Chutzpah

I grew up eating in places like this but for some reason, although I live 2 miles away, I haven’t been here in five years. I brought my daughter here for Fathers Day, though, and couldn’t believe what I was missing. We had a great breakfast. Real NY bagels in Virginia. Hearty corned beef. Man-​sized meals like you expect in NY style delis. I’m glad we rediscovered this place and look forward to coming back.

The food was a little pricey, but very good. I had the special, called The New Yorker, the pastrami and corn beef was good, the spicy pickle, sauce and the fresh rye bread was one of the best I’ve had.
The customer service was a Zero. My 1^st and last time at this establishment. This place always look crowded so I never tried the deli. At 2:15 today, it looked empty so my wife and i gave it a try, walked in and a saw a sign that read order/​pick up here. Assuming I order the food there and they bring it to the table. I tried to order there, and was rudely told that I will be seated. The place looked like Subway or Santini’ deli, where you order at the counter, not by a server.
So I got seated. The server comes over and rudely told my wife that outside food and drinks were not allowed. She had a half drank bottle of ginger ale. If he was polite about it I would have apologized and threw away the bottle. I almost got up and left, which I should have. I told the waiter, she will not drink it in the deli. That set the mood. After that the server gave us minimal service and down right uncomfortable attitude. I know they claim to be real New Yorkers. Wake up you are in Fairfax! Threat people with respect. I go to NYC regularly and I have never been treated like this. There were other things on the menu I wanted to try, like the dry fish. I’M NOT GOING BACK, NO MATTER HOW GOOD THE FOOD IS.

It was a Tuesday morning visit so there weren’t any customers for sit down but a few customers walking in and out with their brown bag, assuming carrying their takeout. I live close by but I had never tried this joint. The meats and pastries display reminded me of traditional delis you may find in NY. This deli was not pristinely clean looking but rather aged in a good way. I ordered the ham egg and cheese sandwich on an everything bagel. I was impressed! It’s the best sandwich I had in a long time! You don’t usually find these non-​chain NY style delis around here. I hope this place is here to stay. I really loved it and hope to return for a sit down breakfast soon! Looking forward to trying their Matzo ball soup!

I always come here for a matzah ball soup and a reuben. Good breakfast. And dont forget the mustard sauce on the table!

Ate here late Sunday morning with a friend. He had a breakfast dish and I had a sandwich. Both our meals were very good. I started with coffee and carrot cake. The coffee was excellent but the cake was dry, good enough to finish, but later found out it was the last piece. My lunch was absolutely delicious. It was the Fuggedaboudit, corn beef, pastrami, chopped liver on grilled rye bread. It was about a dollar more than the comparable sandwich at the Celebrity Deli in Falls Church, but had much more meat on it, so it was a better deal. The rye bread was thicker too, but not better, very close though. The potato salad was great. I don’t like most potato salads.
The server was very nice and talked to us, but seemed to be missing in action for most of the meal. She did say that she would not have settled for the last piece of carrot cake. Even though I mentioned that to her she did not tell a manager to give me a discount or anything. I never got my water, nor were we served or offered their complementary pickles. There was a busboy that was constantly filling up my coffee so that was good and he came outside with my carry out box after forgetting it in the restaurant.
I have heard this place is going downhill a little bit, and now know what they mean. Have only eaten here four times in about ten years, it’s a little far from where I live. The food is good and is worth trying.

If you’re looking for a good deli sandwich you can’t hardly go wrong here. I had the «Ester «on the recommendation of the waiter & it was very tasty — pastrami, muenster and peppers. The menu is extensive plus you can make your own sandwich. The ’ normal’ was more than enough for good appetite. They also make halves and 1.5x meat.

Love this place
The reuben is awesome and the cakes are huge and super delicious
Eric and the crew are great people always feel like family there. My football boys cant even finish the Skyscraper! Its A Monster and sooo good!
Come on out and try them their a staple in the community!
Sean

This place is great, no frills but great food! I always eat way too much but I am never disappointed!

