DELI DEATH 2

 
Jack’s Deli in University Heights, Ohio, suddenly shut down on Sunday. There’s no Jewish deli in Cleveland now, although there might be an ersatz deli, sans old Jews, somewhere in Greater Cleveland.

I had a connection to Jack’s Deli. In 1981 I wrote a thank-you note which was posted in the entrance of Jack’s. My letter was about the terrific tray Jack’s had prepared for the bris of my first child, Teddy.

And I’m good with deli-talk banter. Alan Douglass (Yiddishe Cup’s keyboardist) and I often play “16 Tons (of hard salami),” which is a Mickey Katz parody of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s “16 Tons.” After the song, I query the crowd — typically at a nursing home — about their favorite Cleveland delis: Seiger’s, Budin’s, Solomon’s, C&Ls, Irv’s, Lefton’s.

None of which exist now.

I don’t eat much salami or halvah. Maybe that’s part of the reason delis are gone. I used to eat a ton of salami. In high school I sold salamis for a Jewish boys’ club fundraiser. We used the money to go to Washington.

Irwin Weinberger, formerly of Yiddishe Cup, went to Jack’s Deli whenever he visited Cleveland. (He moved to North Carolina four years ago.) Irwin liked the big sandwiches — pastrami or corned beef — and matzo ball soup. And french fries. I never understood the fries, Irwin.

The owner of Jack’s said he hopes to  remodel and reopen. He told Cleveland Scene, “I’m not saying that it is going to be a completely different restaurant, but it definitely won’t be called Jack’s and it will make sense for us. We’re going to need some time to put all that together.”

Maybe he’ll call it Mack’s . . .

And don’t forget, Corky & Lenny’s — Cleveland’s other big-player deli — closed in 2023. They had hoped to reopen, too. Deli Death 1.