Manny’s Uptown Kitchen

What happened? I loved this place. :(
It seemed to be overnight that it was just… sniff… gone.
Looks like the management wasn’t so good? Some servers were awesome and some not so much. Anyway, the food was amazing.

This place closed, yet Kerbey Lane is still open. How is that fair? Goes to show that the douchebag hipster crowd unfortunately really does have a lot of power in Austin. It’s a real bummer that a place like Mannys Uptown/​Hattans couldn’t survive when they have infinitely better food than the incredibly average pancakes at Kerbey Lane. It was nice to go to a restaurant that had normal people that like to bathe regularly as patrons, and that there was never a wait to be seated. All of the hippies would go to Kerbey Lane and leave the normal people to enjoy their knishes and Uptown Hash.
Oh well, there’s always Dennys. It tastes like crap, but its still better than Kerbey Lane.

This place has Closed as of 02÷09÷2012…
Last day was busy, but they were out of almost everything…

«A-​OK» …that about covers it. My Reuben was A-​Okay, but not as good as I’d find at the erstwhile Katz’s. Also A-​Okay was her bagels-​and-​lox. The New York deli theme seems to be played a bit loosely here, and prices played just a wee bit aggressively. I would go back for the thoroughly okay food — just not with the expectation that I’m going to feel like I just stepped off the street in New York, rather than a sidewalk in a North Austin strip center.
Nothing to knock, nothing to praise… and there’s nothing wrong with a average meal: Most of them are, after all.

You know when you deal with a child who did something wrong and they simply cannot handle being told about it, no matter how you say it? If you want that experience with an adult, go to Manny’s.
We’ve been there 3 times before, and the food is usually quite good. That is why I rate it 2 stars, rather than –7. But each time we went, the owner was there. This time was entirely different.
I should have known a problem was brewing when the hostess came by 5 minutes after seating us. She said the waiter was «overbooked» and she would be taking our initial drink order. This was the first missed opportunity to let us know there might be a longer than usual wait.
Our waiter finally showed up to take the order of the couple sitting at the table next to us who arrived after us. We then placed out order and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Another missed opportunity to communicate whatever the problem was.
The couple next to us got their food after an unreasonable wait, but they had to wait longer because there was no silverware. I took note of this since we also did not have silverware. Remember, there were two hostesses working and «helping.»
More than 45 minutes after ordering, the Mrs went to the restroom jus before the food finally came. A smart manager (assuming that is who brought it over) would have offered at the very least a «sorry about the wait» as the food was placed on the table. Instead, I got a clueless and insincere «how’s your day going?»
(me, calmly) «Not very good. We’ve been waiting 45 minutes.»
(manager) «Well, you know…»
(me, not interested, but still calm) «Can we have some silverware?»
(manager) «Ok, but you know we…»
(me, straining to remain calm) «I really don’t want to hear excuses, I just want my silverware»
(manager) «Well, let’s not let it ruin breakfast»
(me) «It’s already getting real close, can we just get some silverware?»
This is where the manager reverted (not too far, it seems) to a child. He gave me a patronizing pat on the shoulder and said «you’re a very kind man» and chuckled as he went to fetch the silverware, failing to handle an unhappy customer who wouldn’t allow him to babble on with lame excuses that he already had ample opportunity to deal with.
(btw, what does «you’re a kind man» even mean? to me it means «waahhh…you’re holding me accountable and I need to say anything to feel better about my incompetent self… waaaahh»)
(me, just a little loud) «really? this is funny to you?»
now I was livid. he comes back at the same time the Mrs returned.
(manager) «I didn’t think it was funny…»
(me) «was that why you were laughing?»
(manager) «this is on the house»
(me, to the Mrs) «good, now we can leave»
And we left.
With a full table of food sitting there.
That’s how bad this was.
See, this manager figured he screwed up royally and the only way to make it better is to offer free food, as if that’s all it takes.
Not everyone can be bought, son.
Manny, if you read this, consider not taking the weekend off. You’ve stopped by my table 2 of the 3 times we’ve been there when all was well. I doubt it is a coincidence that the first time we come in and you aren’t there, this kind of nonsense occurs. Best of luck. Maybe we’ll try again in a year or so.

