Shapiro’s Delicatessen

Best deli this side of NYC, or Montréal. Amazing rye bread, pastrami and corned beef to die for. Surprisingly good fried chicken and stuffed cabbage with golden raisin in the sauce, may have to return to Indy just to eat there.:)

Quick and efficient, I must say. We had a party of 5 right around 12:30 and didn’t seem to have problems finding a table, although we arrived a few minutes late.
Some of the prices seemed a little high for some of the sandwiches but they were packed with meat. If you are looking for more «exotic» creations with micro greens and artichoke hearts, you won’t find them here. If you are looking for a turkey sandwich on homemade bread with lettuce and mayo, check this place out. Keep in mind you can get a half of at least some of the sandwiches if not all.

My coworker and I are big fans of deli sandwiches so when we heard there was a ‘famous’ place in the area we immediately went over to get some lunch.
I ordered corned beef and swiss on rye and got a slice of the apple pie that looked good (love pie).
Price came up: $ 22. I assumed she had misunderstood and tallied both my coworker’s and my food. I looked back and he was not yet anywhere near me, so this wasn’t the case. It was just a $ 15 sandwich.
The food, we both concurred, was very good. Unfortunately, it really isn’t enough of a distinction from other sandwich places for the price. The pie was also delicious!

Excellent New York style deli! Great everything and worth the trip!

The corned beef was excellent. The Rueben was good. The carrot cake was excellent. The place was packed and this says a lot for an out of towner like me. A great lunch with good people.

My family loves Shapiro’s! We eat there every time we’re in Indy. All the food we’ve tried is homemade and tastes like some wonderful Jewish mother just cooked it for her family. The portions are enormous, so my husband and I often share a dish or a sandwich. You also want to leave room for dessert because they have something for everyone: decadent cakes, pies, pastries, and cookies.
It’s also a wonderful place for families to eat together. There is something on the menu to satisfy everyone. The kids menu is about $ 5 and serves favorites like mac and cheese and spaghetti and meatballs. My son loves the cafeteria style and likes putting his food on his own tray. Another upside to the cafeteria service is that getting food as you come in saves you from dealing with hungry, cranky, inpatient little ones.

I hate to give an Indy treasure an average review, but I am a vegetarian and a cheap/​frugal diner, so I am giving a review from my perspective. But let me quantify frugal. I won’t knock off stars for expensive if the food is really good and fresh. As I will add stars for inexpensive when I can tell the food is above and beyond for the price. I personally felt the food was over and above in cost for what they are serving. They are relying on most people getting the corned beef and raving on that and the rest of what they serve is just average looking cafeteria food.
I went there today. And I’ve eaten there a couple of times before. Today, my choices as a vegetarian were limited. I got an order of spaghetti for an entrée and a slice of carrot cake for dessert. I thought about getting a vegetable side dish, but fit the prices, they didn’t look appetizing enough. The green bean/​carrot dish looked pretty buttery as did the potato dish. I really couldn’t tell what the other items were, but they looked like they had meat and mayo and things.
The spaghetti was, by far, the worst spaghetti I’ve eaten in a restaurant. And that could probably include school cafeteria lunch spaghetti. I added pepper and salt. And then I added more salt and more pepper. If I hadn’t been with friends who had bought my lunch, I probably wouldn’t have ate it at all. But I choked as much as I could down to be polite. YES, It was THAT BAD. I can only think that Shapiro’s intends for most people to get the meatballs with it and not care about the spaghetti and sauce. Not sure what seasonings they use, but they could switch with Prego from a can and it would be an improvement.
On a positive note, I followed up with the carrot cake. Now, to show I have nothing against this restaurant, I will tell you this, this is the hands down best carrot cake I have ever eaten. (Sorry to my husband who makes a pretty great carrot cake, too). But it has nuts and raisins in it, and a sweet, but not too sweet icing. It is a generous slice. I wish I had just gotten the cake and I might be giving a five star review. It’s soooooooo good. I don’t even want to know how bad it is for you.
The place is clean and there is a lot of room around each table, which is great because a lot of elderly people eat there and they need room if they have accessibility concerns. And though they are near downtown, and the Colts stadium, they have their own parking lot. It’s easy to get to. If you type Shapiro’s into your phone’s GPS, it should take you there without having to look up the address. Mine did.
To summarize, if you like corned beef and carrot cake, this is a good place for you. Otherwise, there are probably a lot better options for your money in the nearby area.

