USC's Two Block Around The Park Project: Langer's Delicatessen Stands Apart

12 December 2010

Robbie Heeger, a key member of the University of Southern California's student journalism team responsible for the "Two Block Around the Park" project (documenting life in the MacArthur Park area, home to Langer's Delicatessen-Restaurant), recently put together a comprehensive look at Langer's Deli as part of his participation in the project (part of USC journalism professor Hernandez's class). Robbie did a great job, and we're proud to have been featured by him. He put together multimedia and interviews, and wrote a complete review of his experience at Langer's. Here's just an excerpt:

Langer's classical Judaic deli menu is as long as the arguments that can be overheard on a given Saturday afternoon. From potato pancakes and kishka – an Eastern European concoction of breading and chopped sausage – to matzo ball soup and of course, hot pastrami, Langer's commands each dish on its menu like it's grandmother's cooking.

The pinnacle of this restaurant's menu however, was not its fabled pastrami, but rather its arguably most simple dish: the French fries.

Simply put, they are perfect.

Jagged cut, golden brown, slightly crunchy on the outside and entirely too hot on the inside, the Langer's Delicatessen French fries embody all that a fried string of potato should aspire to be.