restaurant on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives on Food Network and claiming I had to try this place out since even here in food mecca we have no real good Jewish Deli (and no, Saul's does NOT cut it). We enjoyed the pre arranged meal but decided to come back for our own deli meal the Sunday before we left town. So, the 2 cumulative reviews added up to a 4 star place and one I would definitely recommend.
Dinner after services for 55 people was arranged in the "Schmooze Room", the private dining area. This included beverages, good service and:
-Challah and wine
-bagel chips
-chopped liver (I don't eat but was told was tasty)
-pickles-both sour and half sour (FABULOUS and house made)
-chicken soup and matzoh balls(best ball I have had in a restaurant)
-potato knish(small ones)-The husband is a fan
-brisket in brown gravy (only fair-my brisket is way better and gravy?)
-asparagus w/sauce(overcooked and didn't eat)
-apricot glazed salmon (decent but too sweet of a sauce for my taste)
-kasha and varnishkes (DELICIOUS and I can't wait to make this)
-cheesecake/choc. mousse torte (fantastic cheesecake-rich mousse)
-chocolate babka (not a fan but my mom likes it)
(chicken strips/fries for the kids)-this was them w/the family as their kids like these.
Came back for dinner Sunday night with my mom/step-day, an aunt and uncle, my daughter and husband. Pickles on the table and cheesecake for dessert-both wonderful.
-hot pastrami on rye (ordered by 3 of us)
-hot corned beef (ordered by 1)
-tongue sandwich (ordered by 1)
-corned beef/swiss/potato knish open faced dish (ordered by husband)
-1 piece of Kishke (a Jewish thing that tastes good but you wouldn't want to know what is in it)
The only complaint I had was that the service on Sunday was not warm or Hamish even though we told them we had been there Friday night with the large party in the Schmooze room. They also do no subbing with a non mayo item for sandwiches even for an extra charge. We had to pay full price for fries. The restaurant is pricey but the portions are large and most things are made in house. I do think that some things are better than others but seriously worth coming to.
This place is completely overpriced. I was originally going to order the roast beef sandwich ($12.50) but they won't let you substitute fries for cole slaw, potato salad, or pasta salad. Instead, if I wanted french fries, I would have to pay $4.95 for a side order. Instead, I ordered the french dip ($13.50) which came with french fries.
It was not good at all. The meat was dried out and cold. Its supposed to be a hot sandwich. Also, the bread was only average. The pickles they bring to your table are soggy.
If they are going to sell sandwiches for 12-17 dollars, they better damn well make sure the meat they serve is perfect. Dried out cold beef on a french dip means they failed spectacularly.
On a positive note, the waitress was really nice. Otherwise, this place would have gotten 1 star from me because its way too expensive for low quality food I received.
I agree with the reviews and this place is definitely worth the trip, especially if you dont get back to the east coast for good deli.
I had the brisket (take-out) and it survived the ten minute walk back to my house and was still outstanding. It came with a huge potato pancake, but they forgot to include the apple sauce so it was a little disappointing.
It's a regular Guy Fieri party on the Yelp Hot List...first Lankford, now Kenny & Ziggy's. Ah, but whereas I was disappointed with Lankford (http://www.yelp.com/bi...), Kenny & Ziggy's garners my 5 star review.
If you took the time to read every single review of my NY trip (http://www.yelp.com/li... --and I'm guessing the number of you is somewhere between zero and one, and that one is highly dependent on my girlfriend's Yelp to Facebook ratio), you'll notice one thing was sorely missing: the quintessential New York deli. I'm telling you it doesn't matter, because Kenny & Ziggy's does it as good or better than any of them (caveat: I've been to like 10 NY delis in my life, so you should probably not take my word on that). Kenny and Ziggy's makes big everything, including the gigantic menu. How the "big" sandwich started I have no idea. However, there's your word of warning: be prepared for big to-go boxes and big checks.
