Marv’s

March 8 2014: went for breakfast… place is closed. Window signs say Out of Business.
(This was my attempt at Unilocal-​Haiku)…

I now have some insight as to why the service and food are so poor here. Based on the 4 letter words I’ve been called on the comments to my post, it appears the staff is spending way too much time on Unilocal

I work right around the corner from this place, so I’ve eaten here my fair share and I can really figure out why I go back at all. I’ve never had anything here that was very good. The Club Sandwich consists of petrified pieces of bacon and turkey breast that is so dry you’ll need an IV drip to avoid dehydration. The french dip LOOKS delicious, but the beef is very tough and chewy. The hod dogs are passable, but nothing to write home about.
The highlight though, was when I opted to try the $ 6 Burger special. The patty literally covered less than half the bun and the meat was like a dried out hockey puck. I’m not even sure how they served it with a straight face.
I really wish this place was good, since it’s so convent for me, but I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon.

We tried the Ruben, BLT, pastrami, The Works dog, a cheeseburger and then took a dozen donuts home for the next morning.
Food was better than average but the prices are steep. $ 11 for a sandwich is expensive in my opinion when it doesn’t even include fries. Price is the only thing that will keep us away.
The donuts were a much bigger hit with the kids than the adults — they have lots of frou-​frou toppings/​decorations but the base donut is all the same and quite heavy in my opinion.

Service pretty much sucked from start to finish. I let a decent tip and really not sure why I just didn’t write on the ticket to consider a different career choice. When I first walked in I read the sign that said please wait to be seated. There was no one in the place accept two employees sitting at the counter. I waited. After a good minute the girl came over and asked if she could help me. I thought maybe they were closed between service times and glanced back at the door, nope. I pointed out that the sign said please wait to be seated, and she responded, oh, and grabbed a menu and took me to a table. Again with absolutely no one in the place and the two employees just sitting, I had to wonder why she chose a table that had half a straw wrapper and a silverware wrapper from the previous dinner still there, but ok. After placing my order I checked out the specials menu. I was a little unimpressed with the special options for each day. Nothing that seemed like much of a special and nothing that would make me think, it’s xxxxday, let’s go to Marv’s. The little special holder thing was also disgustingly sticky, which makes me question why the employees are just sitting around. I started looking around and the door mat looked like they swept all the trash onto it, and forgot it, not gross dirty, but stuff that indicated employees shouldn’t be just sitting around.
I ordered a pastrami sandwich. The pastrami was nice and tender with just a hint of fat. It was a little too salty, but a decent pastrami. I ordered cottage cheese and it was nice and creamy, yummy. I also ordered a French Dip to go and had it the next day for lunch. The beef was nice and tender, but overcooked and dry (i tried a little bite before putting it in the fridge.) The little onion strings that come on it was a nice and different touch, but maybe a bit much with the sandwich being served on an onion roll. The pickle that comes with the sandwiches is a little disappointing in size. I don’t think I have ever seen a pickle spear so small…
There were table tents about getting $ 2 off from «iWhim.» My phone internet was running a little slow trying to download it. I tried to connect to Marv’s wifi and it wouldn’t connect. When the girl brought my to go order I mentioned the deal and that I was having issues downloading it. She said a lot of people do and asked if I tried their wifi. I said I did, but it wouldn’t connect. She told me a lot of people had problems with that too and walked away. Apparently, I wasn’t getting the deal unless I downloaded it regardless if they knew there are issues. Finally I got it downloaded and presented it to her. The deal is terribly misleading as I did not get a discount off my order, but received this flat, greasy, flavorless hash brown thing. I mentioned that I thought it was a discount on the bill and she just looked at me. I just left at that point although I was considering some donuts for the morning.
I won’t be back. The food is good, but not good enough for the lack of service.

Tried this place when they sent us a BOGO coupon in the mail. Gotta love coupons for dragging you off your own little beaten path. Not really going to become part of our normal rotation since the prices were pretty steep in my opinion. But the quality was good and the service was friendly, so there’s that at least!
The food was good. I liked my Chicago dogs, and the homemade kettle chips were crisp and nicely seasoned. My husband had the Pastrami Ruben and enjoyed it as well. (I’m no fan of sauerkraut so I didn’t take a bite, but it looked beautiful!) We each had a soda and shared a donut for desert. We chose a chocolate donut with Kahlua glaze and toffee chips. You’d expect that would be overly sweet, but it was surprisingly not sweet at all. Sort of missed the mark with that one… maybe I should have chosen something different.
We were here on a Sunday for lunch and the place was really quiet, only two other tables occupied at Noon.