I had feared that I would never get to eat good NY deli food anywhere in Virginia. I was born above the Mason-​Dixon line in the wonderful state of NJ, and I grew up on solidly amazing diner food and of course, in a loud, eating, Jewish household. Now that I am all grown up like a big girl, one might think «so cook it yourself,» but once you’ve had a deli cook something for you, you just can’t match it.
The hamentashen and rugelach are AMAZING, though I had a poppy hamentashen and regret it. Poppy just isn’t for me but I powered through it because you do NOT waste a good hamentashen. You choke that back with some good coffee and savor it! And don’t get me started on the hilarious tee-​shirts boasting salacious-​sounding commentary about the food itself. For someone of lowbrow humor, I am all about that.
It’s a small place, and you seat yourself as you see people vacating tables, so plan not to go at the busiest time you can imagine: weekends for breakfast and brunch. Luckily we got a table pretty quickly, and entered food heaven shortly thereafter. I ordered the eggs benedict chutzpah style and I have zero regrets. Served on a large ham steak (I know, odd for the Jewish girl, but sue me, I love ham) on top of two latkes. I can’t really say anything bad about this place, because the food was insanely amazing and I love that I can order their meats and salads to go.
The only down fall was how small this place is, but I guess you can’t marginalize amazing food. This place would lose its diner feel if it were some large corporate looking place. If your waistline can handle it, then by all means go and stuff your face. You’ll have to make several visits, because the menu is huge and so are the many options you can entertain.

Amazing food but not the cleanest place. The bagels are amazing. Almost like being back home in nyc.

Theme and concept is a New York Deli but feels like a regular American eatery. The resturant is located at a shopping mall plaza on the corner; you may pass it if you don’t notice it and only visited because I was accompanied by my friend. Moment you are seated you are greeted by friendly and professional service. The resturant seating is arranged in a tight area in a L-​shape around the bakery/​dessert and order/​pickup area. I started off with borscht soup which I ordered hot but received cold, regardless it left me with a rich and bland potato flavor in my mouth. Resulting in me not enjoying their take on a simple but classic dish. Needless to say with my friend’s highly fondus of this place I was looking forward to my main course their chicken schnitzel with boiled cabbage and rice. The schnitzel was battered nicely and was accompanied by a gravy and both our side dishes where properly cooked and certified my friends justification of why anyone should visit. I also had a garden salad and enjoyed their crunchy croutons. At the end of the service both my friend and I where happy with our meals to return and recommend this place to anyone who enjoys classic New York, Germany, Jewish dishes. Highly recommend the chocolate cheese cake!

I’ve been here a couple times. First time I ordered a Ruben and more recently a meatball hero (their daily special). Both left the same impression…
You get a LOT of OK-​tasting food. Nothing bad and nothing I found to rave about either.
The free slaw and pickles as a starter are a nice idea. The slaw was the best, the sour pickles were a bit too garlicky for my taste, and the dill pickles too bland.
As with all my 3-​star ratings, I will never return on my own, not object of others suggest it, and not recommend it to others. It’s not that there is anything «bad» about this place, just that there are too many much better places I know about and far more that I haven’t tried to come back here without some really good reason.