Still, for the price you pay, it's pretty worth it. You can split a sandwich for two or take half to go, thereby splitting your $15 sandwich cost into two meals. Their sandwich meat slices are delicious, overflowing from the breads, and pretty much putting Katz's puny-by-comparison sandwiches to shame.
On the advice of some awesome Yelpers, I picked up some chicken and matzo ball soup to go for an ailing girlfriend. She loved it. Thanks, Yelp!
I've never had the dessert there, but everytime I walk by the cheesecake I start drooling. One day, I tell ya...
They corn their own brisket and make their own pickles. Game over.
The best delis are in New York, and many of the best delis in new york are the Jewish delis, the ones that offer your lox, your matzoh, and your knishes. It's rare that a deli of this quality strays from the Big Apple and locates to another part of the country, but when it does, oh how it thrives. Such is the case of Kenny and Ziggy's, which - growing up far from the east coast - is by far the best deli I have ever visited.
Sure, they have all of those foods of Jewish and Eastern European popularity like the lox and the matzoh and the knish, but K&Z takes it to the next level and makes it all from scratch. I enjoy the premise of sneaking some popular food of this variety onto the menu of more accessible fare, thereby introducing Houstonians to some foods they might not otherwise be familiar with. (The menu even provides a handy cheat sheet of yiddish to get the diner up to speed on the lingo). For my first visit, however, I had to go for something a little more near and dear to my heart...
Personally, I find that pickling is quite possibly the best method of food preservation, so seeing those freshly-made pickles, and consuming them the very instant I received my meal (I usually like the pickle to be a capper at the end of the meal, but this only briefly entered my mind as I was bringing the pickle to my mouth-hole), was a slice of Heaven. Unsurprisingly, I got the Reuben, and the delicious fresh mountain of corned beef atop a modest amount of sauerkraut (I'm not sure if this is made fresh, but I wouldn't be surprised) along with a few pieces of rye bread and Russian dressing was heavenly, to say the least.
Though I've only briefly visited New York City, I have a hard time believing that many of their local delis go to the same lengths as K&Z to make everything fresh. It's NYC loss, then.
Great food! Just WAY too much of it! Yeah- I get it, it's a NY style deli and insanely huge sandwiches are par for the course. The pastrami is excellent! The sides are served in generous portions as well. Seriously- you could split an entree with 1-2 others and everyone would still walk away full!
When the waitress set my order down I felt like I was on Man vs. Food...
The food is served up fresh and timely despite the hordes of people. The waitress did disappear after the food was served so getting drink refills was a bit of challenge when it was that busy.
It's good but seriously, it's way too much food. Everything is crazy big- almost a turn-off but then again I knew that going in... portion control!
Thank you to K&Z for bringing a real Deli to Houston.
on the bright side :
* Chicken soup with Matzo ball (kneidlach) or kreplach...
* The meat (pastrami, brisket,corned beef,turkey... wether kosher or not) is excellent. pastrami and corned beef sandwiches are just perfect.
* The best Reuben in the west.
* service is excellent
size matters :
* portions are huge.
* matzo balls bigger than tennis balls... (seriously!)
* 13 inch eclair....
Now, if K&Z happened to sell sandwiches and bagels 24/7, it would be as good as it gets.
If your only encounter with New York style delis or eastern Europe Jewish cuisine was Katz's, I feel for you. Now, if you happen to have a Jewish grandmother, you would have some legitimate reasons to kvetch (about Kenny and Ziggy's obviously). K&Z would not last a round against a decent jewish grandmother (just picture this ;) ... it just doesn't compare.
various kvetches :
* you call THAT gefilte fish? seriously?
* I would gladly pay half the price for half portions.
* pecan pie and carrot cakes, but no Strudel ???
* my inner french tells me that an "éclair au chocolat" (even 13 inches long ones) should have chocolate cream inside. people have been guillotined for less than that.
Don't try to order in yiddish. Ever. Even if your yiddish is way better than your english.