Went in today for lunch. Found the menu to be a bit overwhelming. Wow. so much to choose from almost too much. i must have changed my mind on what to order 5 or 6 times.
I decided on an egg salad sandwich on wheat with slaw. Not sure why i ordered slaw with egg salad. Mayo overload! but i won’t lie… it was good. Kinda wish the bread was toasted but i’m sure i could have just asked for that. I have to say, i really kinda like this place.
My husband ordered the Austin Cheesesteak sandwich. He said it was ok. He said the meat was a little dry and he wished they had put more cheese sauce. But he acknowleges that it was his own damn fault for ordering a cheesesteak sandwich at a deli style restaurant.
The service was friendly and the restaurant was clean and comfortable.

My husband and I are both former New Yorkers, and absolutely think Manny’s captures that great NY style deli food we miss so much from there. They have a great menu, helpful staff and it’s always very clean. Even my in-​laws from New York think this place does justice to deli food. Of course it will never compare to really eating in a great Jewish deli, but it’s nice to know we have a taste of it here.
I highly recommend their great sandwiches that are HUGE (you can easily split it between two people), brunch menu that’s available all day, and potato pancakes. Their dessert is wonderful as well, especially this hot fudge sundae they serve in a ginormous glass dipped in hot fudge. Heaven.

This is one of my favorite places to eat in Austin. It’s consistently good. Not perfect but great NY style deli comfort food you just can’t get anywhere else in Austin since Katz’s is gone.
Had brunch there today with my son and it was a pleasure again. It’s been at least a year since I’ve been so I was excited to see a new menu.
We had the potato-​cheese pierogies for appetizer. Yum! I ate mine with the pickles and sauerkraut which you now have to ask for. BTW — make sure you ask for the pickles & sauerkraut. I dream about these pickles. Don’t miss them.
I had the chicken & waffles and my son had the lox & bagels. The waffle was cheddar cheese & Jalapeño. WOW. It was so amazing I didn’t want to share it. The fried chicken was good, I like crunchy, but it was a little dry. The cream gravy could have been thicker. I liked the fettucine style «mac & cheese“and the green beans were stellar. The son said too much cream cheese and ate half my food (I didn’t have room).
The service was excellent as usual.
I’ve had many other dishes here in the past, my absolute fave is the home made corned beef hash & eggs. Or the knishes. or the pickles.
I’m looking forward to going back again.

Nothing really standout here, breakfast was okay. Service was quite slow, even though the place was completely empty.

My Brooklyn husband wanted to go to this place, because they carry H&H Bagels, straight from Hell’s Kitchen in NYC.
So, we tried it for lunch recently. I scour the menu, as a vegan, and just see a ton of deli meats. Then I spot the Austin’s Roast Veggie Sandwich. I order it, minus the goat cheese, with a side of fries. The husband ordered the Open Faced Bagel and Lox.
Lunch came, and it was good. Like surprisingly good. The veggie sandwich was packed with roasted vegetables, the only thing, the toast it was served on — it was that «too-​toasty-​hurt-​your-​mouth-​toasty-​bread.»
The husband thought the bagel & lox was good, but not great.
We’ll be back. They also have a Veggie Plate, which is three sides. The prices are a little steep, but all in all, tasty.

