The Grateful Deli & Catering Company

My lady Kay had gone AWOL on me for the weekend, so after work yesterday, I was left with an opportunity to dine-out and therefore review something. A new establishment on Butler Street that I've been wanting to try was still not serving food yet. That's when I recollected that another new eatery had recently opened on Penn Avenue, next to the former location of Sammy's. Up the slope of 44th Street I hiked, in search of fresh Yelp plunder...

In case you're wondering, the owners of The Grateful Deli love, love, love that certain hippy jam band that just won't die despite the passing of its leader Jerry Garcia. Menu items-- which range from hoagies, salads, and soups, to pizza, pasta, stromboli, calzones, desserts (various cookies and cakes), and breakfast dishes (served all day!)-- are termed after Grateful Dead tracks. For example, there's the Dark Star Ham & Turkey, The Minglewood Meatball, The Foolish Heart French Bread Pizza, and The Jack-A-Roe Jerk Chicken to mention just a few. You'll also hear the Grateful Dead's music playing from their own satellite radio station as you wait for your food and partake in it.

Centered around a glossy delicatessen counter, the interiors of the restaurant itself are roomy, and the menu itself can be seen on a chalkboard.

I came very close to ordering The Crazy Fingers Corned Beef (I was sentimental for Sammy's) until I saw a non-menu Lenten special in a crab cake Hoagie (I cannot remember what song they named it after if they did so at all).

It's been said that when taking a multiple choice test, it's best to stick with your first guess if you're unsure about an answer, and that changing your answer will mostly likely result in it being incorrect. Damn it if I didn't come to regret my hasty decision.

Not that the Crab Cake Hoagie was a Bulwer-Lytton award in a bun, but it was certainly pedestrian. I liked the flaky chew of the baguette, but the crab cakes themselves were slim, possibly pre-fabricated patties, and the chipotle mayonnaise registered not a blip on my flavor radar.

The potato salad I ordered as a side came in a small (stingy?) cup, and while it was crunchy and creamy enough, I suspect that salt and pepper were forgotten considering the absence of taste.

Dessert was probably the best part of this meal, and I don't even know if Grateful Deli bothers to make their own, but if they do, they might do well to forsake the deli and open a bakery instead if what I ordered was representative of their sug'ry arsenal. The Red Velvet Cake had a terrific, moist batter and a gossamer-light, bashfully sweet white icing that was both pleasant and surprising (usually it's topped by a heavy, cream cheese-based buttercream).

Also enjoyable was the snapping, cold dill pickle wedge that I added to my order.

Even though I couldn't care less about The Dead (I never was a fan even if I think the deli's theme is fun), I was hopeful for The Grateful Deli. Then again, considering their prodigious menu, they may be deserving of another visit and a different selection. Some of my readers may remember that I gave Deli on Butler Street just 3 stars way back when and would go on to give them 8 or 9 4-5 star updates. We shall see...

Regardless, I've always been partial to this "Dead"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRSMXvo1NSI

P.S. My tab was close to $15! Was it worth it? Hmmm. Lemme get back to ya.

THIS BUSINESS IS CLOSED. Phone no longer works, website dead. Live down the street from it and they've had a sign on the door saying they were "Closed this week for vacation" for about three months. Too bad because we used to love this place. Was obsessed with trying to figure out what happened and eventually found this: https://business-bankruptcies.com/cases/the-grateful-deli-catering-company-llc

RIP Grateful Deli.

I should have known better to order from here after hearing that the people that once owned W.G. Grinders owned this place, but for some reason I still ended up placing an order, bad mistake on my part. They fooled me twice, so shame on me.

Looking at the menu I thought it was fun, the play on words they used really drew you towards certain items and made you wonder just how good things were. I was really excited by this, but sad to find it led to disappointment on my part. I decided on a small buffalo chicken Stromboli from the Shakedown Stromboli's section and a small potato salad from the Dark Star Deli Salads section. I don't think they are on par for other places in the Burgh when it comes to portion to price ratio. What I paid I expected to get a good sized meal. However this was not true. The small potato salad was basically a four ounce cup of potato salad. That's the equivalent to one of those Dixie cups you use to rinse your mouth out at the dentist office. And the description says, and I quote, "Just like Grandma used to make." Not sure whose grandma puts a ton of pepper in their potato salad, but it wasn't mine. It was overpowering. I will give you props for letting the skins on the potatoes. And the Stromboli, shall we discuss this now? Red onions, pizza cheese, blue cheese, and buffalo chicken, served with a side of ranch dressing for dipping. I expected a big honking monster in a box, what I got was a small greasy stuffed piece dough. If I wanted a hot pocket I would have stopped at Giant Eagle on my way to work. That's basically what this was, a hot pocket, all the filling basically slide to the one end. And the dipping sauce...no where to be found. Also it says on the menu that all the Stromboli are coated with a garlic/butter mixture. That's fine by me, I'm a fan of garlic, but it was a weird taste combination with the buffalo sauce.

The next thing that irked me after seeing my food was realizing that I spend a good chunk of change for such a little amount of food. I doubt, actually I have told my friends, that I will never order from here again. I can spend the same amount of money elsewhere and come out with a meal for two, possibly three days. I'm not really "grateful" about this place as you can tell. *Sad Face*

If you're ordering take out in Shadyside, it doesn't get better than this! I moved to Manhattan about 3 months ago and I still miss the Grateful Deli... fast, good food. I ordered from here more frequently than anywhere else for take out.

In fact, I'm only writing this because I'm seriously craving their tortellini and mediterranean pizza...
So yinzers: support local business... and eat great food :)

I live very close to this place and I've eaten at it over 20 times in the last 5 months or so. We've been remodeling our house and were without a kitchen for awhile so this was a quick and simple solution for dinner/lunch on the go.

I normally get the Italian sandwich or the Mediterranean salad. Both are awesome. The majority of things I've tried here I would try again.

I'm not sure what all the negative reviews are about and I don't really care to read them, but if you're in search of some quick food for a good price - this place is it. A very large menu that will satisfy mostly anyone.

The Grateful Deli & Catering Company is a brand new place nestled right on Penn Ave between Bloomfield and Lawrenceville. We were looking for someplace new to try that offered hoagies & other things to try and I am happy we settled on this place! You can order any number of things their menu is MASSIVE, but we settled on subs. For $25 we were able to order Subs, Sides, & Drinks for the 3 of us. The owners are wonderful, the food is delicious, the quality of their ingredients actually compares to another local place that we love.

If you want something new, Check them out!

Good Bread, fresh cut meat. It takes longer than you think it should, but hey, it's not a chain fast food joint!

I love this place. We ordered food from there with almost embarrassing frequency when we lived in Bloomfield. The food is good, the bread is never soggy, you get your money's worth, and the service is fantastic. They filled the sandwich gap that W.G. Grinder's left when it closed. Very pleased.