Katz's may never close, but the only reason people go there is because Kenny & Ziggy's does! LOL. I've had food from both and they are equally steeped in New York style tradition, but only one offers a twist. From the menu (http://www.kennyandzig...) to the restaurant's atmosphere, you can see that this isn't your grandma's deli. The menu items are inventive (just check out the names) and the portions are hearty. I've never been much into Jewish food, but the menu doesn't tie you down to just Kosher meals, the variety of things to choose from is awe inspiring. One of the first dish's I had was the South Philly Cheese Steak and the price matched the taste - I've never had a sandwich with such flavor!
From breakfast to dinner, you could go cross-eyed trying to narrow down just one mouth watering dish. And the real treat is having Ziggy Gruber come around and chat with you. This guy is a riot and has some interesting stories.
Oh, and my favorite television chef, Guy Fieri, the host of "Diners, Drive, and Drive-Ins" and "Guy's Big Bite", was there this week taping a segment for one of his shows.
Give this place a try!!
Great place to eat if you like delis. Reminds me of katz.
Comfort Food at its finest. Nothing beats Kenny & Ziggys HUGE eclair to drive away my blues. Awesome food, great, friendly service. Its like a little piece of NY in TX. Love iy!!
At least four cows were killed in the making of this sandwich.........
Not at Kenny and Ziggy's, a freakin herd of cattle was killed in the making of my sandwich! This place is cool, always busy at lunchtimes they can always see to you and the service is really good, attentive and friendly without being overly "in your face". The portions are seriously out of this world however, I still have half my lunch sitting next to me in a take out box and this has been the case on my previous visit here.
I recommend this place as a lunch spot although I have heard that the breakfasts here are amazing. Price wise you are around $15+ however considering the amount you get I certainly can't complain. Privately owned and ran, I even heard one of the owners explaining to an old dear behind us why it is a little pricey namely due to the quantities and because the meats they use are a bit better than your run-of-the-mill crappy processed stuff.
Be warned, avoid anything that says it's a "Triple Decker", you will not get your mouth around it (cheeky) and avoid any sides like fries or what have you because there is not even room in anyone's stomach to take it all down!
As Yelp say's, "Yay! I'm a fan" and it couldn't be more true of this place, go there for lunch, and take home your dinner!
Let me just start out by saying that I'd give this place another shot if someone swore to me that there is a spectacular dish that I should try. But, I am basing this off of one incredibly boring meal I had here a couple months ago...
My mom, sis, bf and I came here after church one Sunday. Kinda busy, but we were still able to get a table. After looking at a menu and my mom commenting that she was overwhelmed, we tried to ask the waiter to give us some pointers. No help. This of course became a sore point for my mom from there on out which I got to hear about for some time afterwards. We ended up ordering two turkey sandwiches, I think they were about $13 each (I say that b/c the total bill for the 4 of us came to $30 for two sandwiches). Ok, so take into account the fact that I'm a girl that doesn't like her sandwiches piled with so much meat that you can't taste anything else, and that I know there are others out there that don't feel the same way...but well, the sandwich sucked. We had to ask for lettuce and tomato on the side, but man, it was just SO boring. Just turkey and bread. The bread was decent (actually, my mom got rye or something and she liked it) but it was really hard to eat a sandwich with that much meat on it. I realize this is a positive thing to some people, but I wanted to taste something other than--don't hate--dry turkey. Yes, the portions were huge, but I do not think turkey and bread should cost that much if it's not out of this world. We ended up taking a to-go box full w/all the turkey we had to pick off.
Like I said before, this is another one of those places that has such positive reviews that I would be willing to try it again but I would definitely get something different! I guess if that's how delis like this are supposed to be, then maybe it's just not my thing, but that's pretty much my two cents
Great Place! I've been to the east coast and been to several Delicatessen restaurant, and Kenny & Ziggy's New York Delicatessen Restaurant brings that east coast eatery style. I guess it helps that the owners are from New York.