My coworkers and I decided to start ordering lunch from Marv’s a few months ago. They are always packed during lunch! I think the prices are a bit uneven. You can get half of a carved sandwich and chips for 5 bucks, but then a whole hot sandwich is 11 dollars! The half sandwich is plenty of food. I wish the hot sandwiches were offered in a half size.
I like the turkey sandwich a lot and that’s usually my go to sandwich. You can get it on rye, Challah, or an onion roll. I’ve tried the pastrami and thought it was wayyyyyyy too salty. I love their pickles!
I definitely want to try their Matzo Ball soup. I would like to try their potato pancakes as well, but they seem to be overpriced. It’s not a bad place to grab some lunch. It just depends on what you order.

Marv’s Deli gets a SOLID 3 STARS on Hub’s & my visit today. But both Hubby and I agreed that the potato pancakes are MIGHTY FINE and may be the very best reason to make a return visit to Marv’s. Hubby said he wished he’d gotten a full order and skipped the sandwich and I seriously considered ordering more myself, after taking a single bite of the one that I got as a side with my Pinky’s Pastrami Reuben. It was one of the absolute best potato pancakes I’ve ever had — nicely crispy with great potato flavor and served with generous cups of sour cream and applesauce. I could make a whole meal of these!
The Reuben was pretty good but I was not overly impressed with the quality of the pastrami. Although it was a generous portion, it was not particularly tender. It also seemed to have quite a lot of fat. Now, being a Midwestern girl, I may just not know what ‘real-​deal’ pastrami is, but it didn’t live up to my expectations and I will most likely order something else when I visit next time.
As for Hubby, he was very disappointed in the Slow Roasted Brisket sandwich that he ordered. He didn’t even finish it all and invited me to sample it if I wanted to. I would tend to agree that it was very ordinary, with not much beef flavor, too chewy and NO brisket should ever be this dry and uninspired.
Marv’s sandwiches are all served with one side (kettle chips, coleslaw, cottage cheese or apple) and there is a small up-​charge for either hand-​cut fries or the potato pancake. Each is also served with half a ‘sour pickle’ that turns out not to be very sour and was more tough than crunchy.
I ordered a Macaroon Bar for dessert and it was served chilled from the frig and impossible to cut with my fork, so I just picked it up and ate it like a cookie. It was sweet and chocolaty, thanks to the addition of lots of chocolate chips. And the serving was cut generously for $ 2.50. It made a nice end to the meal.
The venue is quite cool with some sports themed stuff and brick and brass and soaring ceilings. Our server was pleasant but seemed a little distracted, even though we were there well after the lunch rush and she wasn’t covering many other tables than ours.
Marv’s was not quite the deli I was hoping for, but I would like to give them another try sometime and I will DEFINITELY order the Potato Pancakes and maybe the Matzo Ball soup or possibly the Mish Mash (matzo ball and noodles)!

If this was Marv’s cooking, I’d be a little embarrassed to give a tribute to his name by serving what they do here. Yeah, it’s the best kosher-​style deli cold cuts you can get in the area. But I can open up an Uzbeki restaurant, serve marginal food and still be the best in the area by the sheer fact that I’d be the only one in the area serving Uzbeki food.
I know deli. I grew up with it. I’m the weird one who likes a good tongue and corned beef sammy. On rye, of course. I grew up with kosher or kosher-​style delis all over the place. You know that very last restaurant that Anthony Bourdain hit up in his last No Reservations episode? That deli place? Yeah, it’s literally around the corner from my parents’ house. So I have a good idea of how things should taste.
The corned beef? Kind of bland. The pastrami? Way over-​salted. The pickles. Oh, how I would die for a good half sour pickle in KC. Why is it so impossible to find? When I went the first time, they were great. The last time? Way way way too much vinegar. They were ok. The best in the area, with an area that doesn’t have half sours anywhere. I wouldn’t smuggle these in my luggage, I’ll just leave it at that. Attributing this food to kosher-​style delicatessen would make my grandma roll over in her grave.
So I’ll pass. There’s no need to drive all the way from downtown to Marv’s for deli food. Heck, there’s no need to drive from Leawood to Marv’s for deli food. I’m going to wait until I can hit David’s.