Dear Manny’s,
I am living proof your Groupon worked! I came in twice on a deal I bought and this last time because everything was so good. I was considering making this a regular place to meet people for brunch.
However, I was disappointed this past time, not the food, your food is excellent. I had a couple of eggs, over hard that were well seasoned. It’s your service. Granted, we had a large party, party of 8 – 4 kids and 4 adults. Well, my drink order came out wrong. I ordered hot tea-​English Breakfast –and a glass of water. It came out as an iced tea. Someone corrected the tea, but I never got my water. Three of the kids orders came out wrong with eggs over hard instead of scrambled and one of our orders was forgotten in the kitchen. This means 5 out of 8 people got their orders wrong in some way. All corrected, of course, but after flagging down another waiter because ours wasn’t one to check in on us.
To top it off, the friend we ate with just sent me a message saying her card was charged twice… once with her family’s meal and once with my family’s meal. We gave our waiter two separate credit cards and she gave us back two separate bills with credit cards attached… just she only charged one of them… twice.
I’ll be back, because, as I said before, your food is so good, but you’ve got to get it together!
Signed,
A Disheartened Customer

Ate here a second time and still thought it was great. Waiter was SUPER friendly and funny. I ordered the butternut squash things again and they were awesome again. My boyfriend ordered a sandwich and said it was really good, too. I would definitely recommend this place.

I just ate here with a friend and was very happy. I ordered their signature Reuben with pastrami «Rachel» style, which means with coleslaw instead of sauerkraut. It was very tasty and very large. I could only finish half of my sandwich. The french fries that accompanied it were super hot, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Overall, a very tasty meal.
My buddy ordered the Breakfast Bundle (I think that was the name). It was an enormous amount of food. He got a bagel with cream cheese, 2 large pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon and 2 potato pancakes.
Our server was extremely attentive and sweet. You could tell he was really making an effort to give us excellent service. The rest of the staff were all very welcoming. I would not hesitate to go back here when I am in the mood for some good deli food.

I went to this place once when it was MannyHatten’s or whatever you call it, and I hated it. I read the reviews of the revamped place and breakfast seemed promising, so we went to give it a try. While the breakfast was much better than the lunch we had there in the past, I still wasn’t a big fan. I had the pancakes as suggested by some reviewers, and I thought they were the best thing I had for sure. But they were very far from the best pancakes ever (go to Rise and Shine Bakery for those!). I also had eggs, toast, bacon, and the «potato pancakes» which were nothing like an actual potato pancake and more like pressed hash browns about as big around as a soda can. The flavor of the «potato pancakes» was pretty good though. and they had a really good crispy texture to them. I would say they were the second best thing I had in my meal. The bacon was also good, but it’s pretty tough to screw up bacon. The eggs and toast were not very good at all. The toast was super dry even with butter slathered all over it, and the eggs had a funny flavor to them. I dunno if they use a weird seasoning or something, but I found them to be very ‘funny’ tasting. Overall the breakfast was a hell of a lot better than the lunch I had at the ‘old place’, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone over other breakfast places in Austin. Having said all that, I will probably go back eventually for another breakfast because this place was more enjoyable than the IHOP down the street, and there are not a lot of breakfast options up by the Arboretum.
Pros: Nice Clean Place, Good (not great) Pancakes, The Potato «Pancakes» Were Flavorful
Cons: Eggs Tasted «Funny», Toast was Super Dry, Potato «Pancake» is Misleading (More of a Crunchy Potato Disc), Staff Seemed Very Ambivalent towards Customers

As we were starving and leaving BestBuy, we saw the sign and it opened up our eyes to Manny’s. Could it be around a corner and a hop skip away and we never saw it before? Yup! That was exactly the case.,
We walked in and soon wanted to walk out. Now now… don’t assume things. We were not aware that though we got seated rapidly that slow service is not a joke. I do not even know if its intentional but they have really slow service.
When our server got there we were ready to order.
Order:
Onion Rings– this was a huge plate. I never thought we would finish it but HOLY FRIHOLES, we ate it all. And why not, it was frigging delicious. This my friends, amigos, amies… will be included in my last meal if I ever ended up on death row.
French Toast with strawberries– excellent, delicious and savory.
Burger– Delicious until the sauce disappears. So it isnt the burger that the bomb diggity, but the sauce in it. Once the sauce ran out, so did the bomb diggyness of the burger.
Breakfast all day is a huge plus! And the menu is huge. They have something for everyone. It is worth a try for everyone.

