Kaufman’s

Always amazing!!! Sandwiches are large and in charge, never skimpy on the meat. Hickory smoked salmon is the best smoked salmon in the area. Egg salad is soft and fluffy making it stand out amongst all egg salads. Service is superb Mary will make you laugh and will put a smile on anyone’s face. This place is a must if your in the area!

Best corned beef anywhere. And the bakery is terrific. Check out some of their appetizers too. Also very good. You can even eat in if you wish. There are small tables & chairs.

I have literally drive by Kauffmans on Dempster hundreds of times, but never really knew what it was until I looked it up on Unilocal yesterday. Lo and behold I see a few of my Unilocal friends have already visited and given Kauffman’s a stellar review. Kaufman s looks like a little box along Dempster Avenue.
When I entered I was too busy taking pictures. I didn’t even realize that you need to take a number when you come in, in order to get served. As I was busy taking pictures I see 3 people grabbing numbers before I even realized (Dumb Rookie). Once inside you see all the deli cases with, meats, smoked fish, desserts, salads and a huge menu board along the back wall. The ceiling is a stamped metal ceiling tiles, with stools along the exterior wall facing Dempster Ave & an assortment of tables & chairs space around the middle of the interior space.
Back to the reason for coming a premium quality deli sandwich. I ordered a New Jersey Bypass sandwich which is a combination of pastrami & corned beef on rye bread with mustard. Usually I try to eat lean meat, but I learned in the past that the lean meat while it may be healthier lacks the flavor that a great piece of corned beef and pastrami have. Kauffman’s is very generous in the portion size and this double decker was over 3″‘s thick. The pastrami & corned beef are awesome quality, every bite just melts in your mouth. The sandwich also comes with a couple of slices of pickles that are delicious. I ended up eating half of the sandwich and saving the other half for dinner.
If you are in the mood for a great sandwich or other deli foods I highly recommend Kauffman’s. The staff is super friendly and polite and they have one of the best corned beef/​pastrami sandwiches I ever ate

I have been going to this deli for as long as I can remember. Since I was a little kid my family and I have been ordering the same thing as always.
My dad gets a corn beef sandwich lean. One of the best parts of kaufman’s is that when you order a sandwich, they don’t short you on the meat. A sandwich can feed me for at least 3 meals. The meat is just stacked on there.
I also order salami sticks which have never disappointed and tastes like heaven in stick form.
We also get their hard salami and Turkey pastrami. Their pickles come in a tub that you pick yourself and you can’t get pickles like these anywhere else.
They also sell homemade fresh bagels. They are cooked to perfection. A little crunch on the outside and moist on the inside.
If you go to one deli before you die, I would suggest kaufman’s. It is my home away from home and I can’t wait to pass this joint down to my kids in the future.

The customer service was great to start with, the décor and seats were pretty different! The food so far was amazingly tasty. I would recommend coming to this place if you want an eclectic amount of foods and treats!!! Go for it!!!

Oh-​my-​Goshen — Hamentashen! This is a full-​service, Zagat-​rated Jewish deli AND bakery, so you can reliably believe they do have some seriously tasty eats. 2 – 3 Fresh soups daily and when I say homemade I mean made like someone would make in their home. I have trouble staying ‘on the wagon’ when passing by their bakery cases, even their individual (actually 2-​slice) fruit pies are ridiculously scrumptious, and don’t even get me started on their brownies. OMGoodness! The staff is always super-​friendly, helpful and courteous. the frozen soups, foods and even meals they offer are of such a variety that one could, if one was so inclined (or just tire of cooking, or sick, etc.) go and purchase a week’s worth of meals there and not eat the same thing twice. Huzzah!
You can order on the phone and your ginormous sandwich, etc. will be ready when you arrive, and checkout even near closing time is swift and efficient.
There are pickle barrels (old and new pickles), smoked fish (and salads made with them), mixed salad selections and even stuffed cabbage (in the freezer). Kosher salami (the best), all kinds of deli meats of the highest quality, and their corned beef sandwich (call ahead and ask for it on corn rye) is only bested by their reuben.

Great quality & selection. Pricy for a sandwich but you get what you pay for. I’ll take this over subway or Quiznos any day

Grab a # near the front door when you enter, then get in line.
Appreciate the quality, freshness, taste, portions, and variety. Clean and warm interior. Their customers seem to include little babies to little ol’ grandparents, and all ages in between. The line moves fairly quickly.
We’ve had the pastrami sandwich, the NJ Bypass, the nova lox on a toasted everything bagel (with a fantastic amount of chive cream cheese, tomatoes, onion, and capers), knishes, potato salad, pasta salad, bean salad, pickles, and kettle chips in lots of flavors. Everything has been so delicious so far — the chicken soup was a tad salty when we had it, but still tasty.
There’s a bakery, but we’ve always been too stuffed to try their baked goods, so I can’t speak to that. Glad to have this gem nearby.