I’ve been to Marv’s twice since AMC moved our offices down the block. Both visits were very good, but not perfect. On my first visit, I won a free knish and asked for the meat but was served the sweet potato. It took a bit longer to come out than one would expect and I’m sure it would have been good if it had been what I’d ordered (would have corrected them but had a tight schedule and a movie to catch). The Reuben was quite good. The Rye was a bit light on flavor and wasn’t thick enough to hold up to a moist meat with kraut & sauce, but the flavor mix was good.
The second visit was during a weekday lunch rush and was actually smoother. We had attentive service, a meat knish served free since we were new to the neighborhood (pays to wear the AMC badge around Park Place right now). Not the perfect lunch spot, but certainly worth a visit if you’re in the neighborhood and looking for a nice deli style sandwich.
I’m not familiar with how a ‘traditional’ Jewish deli would be run, so I’m leaving out commentary on whether or not this meets that level as advertised.

Whoa! Did I finally find a legit deli in the deli wasteland of JoCo!!! I got so freakin’ excited to get a delicious sandwich filled with 80 lbs of meat and a years worth of delicious sodium. So, so… did I find it!!! Unfortunately, no.
Service was so slow. It took well over 5 minutes to even be acknowledged. Staff looked at us, they just didn’t acknowledge us. So, that was cool.
We split a reuben with fries to go, which came out fairly quickly and slightly made up for the long wait to be ackowledged. The meat was plentiful enough, but not as much as I expected. Unfortunately, it tasted cheap and fatty, with little flavor. Same with the kraut. The bread was okay.
We also spent $ 1 extra to get some fries, which also didn’t have much flavor.
All this for $ 12.50 plus tax? No thanks. Sorry, Marv. That being said, the restaurant is clean and nice, and an interesting concept (kind of sit down, kind of order at the counter).

The restaurant itself is beautiful, with the exposed brick, glass counter & sports ticker in the back. This place says it is Jewish style, but I’m not sure why. Nothing about it is Jewish except possibly the semi-​ok knish. They charge like 7.50; they did not even charge that much at Shea Stadium.
The rye bread isn’t even real; it’s like rye flavored white bread. The potato pancake is not traditional. It is like a shoddy hashbrown patty.
They say «mile high» sandwiches, but there is about one slice of pastrami on the sandwich and it is not even special. The owner claims they are not really a Jewish deli, they just have huge sandwiches like a traditional Jewish deli. That still doesn’t make sense because at a traditional place they charge $ 18 and you can split up the meat on one sandwich between three people. This place charges $ 11 and gives you one slice of meat that’s not even made in house. I’m pretty sure you can get that at like Jason’s Deli.
I am too scared to even try the lox because it is probably from Costco or something.
Shalom!

Now I know we lack a true Jewish deli in KC, but Marv’s is pretty damn good. I won’t say they have the best service, but they sure do deliver one hell of a sandwich.
The menu is large and has a ton of choices, from a reuben to a Chicago style dog. Also, the fries and house made chips are fantastic. You also get a plate of homemade pickles.
If you’ve been debating checking this place out, get out of your seat and get your ass to Marv’s!