Love deli… a true deli… this place was it! I keep reviews pretty short and to the point. Reuben, delicious, salami and meunster, not bad, potato latke, wonderful, and the desserts? Just heaven! Now why the 3 stars? RUDE service. Almost like just tell me what you want quickly and keep moving… it was not busy when we were in there. Other then the service… we were happy.

Love the atmosphere. Chatter all around all the time. This is my first visit and I came for lunch before heading to the airport to go home. After all airport food simply doesn’t cut it, right?
Shapiro’s homemade rye is awesome but cut too thick for my liking for a sandwich. It would make some fabulous toast.
Corned beef is fair. It’s tender, trimmed and sliced just right, but not very flavorful. Coleslaw acceptable. Mustard potato salad is a keeper. Pickles not homemade. Disappointed that they didn’t offer traditional deli beverages like egg creams or chocolate sodas
I’d come back to try some of the hot dishes and bakery items next time I’m in Indy.
Personnel very efficient and friendly. Looks like they run a tight ship here at Shapiro’s.. Everything is very clean. A definite plus!
Obviously a very popular place. A tremendous mix of all types people.

I’ll add to the accolades. I love this place. Reminds me of Manny’s in Chicago. Not as good but what could be? The corned beef and pastrami here are top notch. The rye is a little like white bread and gums up when you eat it and that would be the thing I would change here.
I liked the sides. I’ve tried the slaw, mac and cheese and the potato pancake. The slaw is great and by the way so are the pickles. The mac and cheese doesn’t have to be quite this heavy. You won’t finish your dish of it. The potato pancake was interesting. Crispy. I’m not sure I would order it again.
There’s so much to try here and so much to like about this place. I got some rugelach to go. They were a little dry for my taste. I’ve been twice and would definitely stop on my way through again and try some more.

I think you would look good eating a sandwich here. I think I would take you here for a first date. And you would look good eating a sandwich. And you would get it on your shirt. I think I would laugh until you noticed and wiped it off in grand exaggerated motion, and I would laugh more.
I think you would look good eating a sandwich here. I think we would come on a fifth date, late at night after dancing. I think we would talk a little less and stare a little more. I think I would be full and take a box home with the other half of the sandwich inside. I think it would sit in your fridge for awhile.
I think you would look good eating a sandwich here. I think you would tell me to meet here and order for me, impatient I was late. I think I would get a little annoyed. I think I could admit I made mistakes too. I think you would drag out eating so you didn’t have to speak much. I think I would get a little annoyed. I think you would too.
I think you would look good eating a sandwich here. I think I would see you from a few tables over and smile to myself. I think you would get it on your shirt. I think she would laugh until you noticed. I don’t think I would wave.

Taste is fine. Potato pancake is not fully cooked with uncooked flour inside. Meatloaf and Cabbage rolls are both mediocre. Key lime pie is way too sweet (as all the dessert here in the US).
And the price was 28.50 for two entrees. So the three stars (2.5 to be exact).

Well I don’t know… I like the idea of Shapiro’s and I like that the interior décor of the place reminds me of something you’d find in New York City during the 60s/​70s. They offer a wide variety of items you’d expect to find in a New York Jewish deli. Corned beef on rye, stuffed cabbages, matzoh ball soup, bagels, and so forth. And yet… Shapiro’s just didn’t ring my bell. Or blow my shofar.
We only got a garlic bagel, a black and white cookie, and some chips, so I can’t make any assessment of the main menu items. But the garlic bagel was not great. First of all, it was sweet, like it had some kind of sweet (invisible) glaze on it. The garlic flavor was minimal, and the texture and consistency of the bagel was more like a bialy rather than a bagel. My guess is that they didn’t boil the bagel before baking, but I could be wrong. And when we asked if they had bialys too, the counter guy responded with «No, we don’t but we have other Italian items like cannolis.» From our follow-​up questions we deduced that he thought a bialy was an Italian pastry. Say what? A supposedly NYC style deli that doesn’t know what a bialy is? Oy vey! Add to that the fact that the deli counter employees were pretty unkempt (one was wiping his nose with the back of his hand when we approached and the other had on a stained shirt) and it made for a less than stellar experience.
Shapiro’s might pass muster with the goyim, but not with this shiksa. I appreciate that they have such a long history and I’m willing to give them another chance. But they’ll have to go a long way to make up for the sad looking restaurant items that look like they’ve been sitting under the heat lamp for a few hours too many. I guess I’m just too spoiled by the real Jewish delis down in Aventura and Boca. Oh well.