Great Portions of food, the quality of food is superb. I can particurlarly recommend something because I've been here breakfast and lunch on qiute a few occasions - tried different dishes each time and has not been disappointed once.
A definite must to try out!!!
Are you looking for a triple decker sandwich the size of your head, or maybe Matzoh ball soup with Matzoh balls the size of your fist, or wait maybe your looking for a mountain of corned beef hash with peppers and onions with a perfectly fried egg sitting on top waiting for you to burst the yoke, then come to Kenny & Ziggy's
I am a big fan of Kenny & Ziggy's for breakfast, for me Hash It Over! is as good as it gets. The wife always orders the Lox and Bagel and Homemade Cheese Blintzes with Blueberry Preserves. These things are delicious. For all you French toast lovers, there is French toast and then there is Challah French Toast and K&Z's has the best in town, it's all in the bread.
The Sandwich Stars is where all the fun sandwiches are, triple decker with the deli meat combo only a sandwich lover can appreciate. Everything from tongue and corned Beef to Roasted Turkey and Pastrami. You can just do a simple sandwich, Pastrami, Roast Beef, Roasted Brisket, the options are limitless. The Turkey Pastrami is probably the best in town.
When you walk in to this Delicatessen, it transports you to another place, Toto we're not in Kansas anymore. Wood paneling everywhere, Broadway Posters everywhere, off Broadway, off off Broadway Posters. I think you follow me. The desserts look phenomenal, unfortunately I have never made it to one. The eclairs are the size of Shaquille Oneal's Shoes.
The gentleman working the front desk of my hotel pointed me toward this place for a damn good sandwich. My partner and I came in around 12:30pm last Sunday (3/8/09) and this place was PACKED! I initially wanted a sandwich, but ended up going with breakfast, instead.
I had two eggs over medium, pastrami bacon, potatoes and dry whole grain toast. Eggs were perfectly done,. I'd never had pastrami bacon before, but thought it was alright; it's got a black pepper crust and I was self conscious about the peppercorns getting stuck in my teeth and giving me a super sexy smile. Potatoes were pan-fried; crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I don't know what kind of bread they used, but it was slightly sweet and needed no additions such as butter or jam. I should have asked for the name of it.
On the second visit, we came in for dinner and ordered salads with a side of sliced chicken breast. Be warned, the salads are ginormous and you will get a mound of greens the size of Texas. My house salad was anything but boring. A variety of greens, olives, tomatoes, carrots, onions and the chicken.
I wish I could remember our servers name. We had her both times we were there and she is entertaining as all get out. She's got a bit of a crooked smile and a ton of personality.
It's a great, independently run business. One of the owners was on site both times we visited and he is a friendly guy; wants to know if you had good experience and wishes you well on your departure.
I love supporting businesses like this and if you do, too, be sure to stop in and give these guys a try. Their menu is as long as a football field, so there is something for everyone.
I think Kenny & Ziggy's puts more meat on their sandwiches than Nielsen's. As a longtime Houstonian, that's shocking. It's almost outright crazy talk. You can easily stretch one of their sandwiches into two meals and be covered on the protein portion of your "well balanced meal" both times.
My current favorite is their turkey pastrami. Awesome! They put roughly a pound of meat on it. So, if you consider 1lb of turkey pastrami at the grocery store will run you about $8.50, then paying $13 isn't so painful. Their sandwiches come on Rye Bread. You can request other types of bread, but why? It's perfect. It also comes with pickles and cole slaw. (Well, I always get cole slaw, but they have potato salad and macaroni, as well).
Others mention the extensive menu. It's filled with everything you could want in a New York deli...at least what this Houstonian believes would be in a New York deli. Knishes, Borscht, Stuffed Cabbage, Latkes, Hungarian Goulash, Lox. Actually, there is an entire breakfast menu that I want to try. Bagels and lox, omelettes, Challah French Toast, pancakes.