I must preface this review by saying I’m from NYC and grew up on deli. I also worked at a traditional deli during high school, so I learned quite a bit about how things should be. I apologize in advance and will try to be balanced.
Marv’s is a «Chicago-​style deli » lived in Chicago and delis were generally either Italian or Jewish, both based on what you’ll find in New York. This was some strange amalgamation of the two and it kinda sorta works if you’ve didn’t grow up on the stuff
First, starting with the décor. The brick walls are lined with a series of mostly black and white pictures of various east coast scenes emulating delis such as the Carnegie that have celebrities. The pictures are scenes from KC sports, Italian weddings and delis as well as a few Bar Mitzvahs and Jewish delis.
No appetizing counter, but a small case with lox as well as cream cheeses The cream cheese had huge chunks of veggies just like it should be. Some macaroons as well as brownies greeted you in that same case but no black and white cookies or rugelach, a deli staple. Pickles were on the table, but only a cucumber and they had only «new pickles”-(haven’t fermented very long.) No kraut, green tomatoes, or even brine. Ok I don’t like the tomatoes but I do love my kraut and that brine is what you dunk your bread into. Here there wasn’t bread at the table either so that’s moot.
I had a bagel with veggie cream cheese and coleslaw side. The cream cheese did not disappoint but the bagel did. These weren’t water bagels and tasted more like rolls with a hole. The exterior was pretty much the same as the interior and didn’t al-​dente feel on the outside. A frozen bagel would probably be better, but at least they had east coast flavors such as salt and everything. Cole slaw was a creamy style instead of the health slaw that is vinegar based. Where I’m from you put coleslaw ON the sandwich so I did.
My dining companion got the corned beef. I spent 40 hours a week one summer cooking and slicing corned beef so I am highly critical. This wasn’t deli style corned beef but rather the «corned beef and cabbage» style It lacked the spice and finishing secrets of NY deli style beef, especially salt. The meat was also trimmed and lacked the marbling that gives the beef it’s flavor and juiciness. One of the not so secret keys of a NY style corned beef sandwich is slicing the meat is to steam it. No steam here.
A corned beef sandwich is traditionally served on large oval slices of thick rye bread with enough caraway seeds you could mistake it for sandpaper. The crust this thick and chewy just like the exterior of a bagel. I swear this was Beefsteak rye which is basically rye bread with a few seeds. :-(Here comes the most offensive aspect of the sandwich. Grandma would call it a «shanda» while I simply said «WTF?»
They toasted the bread! For those not accustomed to quality bread, you might think it’s ok to toast bread on a corned beef sandwich. It isn’t. The bread needs to be soft and pliable and soak up the fat and grease from the meat (or the dressing on the cole slaw). You simply don’t toast the bread anymore than you would say put ketchup on a plate of burnt ends. My dining companion didn’t know any better. Ignorance is indeed bliss. Actually he really liked the sandwich and for KC it wasn’t bad and I agree. However, it wasn’t anything like what a New Yorker would expect. At least they did have some brown mustard with the sandwich, but it wasn’t Gulden’s They also had Dijon and a yellow mustard along with it. Dijon? Sigh.
Other items on the menu had a Chicago focus with the traditional celery salt and neon green relish as well as a variety of sandwiches using turkey, brisket, veggies or fish as the main ingredients. No knockwurst or as we east coasters call «Specials» The items aren’t kosher-​style so you can expect meat and cheese combos such as a Rachel or Rueben.
As a NY Deli expert I was sorely disappointed. The meat, bread and condiments weren’t remotely close to what I’d expect when I’d go the 2^nd Avenue Deli in New York or Ben’s in Boca or even Corky and Lenny’s in Cleveland. In spite of my objections and bias, I’d recommend it to midwesterners who think Seinfeld is cool and love watching Law and Order. You’ll get some of that east coast experience that’s modified for a palate that’s never experienced such food.
Think about it this way… if you go to Manhattan and get invited to a barbecue place your friends recommend… smile and eat what they think is «awesome» barbeque. Yeah, that’s how I feel about Marv’s – great unless you know better.

OK, the first trip there was a total bust. No one would offer us a table and the only contact we had was when someone asked if we needed to pickup a to-​go order. Must have been the newly opened, not sure what to do thing.
Second trip was completely different.
Great service and really good food. Best Rueben I’ve had in a long time. Server was a young fellow that was really friendly and seemed to be very knowledgeable in regard to the menu. He even brought a Matzo ball soup for my son to try out after being asked what it tasted like.
So, as it stands, only going with 3 stars right now but that could go up after another trip as a tie breaker. Hopefully, We can have another good experience like the latest one. If that happens, we could definitely become regulars and pump up the rating.

First visit to Marv’s and overall it was good. Nice place inside and service was good. They start you out with some of their homemade pickles. Seemed like an uncooked cucumber with fresh dill and a little garlic. Not your typical pickle, but I liked them. They have a huge menu and you have to read over the description of each sandwich so it takes a bit to figure out what to order. They also have hot dogs and burgers.
Their prices are a little steep for a lunch sandwich place. I had a reuben sandwich for $ 11. Granted it was a big sandwich, but if you get a drink it will cost you $ 15+ for lunch (with tip). I just have a hard time spending nearly $ 20 for lunch. As far as reuben’s go it was good, but certainly not the best reuben I have ever had. They come with natural cut fries that were tasty.
I’ll go back for another visit because I did like the place and it is very close to work.