Old school cafeteria style deli with plenty of choices on the hot food line and tasty corned beef. They make their own bread and bagels, and the homemade rye hit the spot. The only downer was the matzoh ball in my soup, which was too dense and heavy for my taste. Try a little baking soda in the batter, folks! Not a deal breaker for me, as they offer an impressive array of soups daily. I love the vibe of this place, and will return for the mac & cheese, which I’m told by a local is not to be missed.

Cafeteria style, amazing deli food! For this Long Island girl it was love at first sight. Fast service, great options, GIANT servings. I can’t wait to come back for a slice of pie or cake as large as my face.

This is it. You want a Rubin? This the best Deli in the state. Don’t eat in Indy with out going here.

Even when I was a little boy eating here with my parents, I understood that Shapiro’s wasn’t your average deli. Everything here is delicious — and I mean everything.
If you live in Indianapolis and haven’t eaten at Shapiro’s, then your opinion means absolutely nothing to me. Go take a picture of your overpriced garbage from the latest trendy restaurant du jour, and I’ll get down with some REAL food at Shapiro’s.

This place never disappoints. Love their pastrami and Swiss on rye. The Mac and cheese is the best around. Peanut butter cake for dessert. Come hungry or be prepared for left overs.

This is a great vintage deli/​cafeteria style restaurant. Grab a tray, get in line, and grab or order heaping servings of deli sandwiches or ready made home cooked dishes like mac-​n-​chee, meatloaf, and fried chicken.
Think, the midwest version of Katz Deli in the lower east side.
This place would be 5 stars if they had half sour pickles and used thinner slices of rye.

Very good matzo ball soup, potatoe cake, ruben, and pastrami sandwiches. We also got a cake to go. Cake was big and amazing, but $ 44 for a cake is crazy. Still a nice occasional treat.

Shapiros really is that good. Eaten here too many times to count, not cheap but you always get enough food for leftovers. IMO they had kind of fallen off their game, but am happy to report as of last night they are back in my good graces. Can’t miss: Brooklyn Pastrami, Harvest/​Carrot cake, potato pancake, buttery noodles, Rueben is hit or miss, but usually a good call. Pay attention to your selection as your bill can get out of control. Always bring my out of towners here for a casual bite. Two thumbs up.

By far the best New York style deli is Indianapolis. Is it expensive? Heck yes! Is it worth it? Absolutely! Our most recent meal consisted of corned beef ($ 13), chopped liver ($ 8), potato pancake, and of course dessert which was taken home along with ½ of my absolutely delicious chopped liver.
I an assuming that everyone in Indy is aware of Shapiro’s but for those of you in from out of town. It is the St. Elmo’s of delis!
Cafeteria style but even when the line looks daunting in moves very quickly. There is parking on site. Location — convenient to both the highway and downtown.
Oh dessert — carrot cake and cheesecake combo and Black Forest cake. Fantastic! Total price almost $ 50 for two and worth every penny.

Just left this place again and remember why we keep returning. Authentic Jewish food at it’s very best. Today was pastrami on rye with Swiss cheese and brown mustard. Ate half and will finish the other half for tomorrow’s brown bag lunch. Can’t go through the line without a cup of matzo ball soup. Don’t leave without stopping by the bakery for to-​go sweets. I had the sugar cookies today but also love their cupcakes.

I had Shapiro’s Reuben sandwich which consists of corned beef, sauerkraut, cheese, and some sort of dressing. It was pretty good sandwiched in between the house rye bread. I also had a craving for some matzo ball soup which was also pretty tasty at this place. They give you the option of having just broth with the matzo ball or with chicken noodle soup. Then, when perusing through their menu, I stumbled upon some cabbage borscht. Silly me thinking that this would be some Russian borscht soup, but this borscht was made with cabbage and tomatoes. Anyhow, I would recommending trying their Reuben sandwich and their matzo ball soup. If you are indecisive, they have so many things to choose from in their menu, but if you are still stuck, get in line and you can see what you are ordering as it is cafeteria style.
Their menu is somewhat confusing. FYI, you can actually select a half sandwich but also, you can also opt for a half sandwich and a half soup at a combo price.