They also have a good portion of the menu dedicated to salads. I keep meaning to try them. It's not that they don't look or sound wonderful, it's just that I forget. I mostly blame turkey pastrami and rye.
If you are thinking of getting a lunch platter for work, look no further. K & Z's has one of the best around. I've ordered trays from Jason's Deli before. There are usually only a few mildly boring sandwich choices and the bread is always flattened. Yuck. K & Z's uses great quality breads and meat. The sandwich halves are ginormous and varied. Plus they come with your choice of pickles and sides in bulk.
The prices may be a little high ($2.50 for a can of Dr Brown's?), but really for the quality AND quantity, it is worth every penny.
Having lunch here was by the suggestion of a Jewish couple that invited me to meet them here. They claimed that this was their favorite "Jewish" style deli, and until then I had never heard of a "Jewish" deli before. The her of the couple was from New York City and said that there was one of these close to her NYC apt.
Now being on the hungry side, and dining with two recently converted vegetarians, I suspected that if I had too much meat left over, they might help out. I know my friend didn't want to be a vegetarian, but he was trying it at the "suggestion" of this her. As a side note, ever since I met her, she always looked pale, as if she needed to eat better. And my friend, after a few weeks with no meat, was starting to get that sickly pale appearance as well.
So anyway, I ordered two subs without checking the prices or asking how large they were. When the BLT and Philly arrived, I was shocked, as they were mountainous. In fact I believe one sandwich would feed three people just fine.
The food quality was excellent and I was quite pleased that this couple did in fact help me finish both subs. And wouldn't you know, it put some pink back in their cheeks. I hadn't seen my friend that happy and healthy looking in, well, weeks. And that was his last day as a vegetarian.
Oh, and the bill was just as mountainous as the sandwiches. About $40 with tip. Yikes.
I have had a really busy travel schedule over the last few days. Friday I was in Milwaukee, home of the beer that made Mil famey waukus. Saturday I'm home with Gayle and today, I took an early morning flight to Houston, Texas. Who hoo! (PS, don't tell anyone, but I'm also an Aggie as in Gig Em!).
I was meaning to try some Jewish deli food in Milwaukee which is known for great corned beef, but I just ran out of meal times. So after I landed at Hobby this afternoon, I made a bee line to Kenny & Ziggy's for a big, tasty corned beef sandwich.
The place was busy, but I was seated immediately and asked for my order, in well, short order. The interior is nicely decorated in Broadway play bills, NY-based movie posters, and celebrity touches. The menu as expected is extensive and the the portions are huge, which makes the seemingly high prices seem more reasonable . And in comparison with the dishes I saw around me at other tables, I had a "snack".
I left Kenny & Ziggy's full and happy. And perhaps this is a suitable bookend to the beginning of the Thanksgiving weekend when I was in Buffalo Grove, IL for a Bat Mizvah ceremony and celebration.
Good & consistant, two things that come to mind when I think of K&Z's. The service there is always fast & efficient. If you are lucky, friendly. But I don't go for the friendliness of staff, I go for the food.
Their chicken & matzoh ball soup is really delish. The matzoh itself tender and not dense & squishy like other places. The broth by itself tasty. I actually crave the stuff when I feel under the weather!
The pickled herring w/cream sauce is out of this world. I wrinkled my nose when my table mate ordered it and ended up eating over half of it. Hard to describe, for those of you who are adventurous and like fish, a must try.
The sandwiches there are tasty but they do not let you order 1/2 a sandwich and their portions are HUGE. My favorite is the reuben. The corned beef is high quality (as all of their meats) topped with sauerkraut, russian dressing, melted swiss cheese, and served open faced....a reuben lovers dream come true.
Stay away from the BLT. They pack on about 3 inches of bacon. I ended up taking almost all of it off. Talk about over-kill. Also, the salads just aren't spectacular, rather dull and unimaginative.
The eclairs are devine! And about a foot long ;o) But seriously, take one to go so you can gnaw on it for a few days until your sweet tooth screams "enough already!"