Meh… Kinda overrated. Like other reviewers indicated, service is pretty bad. The poorly trained servers are slow, inefficient, and awkward. After we sat and waited to be acknowledged for over 15 minutes, we were finally greeted by a server who mispronounced challah… I mean, you work in a Jewish deli, right? The food was ok, the serving sizes were large, but I still felt it was over priced. Too bad.

Marv’s is a good, Jewish-​style deli in Leawood. It seems they are getting more business than they can handle which is creating a sub-​par customer experience. The wait-​staff is overextended and the kitchen seems unable to keep up. My last two weekday lunches took at least 30 minutes for meals to be delivered.
That said, I have had several items from Marv’s and enjoyed them all. The French Dip was a very large sandwich served on a potato onion roll. The polish dog was also very good, served Chicago-​style with tomato, pickle and onion. I had the corned-​beef on another occasion and enjoyed it too.
I hope Marv’s can work out the service kinks, the food is really good and I enjoy having a deli in the neighborhood.

Marv’s is related to Sam N Hy’s, a Jewish deli in Skokie, where I grew up. I have been there twice and haven’t been disappointed.
The #18 Pinky’s Pastrami Rueben was outstanding. #1 Bucky’s Best Corn Beef was solid. The best menu item I had was #31 Mel and Teri. Which reminded me of my younger days.
Only two issues I had is the mustard tray needs to be covered so as to not have folks double dip. The potato pancake needs to be thickened up. It simply can’t be flat.

Made a second visit to Marv’s, as I was going to a meeting a few blocks away. Marv’s has been discovered (that didn’t take long)! At 5:30 there wasn’t an empty table to be had, but fortunately there were counter seats. If they continue to do this well, it won’t be long before they’re thinking of new locations to expand to around town! (They’d do very well in Midtown and Downtown, for sure!)
Tonight I ordered the pecan chicken salad sandwich on whole-​grain, with an accompanying side of cole slaw. It was just too hot to think of anything heavier! I did decide to sample their soup, though, and ordered a cup of the «mish mash» which is chicken noodle soup with a matzo ball and a kreplach (meat-​filled Jewish won ton/​ravioli/​pierog). A clever way to sample all these classic Jewish comfort soup accompaniments in one!
The soup is excellent — topped with a generous-​sized matzo ball that was flavorful and on the light side. This being a Jewish thing there are at least two battling schools of thought on matzo balls: floaters and sinkers. My family tends to be of the sinker school. But this matzo ball was a nice compromise between the two styles, not so light it would float away, yet substantial enough to taste like a dumpling and stick to your ribs! But not leaden! The kreplach was OK — just not remarkable. (Truthfully, I like my kreplach fried after being boiled, rather than in soup. Yum!) The chicken broth itself is rich, full-​bodied and well-​seasoned, as were the chunks of chicken meat it includes. They should sell this stuff in quarts, to go, especially in flu season! Heck, they could probably make tanker deliveries of it around town! This is good chicken soup!
The sandwich was nice. It included some thin slices of purple onion that were surprisingly strong and somewhat overwhelmed the mild-​flavored chicken salad. Sometimes I like onion, sometimes I don’t, and tonight was a «don’t» night. Oh, well. The chicken salad itself is pleasant and if I order the sandwich again I’ll remember to hold the onions. If they kick up the chicken salad a little it would be even better — not sure exactly what it needs, though. A subtle touch of horseradish? Or fresh pepper? It just seems to need a little boost.
I’m amazed to find myself rhapsodizing over cole slaw, but this was as good as I think I’ve ever had — the perfect balance between tangy and creamy with only a hint of sweetness. Seriously delicious! Do not meddle with this recipe, Marv’s — you’ve got it exactly right!
To leave with a sweet taste in my mouth I had a chocolate macaroon, which is just a regular macaroon with a slight drizzle of chocolate. Small, but rich, and it did the trick!
In spite of the crowds and this still being their first week of business the service was fine and there was no problem getting in and out in time for my 7:00 meeting. Folks, it looks like we have a hit on our hands! Kansas City is no longer the Negev Desert of Jewish cuisine!