After a few more visits here, the rating is going up. Up is good.
I decided to try again not just for breakfast, but to go back during lunch. I’m happy I did. It’s really busy here during that time. That’s a telling sign. Look, again, I’m from New York (yes… I’ve lived in New Jersey for the better part of my life), so I understand all the workings in what it means to have a good deli (it’s never going to be the same once you leave the area. I get that, and so should you). While I’ve yet to bring home any of the true «deli» style workings (that’ll come later), the lunches that they do at Chutzpah ask for more visits.
First off, when you get there for lunch, you’re offered immediately cole slaw and pickles. Even if they weren’t good, I’d still take it, but they are, and that makes it better. Cole slaw is a bit runny, but okay, it’s free. Then I go with the matzo ball soup always as a start (if it’s on the menu, I won’t turn it down). It comes in a nice sized portion as well as good broth, vegetables, chicken, and some egg noodles. The matzo ball itself is just okay, something tells me they aren’t homemade. I really want to think they are, and I hope they are, but something very weird tells me they aren’t. Anyways, it’s very nice that is offered and is a solid 3.5÷5, and I’ll gladly order it each time as a starter.
For the main course sandwiches, they are big, plentiful, and come with a lot. Sounds redundant? Not really. Just have any of them! The sandwiches come with a lot of meat, and fix-​ins that come with it, as is the bread it comes on, and depending on what you order, either they come with french fries, macaroni salad, potato salad, or onion rings (those you have to pay an extra amount). The french fries are really good too! Those taste fresh and unique, an excellent compliment to the meal. Their macaroni salad was good too. If my sandwich comes with it, it’s getting it.
Then there’s the finale, the dessert. Hamantashen and Linzer tarts please! They are very good, and have plenty of fruit filling. I always take them to-​go, so I can have them later. But I’m always ordering a few of these, they are amazing and live up to the hype that they should have. I can only imagine when Purim comes around, better start cooking them up! The owner, I think Eric, was super accommodating and and made my experience pleasant. Good customer service helps generate relationships, which in turn makes customers want to return for more visits.
I’m sure you’ve already noticed now it’s a place that I don’t want to say I’m a fan of, but a place that has clinched the thoughts of my mind when hungry and thinking about something to nosh (eat in yiddish) on. Recommended and am already dreaming of when I should go next. That’s how you earn an extra star *.

I’ve been here several times. Mostly I enjoy the food, and I will say that their pancakes are fantastic. Their other food I have found to be hit or miss. Oh, I should mention that I only ever come for breakfast. The eggs benedict with hash and the pastrami scramble are so meat-​heavy that it drowns out everything else. The cheese blintzes taste like they were frozen and microwaved. They were truly awful.
The service is generally slow but friendly, but I had a recent experience that has ruined this place for me. I ordered my breakfast a la carte. I had one pancake, two eggs (with cheese), and two slices of bacon. When we got the bill I noticed that I’d been charged for one of the breakfast specials plus an extra side (the bacon, I think). When asked, the server told me it was cheaper to charge it that way; nevertheless, I took a look at the menu and checked for myself. It was not cheaper. They overcharged me by about $ 2.50.
I took the check to the server who had to take it to the owner (I’m 99% sure he’s the owner) to fix. I stood in front of both of them at the register while they re-​ran the check and neither looked at me or apologized.
Now, I realize that $ 2.50 isn’t a lot, but they did the same thing to my friend (who did not dispute her bill) and I can’t help but wonder how many others. $ 2.50 here and there adds up quick and I don’t appreciate being scammed.

Great food and probably the best Jewish deli in the NoVa area. Food is fantastic and the menu is so large. You can find everything here. Great prices as well.

Stellar, classic sandwiches! So very authentic, also they’re not «downsized.» You can order a nosh if you’re not able to eat a standard-​sized one in one sitting (at a reduced price).
Certainly a favorite

While visiting my husband’s family, my father-​in-​law introduced us to this small, unassuming restaurant. It’s slightly hidden away, at the end of a strip-​mall. If you drive too fast, you might miss it, and you wouldn’t want to do that!
Have you ever had Chicken Noodle Matzo Ball Soup for breakfast? Don’t laugh, you just might like it. My husband and I have been comparing this soup from state to state. I have to say, the soup at Chutzpah, ranks pretty high. There are so many elements to this soup. The broth is always the first thing that I try. I never go straight for the balls, or in this case, one humongous ball! The broth was rich and flavorful, not too salty. The bowl was filled to the brim with noodles, carrots, celery and chicken. The lightly seasoned ball, was the perfect companion to the soup. To top it off, they serve this soup with a bagel chip… hugging your spoon handle. Now that says love.
While I could’ve tried to eat the bowl of soup by myself, I opted to share with my hubby. I still had a bagel to eat! The bagels and sandwiches that we ordered were equally amazing.
Given the opportunity, I would definitely return to this restaurant.