It’s definitely a place you don’t want to go when you don’t have a full lunch hour. It’s not as if they don’t take care of you — it almost seems like they WANT you to slow down and have a leisurely lunch. I don’t mind.
They also want to feed you lunch for two days. I got a sandwich that was actually the size of TWO sandwiches (no kidding — I took half home for lunch the next day, changed out the bread because it was soggy, and it was exactly the size of sandwich I would make for myself at home). The seasoned fries were delicious and crispy. The coleslaw was nice and vinegar-​y and mustard-​y.
A few complaints? No jar of pickles. Maybe I’m mixing it up with another place, but they used to serve the food with a jar of pickles. That made me sad! Also, I just can’t justify spending 10 bucks on a sandwich the size of my head that often. Also — the sandwich I got only had turkey, watercress, and tomato listed, but it also had a crap ton of cheese and mayo on it.
Not bad. I wouldn’t complain about getting dragged back, especially if I need lunch the next day too.

Went here for breakfast to try the Challah french toast… it was excellent. I also had the potato pancakes… very flavorful but a bit too crispy for my liking — they were not burned, just would have liked it a bit easier to chew and over frying removes some of the flavor as the less cooked parts were 10x better flavorwise.
I’m going back to try lunch next.

It was called Manny Hattan’s. I used to coming here for Jewish food. But not often at all. They still kept a lot of Jewish food on menu, but just changed the name a little bit.
We ordered THE BREAKFAST BUNDLE, SIGNATURE REUBENS and KONA SEARED AHI TUNA. Breakfast and Reubens are simple and safe. Kona Seared tuna looks so good on menu pic, but it tastes too fishy to me. I couldn’t eat it at all. Nobody else at the table can handle that either. Total wasted it. So disappointed.

I will admit I have not tried any of the new menu items. I didn’t go to MannyHattan’s for anything but traditional Jewish-​style deli food, and while I was tempted to try some of the more interesting sounding concoctions, after reading the other reviews I’m glad I didn’t. *Btw, if you miss something from the old menu, just ASK FOR IT. They’ll still make it for you. Or they did for me, anyway.
As with the old Manny Hattan’s, the deli meats are solid, on good rye, with good flavors. The coleslaw is yum, not too sweet, but not too vinegary. The fries were crisp and tasty, as were the homemade kettle chips. The chopped liver was not as good as my grandma’s, but then again. .. that’s not a fair competition. The four tiny challah points that came with it were kind of silly — not nearly enough for the quantity of liver. How about adding a handful of Ritz crackers, like my grandma used to do?
I’m still curious about the new menu, but I’m dubious. I assumed it went from «Jew food» to «food Jews like» (which would explain the inclusion of things like eggrolls). I agree that it’s wildly varied, and in the end I was too paralyzed by the variety to try anything but what I knew I already liked — the crazy huge deli sandwiches. My favorite is a corned beef and pastrami combo with cole slaw and russian dressing. Hello, delicious.
I do miss the pickles, though. That was a nice touch. But as a Jew-​out-​of-​water here in Texas, I’ll keep going back for the traditional deli food I crave.

Been to Manny Hattan’s before and wasn’t expecting a new concept restaurant when I walked in the door. The décor is a nice upgrade and if you are looking for the old menu, a number of the dishes have carried over to the new menu as «MH classics.»
Some fresh bread was offered to start (in the same metal bowls they used to use for the pickles & sauerkraut.) My wife had the Manhattan (California) chicken sandwich with avocado, tomato and honey mustard. The chicken was very flavorful and moist but the roll was bland and too soft. I had the turkey stacker with challah, turkey, mashed poatatoes, and gravy. It was good. Think of a comfort-​filled turkey leftover sandwich. I’d want it with less mashed potatoes next time.
The waiter was very attentive, perhaps too much?
Overall, it was a 3 star experience but I’ve bumped it up 1 star for the matzoh ball soup. It’s still really good.