I’m a little disappointed this time coming back putting them down to 3 stars unfortunately I found a eggshell in my deviled egg and it was pretty crunchy and I couldn’t catch the eggshell because by the time that I felt the crunch it was already in the back part of my mouth. The stuffed cabbage was absolutely delicious but I would not eat it every day or every week or every month maybe once every six months it is pretty sweet. The spinach was perfect the broccoli salad was really good, but they need to make sure that there is an even portion of grapes in every serving. The matza ball soup was stupendous with noodles, and last but not least the key lime pie in my opinion was a big disappointment but not a complete disappointment it reminded me of a thicker version of Yoplait key lime pie yogurt.

WOW!!! What a place to get desserts! I’ve never ate here but I have bought quiet a few strawberry cheesecakes for people who absolutely drool over these amazing cakes! They are priced pretty high — $ 47.00Strawberry Cheesecake … But TRUST me it’s worth it for whomever its for! The last few times I went there a gentleman named Russell has helped me and he’s excellent! I buy a lot of desserts, cookies, cakes, cupcakes for people every week and I’ve never received the amount of positive feedback from any other dessert like I have with the Strawberry Cheesecake!
Three words.
Go Buy One

This place is legit. I am spoiled as it is so close to my home. I’ve been here too many times to count but today was different. This time, I came in to grab breakfast. Did you know they serve breakfast? I mean I came here seeking my carb fix with one of there crunchy, chewy bagels but to my surprise they have a full breakfast menu!
After a quick look I decided upon the eggs and corned beef hash option. I mean this is a Kosher deli and I know from experience that I love their corned beef. Just as I suspected they make their corned beef hash in house and man is it good! It’s full of real ground corned beef, big chunks of potatoes with a great onion, garlic, pepper flavor too. My only regret is that I wish I’d had known about this option years ago!
I have to note that my breakfast option was in the $ 6 range and I only ate half. I consider it one of best breakfast deals in the city!

Stopped by Shapiro’s on my way through Indianapolis. With the extensive amount of reviews, I wanted to give this place a try– who knows when I’ll be back in Indianapolis!
The place was easy to find with ample parking.
I ordered half of a tuna sandwich, cole slaw, and a bowl of fruits. The sandwich was all right– the food here is a little too pricey if you ask me. The cole slaw eventually got tossed since it was a bit too sour for my liking… The fruits did not taste fresh.
The restaurant is large with tons of seating! I was confused with the service as to whether i just leave my food and dishes when I was done or if I had to clean and place them myself? I saw a man pushing around a cart for dishes but he simply walked right passed me as I approached him. Okay…
Probably would not come back since it was too pricey and a little too loud.

One of the best fresh made to order deli sandwiches you can get! Very large portions if ordered that way, but also expensive for a sandwich, but you get what you pay for.
Be careful because eating here can become addictive, and its not cheap.
Restaurant itself is large and roomy, plenty of seats, self serve soda pop, nothing fancy, just a clean deli.

We stopped in here during our trip down to the final four and thought this might be a good place to grab an early dinner, and what do you know, with paid parking, we got $ 10 off our meal. Score!
This place has great deli meats of the pastrami and corned beef type (along with others, but those are my favorite). Cafeteria style, grab a tray, pick some desserts, then get to the carving section and you can see them carve the meat and put your sandwich together — which is great because it means the meat is hot and is juicy just cut. I tried the reuben, which was pretty tasty. I actually really like the patrami sandwich my husband got as well. Just loads of meat — I really could have been happy with just half a sandwich, but had to finish it because it tasted so good. We also tried the mac and cheese, pretty good, but nothing special, it was a little different, mac and cheese on bottom, thick layer of cheese, mac and cheese on top. We also had the key lime pie which was good, but not tart which was disappointing as I like to pucker when I eat key lime pie. My friend had the strawberry shortcake, which was more like poundcake but really good. The place was a bit pricey for a «sandwich place», but since I ate enough food for two people, that might be the reason — I’d share a sandwich if I find myself back there in the future.
From what I can tell, a staple of the Indy area, so definitely worth trying out if you’re visiting!