The last thing I expected to find in Houston was a little bit of New York. Going on the suggestion of someone from the client site, I hit up Kenny & Ziggy's for a late lunch. Walking in the place is jam packed with NY related memorabilia. The walls are covered in movie posters (either about NY, set in NY or acted/directed by NYer's) and broadway show posters. A lot of the show posters appeared to be signed by the entire cast. A nice mix of tables and booths along with your standard issue deli counter. The menu was MASSIVE in size and selection. Yiddish was so ingrained into it, that there was a glossary included. Pickles were waiting for you to nosh on while pouring over the options.
I went with the old stand by, Corn Beef and Pastrami on Rye with some Potato Pierogi. The monstrously huge thing that came to my table can only technically be considered a sandwich. Small moon or fully operational space station perhaps, but to call it a sammich would be insulting. Taking a moment to admire the meat masterpiece, I grabbed the sucker and dug in. It was a valiant messy effort, but I made it halfway before tossing in the towel. The leftovers would easily be a dinner later in the week. The pierogi came in an order of 3. I had one boiled (never tried that) and two fried. The fried were delicious and the boiled was interesting. They all came on a big bowl of fried onion rings with applesauce and sour cream on the side.
The entire lunch was delicious, flavorful and ridiculous in size. Definitely an unexpected gastronomic treat. With my Jew-food cravings reignited I'm now on the hunt for a good deli in my hometown.
True, I lit up on our first visit to Kenny & Ziggy's. For this particular homesick native New Yorker, it looked and tasted like the best delis back home. The walls are lined with Broadway playbills, movie posters, and Sardis-esque caricatures. Unfortunately, Kenny & Ziggy's charges Manhattan prices for all this nostalgic pleasure.
But let's be fair. Kenny & Ziggy's is a great New York-style deli. The sandwiches are packed with sky-high portions of quality deli meat, the selection is expansive, most of the items on the menu have whimsical names, and the Jewish soul food we've sampled so far really hits the spot. In every way -- except for the sky-high prices, K&Z's is more authentic than the ersatz Katz's. It was just a little too hard on the wallet for just a deli.
For a great old school New York style breakfast, I recommend New York Bagels & Coffee Shop. They make the best bagels I've so far tasted in Houston. The adjacent coffee shop doesn't try as hard as Kenny & Ziggy's or Katz's to create a "New York-feel" interior. It's strictly no frills. Instead, they serve modestly priced, authentic Jewish soul food. And did I mention that the bagels are out of this world?
Great quality food! Huge portions! I recommend splitting a meal and I can eat a lot! You will pay a price for this wonderful food. New England (especially NY) has many restaurants like this. This place is unusual for a Southern state.
What a sandwich! Unlike most places you get pickles while you wait rather than any bread products. I bet this is cause they put so much meat in the sandwich that if you had extra bread one sandwich would feed two people! I had a pastrami on rye and it was yummy. I also had a part of my dad's chopped liver which was good as well. The potato knish was better than most place, but then again at $4 for the thing it better be! If only they had better side options, I don't like coleslaw or potato salad... would it kill them to give me something better? Over all the food is great... but be prepared to drop $12+ per person for sandwiches.
Random Note: I get the eclaire to go as a date snack... it's freaking huge and you never finish it. But its size can be intimidating...
Kenny & Ziggy's is a great restaurant. They have an interesting decor of movie posters, Broadway playbills, and celebrity charactures. My husband spent a while scanning the play bills to see if he found multiple productions of the same Broadway show. It also was fun to see what movies around the room we had seen (though not all of the posters take place in or are about new york, just most of them).
The food is pretty good, and they give you very large portions. Seems a bit too much, but I'm not much of a fan of the gigantic portions you get at most restaurants. Their sandwiches are pretty good and their breakfast items are good as well. I'm personally a big fan of their potato pancakes. They have a very large menu, in large part because under many types of items they have many combinations. It makes deciding what to get a little hard, but I like that. It is a nice change from restaurants that don't have much to offer on their menu.