Outstanding experience! As someone born and raised in NY, I really appreciated eating in a deli like this.
When you walk in and sit down, you’re immediately greeted and offered coleslaw and two half-​sour and two full-​sour pickles (all were perfect).
Use your common sense, order what sounds good and enjoy your meal. I had a nosh of pastrami on rye with a side of matzo ball soup. My wife had a knish and a nosh of pastrami with a side of potato salad. I had nothing to complain about.
Service and food were great. We really enjoyed our experience and will be back again soon. I’ve missed bialies and I need to get back to enjoy one again soon.
Definitely hit this place up soon!

I really like this place. However, stick to lunch, or dinner if sandwiches are your thing for dinner. I had breakfast here today for the first time and I was extremely disappointed compared to the many times I’ve had great lunches. I ordered the corned beef hash breakfast which was 3 eggs, corned beef hash (duh), home fries and choice of bread/​toast/​bagel. The corned beef hash was the worst that I have ever had! It tasted as if there were some kind of seafood in the meat. This is the kicker… once I finished my meal, leaving almost the whole portion of the corned beef hash, the waiter asked if I was done and he gave me the check. I was hoping he would notice that I only had only taken one or two bites of the corned beef, which I am sure he did but wasn’t concerned why I didn’t eat it. I then had to mentioned to him that the meat tasted horrible and tasted like fish. He told me that he would go to the kitchen and taste the corned beef himself. He followed up with me and said that it tasted fine to him and probably what happened was that when the cooks were preparing the meal they probably used the same grill as they used to prepare the lox. What?!? He was so kind and asked if I wanted to be comped (being facetious here) and I said sure, that would be great. He then said «okay I will go ahead and pay for this myself; I’ll be right back». I asked him not to do that, forget it. Am I being over the top here or does anyone think this was the worst approach ever by the waiter?
0 — for the waiter
2 — for the food, only for the eggs, potatoes, toast and coffee
4 — for the normally good sandwiches.
Add them up and average them out… a 2 at best.

Great little gem of a NY Jewish deli in the corner of a Fairfax strip mall. My daughter had the chicken noodle soup with a matzo ball, my wife had a pastrami sandwich, and I had a brisket sandwich. Everything was delicious. The service was prompt and very friendly. If I lived in the area I’d be a regular, for sure.

We arrived less than an hour before closing but no mention was made of this and we felt unhurried during our meal. The service was polite, helpful and friendly. Always up for new dishes, I had what I understand to be a classic dish, the Chicken Noodle Soup wiht a Mazto Ball. With no expectations, I thought it was delicious. Hearty, with a home-​made taste to it, I could see how this dish is a classic.
The meals can be ordered a la carte, which means you can choose one side, or as a dinner with two sides.
The Weiner Schnitzel was a bit underflavored but it was a healthy portion and we seasoned it ourselves. The Sauteed Liver was cooked perfectly (somewhat less than shoe leather) and was savory and filling. The Potato Latke was fresh and came with your choice of a dollop of sour cream or apple sauce.

Used to really like coming here but last visit was an overpriced fail. Coffee was cold, kids tenders were overcooked and dry and even tho it comes w a fountain drink fact that i ordered milk instead set be back $ 8 to feed a 2 yr old burnt food. The pastrami was super dry and again fries almost burnt– that set me back $ 12 sandwhich+$ 1 cheese+ $ 4 for tiny side of fries. So adult meal with kids meal was $ 35… And it wasnt even good. Oh and we waited a loong time to get food. Not going back

Huge proportions and price too, but I could have split the Ruben Sandwich in half. Tho’, I ate the whole thing! Something light for me for dinner tonight.
By the way, they have a 40-​ounce Ruben on the menu!

Always enjoy eating here — the sandwiches are huge though! Be p[repared to be very full and or plan on taking some home!
This trip we stopped for breakfast. I had an egg white omelet and selected my own fillings. Love the Chutzpah onions (basically grilled, caramelized and sweet) with spinach and cheese. Makes a great omelet combination. I had a bagel on the side. Bagels are always fresh — no need to toast them at Chutzpah!
My other half had a bagel with white fish… their white fish is always fresh. Lox is always fresh and good here too. Can’t go wrong ordering these any time of day!
Don’t ask for light cream cheese — they don’t have any! If you are eating here — it’s not the time or place to think about cutting back!