After an exhausting holiday trip to Old Orchard, I was in need of sustenance. Enter, Kaufman’s. Holy shite, you guys… this place is what corned beef dreams are made of. I was in love from the first bite. I don’t think I can ever go back to Budig corned beef again or any corned beef for that matter. Seriously.
I got a corned beef sandwich on rye with spicy mustard — lean corned beef, warm. Oh.mah.gawd. This was the most tender, flavorful corned beef I had ever had. I cannot put into words how delicious this sandwich was. I just can’t. You must experience it for yourselves. It’s all I can say.
Of course, I got some other goodies: potato pancakes, bagels and cream cheese, ginger potato chips and potato salad. All were great. The potato pancakes were killer, though. I would have liked to have picked up some lox and chicken liver but sadly they were out. Next time!

Fresh, high quality food that showcases proud Jewish traditions. The corned beef is DELISH and the pickles just right. My absolute favorite spot for bagels, rye, challah, gefilte fish, eggplant salad, tuna and egg salad, and stuffed cabbage. There is no other place in the Chicagoland area that compares. Feels like home and reminds me of my childhood.
Perfect destination for breakfast or lunch or for catering office parties, celebrations or shivas.

Felt like some different kind of food so Kaufman’s sounded great. For over 7 years I’ve been so curious about this place, my boyfriend lives literally 2 mins away. We used to eat Panera’s all the time before I started my keto diet so being able to have some carbs made me crave sandwiches.
My BF tried the New York special which is corn beef & a choice of liver patte, beef or chicken, he chose chicken. The flavor of the sandwich whole was what I expected, sooo good, although the chicken liver got a little overwhelming towards the second half of the sandwich. The corn beef itself was tender & juicy.
I had the Dr. H, which consisted of very juicy corn beef & turkey with tomato, lettuce, red onion & a horseradish dressing over sharp cheddar cheese. Yum!
The ratio of meat is huuuuuge, my carry out paper bag had two sandwiches and a full cut pickle but felt like 2 – 3 pounds of food. Will try a Reuben next time!!!

An experience. Check out the barrels of Pickles and nutty customers.
Get your number at the door and know what you want before you order. The corn beef is excellent, and the bagels are great.

I was somewhat near the area and this place has been on my bookmark list for the longest time so I made my way over.
Everything I ordered was to go. Pastrami, Corned Beef, Lox, Sturgeon, Bagels, and Rye Bread.
I’m not Jewish but I love Jewish deli food so I go all out when I can.
Pastrami was very good, Corned Beef good, but not as good as the pastrami but I think I would say that about anyplace because I really like pastrami. Smoked fish was good, Rye bread was good. Bagels were so-​so. A little disappointed in their bagels, especially comparing them to a few other places I go to.
Service was polite and friendly. I liked it. If I am near the area, My pastrami signal will go off and make me stop here for sure.
Cheers to All

I like it here and so do about a million other folks but I don’t love it. If you’re in Skokie this is the ‘go to’ deli. It’s pricey for sure and the setup they have in place for ordering and paying has you standing in too many lines. My New Jersey bypass sandwich was corned beef and pastrami on excellent rye bread. The corned beef was pretty good but the pastrami was a little chewy. It was warm at best. I wanted it hot. The sandwich was a triple decker with a piece of bread separating the two meats. Lots of folks here are saying how big it is but I’ve had corned beef sandwiches at other delis that are as big as this and a lot less expensive plus I had no trouble finishing it. It was close to $ 14 after tax. A very poor value. A small pet peeve if mine is that the pickle served with the sandwich looked like it was sliced days ago. They should slice it fresh when they make the sandwich.

Great service. Had meant to write review right away but got distracted with holiday events. This is a wonderful deli. Favorite item here is the friendly service with big smiles. I had to ask to photograph the bagel counter associate and the baker. I bought ten fresh bagel and browsed the entire shop. Very clean and great looking products. Got to go back for chicken liver pâté.

What a cute deli! I don’t know much about delicatessen meats but this shop had such an array of selection and a crowd of eager eaters that I felt like I was in «the know». I ordered the New York Special — corned beef, chopped chicken liver, onions, on rye bread. mMmm!!! The chopped liver was amazing. The sandwich was definitely big enough that I could’ve been proper and split it into two portions… but I didn’t. I couldn’t stop! I wish I asked for some mustard to go on the sandwich but the sides of pickles were a good substitute.
I’ll definitely be back when I’m in the area. Not cheap, but I think it’s worth the few extra bucks if you want to treat yourself to a meaty sandwich.