I highly suggest this restaurant, though the prices you pay for everything seem a little more expensive than you might expect. For instance, the potato pancakes I like to get, you get 3 of them, and while they are decently large, I'm not sure they are worth $12 for just potato pancakes and nothing else. This is not a restaurant I go to very often, but I like to come here every so often and always enjoy eating here.
I love this place. Gigantic menus fascinate me. Some of the best selections around in my opinion. The walls and decor are fascinating.
I"m not fond of the crowded lunch crowd, but the food makes up for it. The food is huge by the way. I recommend trying the open face sandwiches when floating around the menu.
A menu too big for the deli-sized table,
but a helping of food more than one is able.
Treif or Kosher Hebrew National meat,
this place has everything one might want to eat.
Great food, fresh and decor so funny,
and total value for the money.
Umm, somehow Kenny & Ziggy managed to squeeze in the entire Houston Jewish community into one restaurant. Seriously.
The decor was distracting. In that wonderfully hilarious way where you're in the middle of drinking your soda and are about to squirt it out of your nostrils because you read something funny on the walls. Pretty much every inch of the walls is covered with some sort of poster and most of them have some cutsie little tongue in cheek comment that'll keep you ignoring your lunchmates and enjoying the literature.
The service was on the lower end of what should be expected. Waiting for refills is crazy--as in put your empty cup as close to the edge of the table as a huge hint kind of crazy. I'm not sure I saw one smile from our waitress the entire time we were there. My husband's sandwich didn't come with the tomatoes that he requested and when we mentioned it, we didn't even get a bat of her eye much less an apology.
That being said, the food is heavenly. My sandwich (I got a burger, as per usual) was perfect. Oozing with cheese and onions, my mouth is watering thinking about the leftovers waiting for me at home. My fries were perfectly crisp and golden brown. The portions were large and I felt that I didn't overpay for my meal. However. Be ready for some sticker shot. I mean, major sticker shock. A sandwich (a non-burger type sandwich) will set you back a cool $15 easily. Yeah, it comes with fries, but $15 is a lot of moolah for a sandwich. They have some crazy, huge sandwich that is almost $40, but if you finish it all by yourself in one sitting, they throw in a cheesecake. Nuts.
I actually had a good experience there, but am hesitant to go back any time soon. Here's why:
1) If I'm going to be all the way out by Westheimer, there are so many other restaurants that I can have a great meal
2) If I wanted to have my ear drums exploded by screaming kids (hey, I love kids, but if you're kid is screaming nonstop for 15 minutes, maybe hold him, rock him, take him outside, something?!), I'd have some of my own
3) If I am going to pay $15 per sandwich, I want some kind of crazy life changing experience--didn't happen
4) If I'm going to deal with all of the above, I was fantastic customer service
If you're hell bent set on a NY style deli that is pretty authentic, this is the place to go. They even have tongue for all your yummy, yummy eaters. (My vegetarian friend looks positively green when she saw that on the menu!)
Holy hell the pastrami was ridiculous.
I went there for lunch when I was interviewing for a job here, and I started ignoring my future boss because I was so enthralled with the sandwich I had. The good news is that he was pretty caught on his too, so we just delayed the talking until we were done.
The atmosphere was great, the place was packed, and the menu looks great. Now that I have moved here I have a feeling that they are going to see a lot more of me.
Went here on a recommendation from a friend. The food was good but the service was not. We had to keep on our waitress for coffee and drink refills and ended up being waited on by the buspeople more than our waitiress. It would seem there is a strong regular crowd here. Please not this is the only time I was there and it was a Saturday breakfast. I am a big breakfast person btw. it was perfectly adequate.
Sunrise, sunset... I needed some eggs, lox'n bagel for breakfast before heading home from Houston.