They have very good and authentic bagels. The customer service very good, the place really clean and organized.
The best thing is they open really early that I can take my bagel early and make it to work in time.
They are very efficient in processing the ordered.

I needed pastrami in my life so I came across this little hidden deli. You walk in and all I could think was am I in NYC? I decided dine in as I had time before work and I’m happy I did. The server was pleasant and very attentive. I went with some crazy sandwich and I’m glad I did. Pastrami on rye with coleslaw swiss and liver pâté. Yum! I also got a side of potato salad and again surprised. Lots of mayo but tons of flavor and none mushy potatoes. The prices are a tad high so I recommended water and carryout as I won’t feel as bad. Overall good little joint.

Chutzpah is owned by Eric Roller; he makes this deli place as authentic as can be, by hiring Brooklyn-​born & bred chefs and offering authentic pastramis and corned beef sandwiches. The menu is pretty extensive, offering breakfast (egg sandwiches, egg platters, pancakes, French toasts, etc.), soups, appetizers (knish, latkes, tenders, salads, etc.), grilled & specialty sandwiches, open-​faced sandwiches, burgers, and entrees (like the schnitzels, meatloaf, shrimp scamp, and Parmesan). I had a craving for lox (as I grew up on that stuff), so I ordered the Nova Smoked Fish Platter — this came with your choice of a bagel or bialy, plain & vegetable cream cheese, slices of fresh tomatoes, generous mounds of Kalamata olives, red onion slices, and capers. I chose an Everything bagel, which I was pleasantly surprised that the ‘everything’ was on both the top and the bottom of the bagel (yahoo! There’s a reason why I save the ‘top’ part of the bagel for last so I can get all them crunchies!); the smoked salmon was thick and fresh, and rolled perfectly so you can un-​roll it easily on your spread. I loved how they give you both plain and veggie cream cheese; tons of capers were on the salmon as well, which I appreciated! Nom nom nom. I also had a side (appetizer) of the Potato Latkes, which came as 2 patties, served with your choice of apple sauce, sour cream, or both (I opted for both). I asked mine for ‘extra crispy,’ and there were a lot of crispiness: D The pancakes itself was a slightly bland, but it was good with the cold sour cream and the thick apple sauce. My husband ordered the Bucko 46, which came with thin hot slices of roast beef, Chutzpah onions, melted mozzarella, all on a grilled garlic bread — definitely a large sandwich, my husband thought it was pretty okay. He had to add some salt and pepper, though, to season it up a bit; I thought it was a little underwhelming as it was kind of bland for me, and the garlic bread became quite soggy; I think it will have been awesome if there was au jus on the side or if it was already dipped. This sandwich comes with your choice of macaroni salad or potato salad, in which the hubsters chose the latter — the potato salad was pretty good — tangy and relish-​y. We also added a side of onion rings, which were big, but forgettable. I also loved how while waiting, we get served a little dish of creamy (and quite delicious!!!) cole slaw and 2 different types of whole pickles. Our server was Amanda, and she was very sweet and quite efficient and attentive. The place is cute, kind of had an old-​school diner-​esque type of feel to it; it seemed to have a good amount of people dining in as well as for picking up carry-​outs (if you do take-​out, you just go to the right side of the restaurant; dining area is to your left). Definitely a solid place to get my lox fix! :D
+Nova Smoked Fish Platter (choice of bagel or bialy)
+ask for Amanda: D
+take-​out, step to the right
+dine-​in, step to your left (seat yourself)

I want to love this place. We keep going back and yet things just fall short.
Major highlights are the pickles and coleslaw. So say yes if they ask if you want or just ask as they don’t always bring.
My other fav and worth going to just for this are the french fries.. REAL fries! AWESOME
And then the Star of the show falls flat. What should be the reason to show up isn’t. A very disappointing rueben. I understand that the sauerkraut might be cold but to not have the cheese melted throughout. … to not have the meat warm in the middle. By the time we had realized this i had already sent back the kishke due to not being hot and hubby hates making a fuss. His comment was it was a okay sandwich and let’s just go.
I will be back as I am a fri junkie and great fries are hard to find