My sandwhich was HUUGEE!!!
Deli girl was sweet. She answered my sandwhich questions and voila!
She got to making her magic; and I noticed a neat and casual eating area. Iwas exvited to see tastey chip selection, and ohh beautiful fruit spreads and preservatives also for sale!
A small bakery hides behind the appetizing array of jars and snacks … my my my! At this point I’m deciding if I only come in for a sanwhich.
~before ordering a dozen black and white cookies. Sandwhich is ready! and it came with pickles!!!
Price was $ 10. My wallet kind of cringed to be honest, but once I left and saw mcBurger spot across the street, I knew I was eating much much better.
I would love to come back next time I’m in town. Im making a list of cookies and jellies in my mind …

So prior to a couple of weeks ago this has been one of my most favorite places to go. Very delish! People are typically friendly and extremely helpful (employees), however this last time I was less than satisfied with not only my order but also the rudeness that I was met with from one of the owners (Betty, I believe is her name). There is a reason why she isn’t running the counter or helping customers, the chip on her shoulder and rude responses were less than inviting and make me NEVER want to go back there again, which is a shame because I love their food and goodies!!! I have ordered cakes and treats from here in the past as birthday presents for various people and every single time they went above and beyond to ensure not only that it tasted good but looked beautiful! This time I asked for a cheese cake with large chocolate covered strawberries and the drizzle to make it look extra fancy (it was for someone very special’s birthday) and instead I got several smaller strawberries with chocolate just poured onto the cake and fudge circles (I hate fudge), it just looked awful. I couldn’t believe it, and I was already running late to make the birthday dinner so I did not have time to choose something else from somewhere else. The woman behind the bakery counter knew why I didn’t like it, and she said «I know» and immediately went over to the owner (Betty) who was even being rude to the employee. She came over to the bakery counter and asked what the issues was I explained, she said «Well we told you we are not a typical bakery when you asked for a tres leche cake.» Ok what does that have to do with the mess that was now on the cheesecake? I asked if they could do what I was asking for several days before picking it up and I was told «yes we can.» I explained the situation and she just acted like I was being unreasonable saying that I could pick out a different cake, and they already explained this wasn’t a regular bakery. Betty was not willing to do anything to fix the situation. I was stunned, I had never been treated so poorly there and it was horrible to hear the tone in her voice and the attitude protrude from her mouth! Her body language appeared as though I was wasting her time and needed to leave. Very distasteful reaction. The employee, who realized what had been done, explained that it was wrong and it was not what I asked for but Betty was insisting on just getting rid of me, who cared if I didn’t like it, was her demeanor.
Bottom line is I will never step foot in that place again, no matter how delicious their food is. Customer service is a huge part of a successful business. When I was leaving I made sure to state, there is a reason why you (meaning Betty) aren’t the one dealing with the customers on a regular basis, she would scare them away. That attitude is just awful!

Have you heard those commercials from Arby’s where they claim they «have the meats»? I almost believed them until Kaufman’s Deli.
One of my most favorite things is a pastrami done extremely well. That and more is what you’re going to get here at Kaufman’s. Checking out the deli you’ll see that they sell kosher meats by the pound like salami, corned beef, beef hot dogs and of course pastrami. Both times, I’ve gone though, I was there for the ridiculous deli sandwiches.
These are huge, you might look at the menu board and think, «I don’t want to pay $ 12 for a sandwich.» Well, I agree it might be a little steep for a sammie, but this is no ordinary sammie. All of their speciality items are completely stuffed with high quality meats. To finish one of these you’d need a second sitting. I got the Happy Hannukah and it came with warm pastrami in-​between not bread, but two potato pancakes. That’s right, two potato pancakes. There are also other Jewish specialties like knishes and kugel. It’s pretty neat that you can get frozen soups like matzo ball in their freezer. Sam has come here plenty of times just for that. Can’t recommend Kaufman’s enough.

Kaufman’s has been on my to do list for several weeks now and this past week i finally had a day off to visit this place. Close to the major intersections of Dempster and Skokie boulevard, Kaufman’s is absolutely delicious! I went on a Wednesday afternoon to try out two of their sandwiches (New Jersey Bypass: A corned beef and pastrami sandwich with mustard) and the (Looney Tuna: Tuna with Bacon) both on Challah bread.
These are some serious sandwiches and they are large and when i say large, they are double decker sandwiches that can easily be split between two people. In addition to that, they are not shy with piling on the meats! Always a plus. My only thing is when you order the New jersey, ask for lean meat. I guess you can choose your option between a lean or fatty meat and i forgot to ask for the leaner meat but overall, very good. In addition to selling meats and fish, they also have a bakery and pastry shop along with a small section of specialty grocery goods.
Would come back to try something else. Any Unilocalers have any recommendations? Those would be much appreciated :)

I need to give this place five stars. Is it the best deli I have been to? No. I would say the two best delis I have been to are Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor and Carnegie’s in New York. How good is Kaufman’s? Really good. I got the New Jersey Bypass and the bypass needs to be in reference to the heart bypass after you eat it. The sandwich is corned beef and pastrami on rye bread and it was excellent. This deli has so much to offer: smoked fish, bagels, cured meats, you name it.
The quality of the sandwich was excellent — it was full of meat and the flavors were just excellent. I would say that this is one of the best delis I have been to in Chicago.