Yelp suggested Kenny & Ziggy. The bland strip mall exterior revealed few clues to this unsuspecting gentile of the boisterous and raucus scene awaiting me behind its doors. Oy Gevalt, K&Z's large deli was busting at the seams with families, kids and neighbors exclaiming "Moseltov." Believe you me, the Jewish community in Houston is alive and kicking. Woody Allen movie posters adorned the wall as he and Annie Hall blew kosher blessings on ample portions served to happy patrons. The servers treated me like family and doted on me, refilling water, bringing new napkins, and askin' "how you doin sweety" every 10 minutes. I loved it.
My portions of perfectly-cooked scrambled eggs, kosher bacon and a bagel with lox were huge. The lox came in two luxurious strips and I could believe they either made it themselves or had it flown in from New York daily.
My only kvetch was wishing my morning repast hadn't set me back $25 kopeks with tip.
(3.75 stars *)
Wow, I hate to rain on this place's parade, but as a non-jewish person from TX, I found this place awful. Completely overpriced, service sucked, and food wasn't good. Breakfast for 2 was $50 and it was just things like eggs, and a bagel, and lox. I guess I should have tried a deli sandwich? I do know avoid the expensive bfast here.. IHOP is better!
There's a deli chain in Southern California, Jerry's Famous Deli, that has some similarities to Kenny & Ziggy's - movie posters, gigantic menus, traditional Jewish favorites, complimentary pickles, and high prices. Sadly Jerry's doesn't back up its style with enough substance, as the food is average at best. Based on yelp reviews I hoped that Kenny & Ziggy's wouldn't similarly disappoint, and it didn't. Excellent pastrami, brisket, cole slaw, even the french fries were done just right. Service was very pleasant and efficient. Near perfection does come with a steep price tag - but how could it not? This place is well worth the price of admission. Minor gripe - why is the cash register right in front of the only door to the place. I was wedged in place waiting to pay the bill while people streamed in and out, including the poor curbside delivery girl whose customers had given her five wads of cash to split their bill five ways - oy gevalt. Then two wheelchairs had to come through! Aside from that minor annoyance it was heavenly.
Update: we went back and got the kreplach after seeing Guy Fieri gush over it. They were overly doughy and not very pleasant. In other words, just like Guy! Have to deduct a star, at least temporarily.
Great Lox and Eggs for Breakfast; Good bagels; Good Service; Interesting People
Granted I don't really know Jewish NY-style deli food, but hoo boy are the servings in this place HUGE or what. There are movie posters that plaster the walls, and the service is pretty good, but the food struck me as nothing great, apart from the servings. My bf and I split a salad and an entree, and it was big enough for us to eat the leftovers for dinner the next day. Were too full to have dessert, though we were told to try their special chocolate cheesecake the next time. To pay, you are given a stub to give to the cashier up front: no big deal, as she was nice, and the line wasn't long, but FYI. As we were putting our leftovers away, a small roach scuttled across the edge of the table from the corner of my eye. Bf wasn't too bothered about it as he says it happens sometimes. But still. Gross. I'll let it pass for now. This isn't exactly my favorite restaurant, anyway. For the price, I'd have expected better, though.
One of my favorite delis outside of NY and/or LA. Place looks a lot like the Stage and that's on purpose. Because the food is just as good! Killer Chicken in the Pot and great Corned Beef. Who'd think it would be in H-Town?! But it is! I'd tell you about the desserts but I usually fill up big time here on the platters I never get that far!
went there today from austin with my family and has the most amazing deli since my days in nyc.the corn beef wa super lean and moist and the brisket was delicious .great fries and barley too.a must if you are in the HOuston area.
One of the best reuben sandwiches I have ever had! The halva is great too.
Neighborhood: Highland Village
Category: Delis
Neighborhood: West University
Category: Delis
Houston, TX
Category: Music Venues
Neighborhood: Museum District
Category: American (New)
Neighborhood: Montrose
Category: Bakeries
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