This place. Jeez Louise. It’s awesome.
Not only is this place such an incredible place to fill your belly, it’s part of Indy’s culture.
I suggest Brooklyn Pastrami on marble rye with provolone and potato salad. If you like potato salad, you HAVE to get it. The best.

This is like a little slice of New York in downtown Indianapolis. It’s similar to the kosher delis that you find all over the Big Apple. Grab a tray, and walk though the line cafeteria-​style.
My weakness is pastrami on rye and Shapiro’s has a nice (and massive) one. It’s a little pricey, but think of it as 2 meals instead of 1 as you will surely be taking some home (get your own carry-​out boxes and paper bags from the drink/​flatware station).

Wow — please don’t shoot me! 2 *‘s is probably a death sentence here in Indy. Going for the giant reuben and such similar fare? GO! Be prepared to pay for it though — I wouldn’t call this place a «good value.»
This review is for the «other» hot food that is not the deli sandwiches they are famous for:
The first time I went here I got the baked chicken and it was bone dry. The second time I went I was not particularly hungry so I thought I would try their soup. I ordered Chicken and Rice soup — which I have had at other eateries before and it was rich and delicious (kind of like lemon rice minus the lemon if you’ve had your share of Indiana’s Greek family restaurants — I’m lookin’ at you every restaurant in Lake County!).
Well. Their chicken rice soup is cold, refrigerated white rice which they then pour their hot, plain broth over. FYI: I’m sure this is a shocker but this results in a lukewarm broth with rice soup. No chunks of chicken, no vegetables, nuttin’. Oh, and the bill for my friend’s sandwich, my bowl o’ broth, and two soft drinks? Approximately $ 20 w/​tax. :-(

THE BEST place in Indy for a deli sandwich (duh no brainer) the corned beef is heavenly. If you have a sweet tooth this is the place to go for that also. I wouldn’t recommend the macaroni though. The menu states it’s famous but I don’t see how… almost flavorless to me and it’s dry.
Edit– tried the Mac n Cheese again, the batch I had before must have just been a bad batch. Excellent this time!

A verbal snapshot of the things that instantly come to mind when I think of Shapiro’s Delicatessen:
Indy classic
Corned beef sandwich
Cabbage rolls
Buttery noodles and matzo ball soup
Enough sweets to leave ya drooling in line and out the door
Grab with caution, prices can add up quickly if you’re not watching your math
The «MCL crowd» … and me.
quick service
no frills
comfort food at its finest
great for groups
Again, the cabbage rolls…

Well it only took 11 years of living here to make my first visit but no longer. Went to Shapiro’s on a recent weekend with my Dad and son prior to an Indians game — overall a pretty simple location to get to with ample parking. Not a large crowd at 430PM on a Saturday — turned out the Jehovah’s Witnesses convention let out at 5PM that day and it took us an hour and 10 minutes to get to flipping VICTORY FIELD afterwards but that’s a different story…
Overall it is cafeteria style as others mentioned — you get your tray and utensils, start with desserts (cleverly positioned at the FRONT of the line), and work your way to the main courses and the cashier.
I’m a Reuben fiend, so went with that and some German potato salad. Dad and son both had the pastrami sandwiches, son had mac/​cheese. The Reuben was good but the pastrami was out of this world good. I wish I had ordered that. The sandwich bread was ridiculously good. The German potato salad was different than what I’d had in the past and was more mustard based in flavor. The mac/​cheese was just OK. Son and I split some chocolate cake for dessert which was very good.
A bit more expensive for the sandwiches but the other items on the menu seemed OK price-​wise. Sticker shock is probably common here. I like that there are a lot of other comfort food choices (stuffed cabbage!) and choices of everything in general to choose from. There is enough variety to lessen the dent in the wallet opposed to the sandwiches.
The atmosphere is a lot more laid back than I expected… it reminded me a lot of going to Tony Packo’s for lunch in Toledo Ohio (for those familiar) but on a much smaller scale and not as expensive.
The only complaint is everything menu-​wise is at the middle of the serving line… I knew what I wanted this time around but reading a printed menu isn’t the same as seeing what you’re getting. The seating along that serving line railing would be annoying from the newbies like me straining their necks to review the day’s offerings.
I will be back at some point in the future to try other items.