I will always be IN LOVE with Kaufman’s. This is my go-​to place whenever I’m in town, and am literally there on a daily basis: P Sandwiches, baked goods (everything is made the old-​fashioned with, from scratch; custom cakes are also available), and a deli (homemade salads and sides, dinners to-​go (such as Sweet & Sour Meatballs, Stuffed Cabbage, Stuffed Peppers, Pot Pies, etc.), cured & smoked in-​house fish and meats, and soup) are offered and on the premise. I always get their Lox bagel sandwich — the bagels are slightly smaller than what they used to be, but the fillings make up for it — the lox is unbelievably yummy and fresh; the cream cheese is creamy; the veggies (like the tomatoes) are juicy; don’t forget to request extra cream cheese and/​or capers — the customization is unbelievable! I also looove their chopped chicken liver — it is sooo delicious, and you can schmear it on anything (crackers, bagels, etc.). My dad is a huge fan of their corned beef and pastrami. You just take a number by the cashier right when you enter, and the staff behind the deli counter will call out. Once your food is made, you walk over to the cashier and pay. They went through drastic renovations, in which they combined the bakery and the deli all into one with a seating area, so you don’t need to rush out and can enjoy your meal. Bread samples and complimentary water are available, and they do have a small lot adjacent to the building (your best bet is to enter via the alley, behind the building). Check this Skokie gem out — you (even NYers) won’t be disappointed! :D
+lox :D
+chopped chicken liver: D
+pastrami, corned beef: D
+ask for Amber: D
+friendly staff: D
+enter via the alley

Take a number as soon as you enter the front door (number dispenser is by the cash registers). This serves as your pass to deli food paradise.
I was fortunate to be able to locate the number, but the lady in front of us missed the number-​grabbing. Hubby was very kind and traded our number with hers so that she could still maintain her queue.
We had two (2) of their signature sandwiches: New Jersey Bypass and tuna sandwich. So what exactly was in the «New Jersey Bypass?» It had a combination of corned beef and pastrami, and the two (2) types of meat were separated by another piece of rye bread to make it double decker. In other words, I had a big, hearty sandwich.
Sometimes simplicity is what works on food like a sandwich, as long as that is made with quality ingredients. Kaufman’s is an awesome place to have anything you can find in a New-​York style deli, not to mention the service was on point even though we came in during lunch hours.
Hubby’s tuna sandwich was also well-​done. I have to say not all tuna sandwiches were made equal, yet Kaufman’s tuna salad, from I could tell, was very fresh and wasn’t overwhelmed by an excessive amount of mayonnaise like some other cafes or bakery places in town.
Where were those big pickles I saw in people’s shopping baskets? I finally spotted the pickle barrels by the deli counter. The signature sandwiches all come with two (2) pickles. Thank you and thank you. I like pickles and cannot lie…
Once you’ve finalized your selections, head to the centralized register by the entrance. Oh by the way, did you pick up one of the Mr. Brown’s pops? Let me add one of these to your basket. Hubby had the celery-​flavored one. The taste was initially similar to a lime soda, but it was more crisp and less tart in comparison to a generic lime pop. If the celery one seemed to intimate your taste bud, then try the cream soda. That soda was certainly stamp-​approved by Ms. Statue of Liberty (their logo).
Let me do my Arnold’s impersonation: «I Will Be Back.»

I was under the weather, wanting good soup, and immediately thought of Kauffman’s. (I was closer to NY Bagel and they have soup too, but I also wanted my favorite sandwich at Kaufman’s; the loony tuna.) Imagine my disappointment when I get there, order, and they tell me they’re out of bacon. Talk about major letdown. The tuna, lettuce, tomato, red onion, cheddar cheese and bacon combination are what make this sandwich! Thus the one star deduction. I ordered the sandwich without the bacon and was charged less, but I was disappointed!
On the plus side, they moved the checkout counter from the middle of the floor, making room for more tables for people who want to eat in.
There is now a long counter at the window for single seating, and the place seems much more roomy.
The registers are now in front of the freezer, which is good and bad. They’re able to control what people take out, yet you can no longer see what’s available. I wanted from kreplach soup to take home so I ended up having to ask if they had it. I was offered a container of the broth and a container of the kreplach, which the lady was kind enough to get for me and place on the counter until it was my turn. They definitely still do great business because it was midday and crowded. Some people were on lunch eating in, while others were carrying out. Before I left there was a long line waiting for the two cashiers. They are as pricey as ever, but rest assured you’re getting high quality food.