Eden Prairie’s Pastrami Jack’s is now closed with their website noting the “novelty” of losing money for four and a half years has “worn off.” They continue: “to those of you who never came, never bought anything, never ate our food, never even heard of us, and have never seen our website – its your fault.” Calls to Pastrami Jack’s were unanswered. [Hat tip to Jason DeRusha]
Pastrami Jack’s Is Closed and It’s Your Damn Fault
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Hmmm…somehow I don’t feel too bad.
Someone explain to my why not driving from Inver Grove Heights to Eden Prairie for a sandwich makes this my fault. No sandwich could be that good…
1) the food was sub-mediocre. often dry, always greasy.
2) the service was indifferent
3) the location was stupid.
4) that parting statement on their website will send any successful restauranteur into a diatribe on marketing. if people aren’t showing up, it’s the restaurant’s fault, not the fault of the people.
I feel awful for not eating there and even worse for alerting Aaron to the website. I’m so sorry, Pastrami Jack’s.
I am saddened by this news :(
This is truly shitty news for those of us here in EP who (a) discovered the place (my co-worker gets the credit for that), and (b) loved it. My guess is that their gangbusters business at lunch was not enough to offset the emptiness at other times. And their location was indeed too far off the beaten path…you had to know about it.
Damn. Just had a deli sandwich at Mort’s that didn’t hold a candle to Pastrami Jack’s. But I live across town and Eden Prairie is just quite a trip unless I’m in the area for some other activity. R.I.P., Pastrami Jack’s…
I ate at P J’s just once, and found their offerings a bit pricey for my tastes. The other comments about location are on point too. I lived in the neighborhood and never thought to go there again
I’ll agree that their items were pricey but I felt I got what I paid for. Sandwiches were as big as my head and the matzah balls were the size of a
softball.
I went there twice. Just “Meh”. Service was just OK, sandwiches were ok. I actually thought it was kinda overpriced. I didn’t think it was anything to write home about.
What is overpriced?
It appears they have changed the site to a less crotchety message. Too bad.
I work in Eden Prairie, where there are only a couple non-chain spots for lunch: Lions Tap and Pepitos (which we fear is closing). Even so, I went to Pastrami Jack’s maybe twice. It was hit-or-miss, and at $12 a sandwich, I can’t have that. Their vitriol upon closing proves my co-workers and I made the right decision all those days we didn’t go there.
It’s your fault my business failed?? what? If people didn’t hear about it, it’s because nobody bothered to tell them (and there’s a thing called advertising). If people ate there & didn’t go back, and didn’t tell anybody else about it, it’s because they weren’t sufficiently impressed with the service / quality / price / combination. Jack, maybe you just weren’t that good.
Whoever at Pastrami Jacks wrote those words, “to those of you who never came, never bought anything, never ate our food, never even heard of us, and have never seen our website…” was blaming Pastrami Jacks, NOT everyone else. That statement looks like a tongue in cheek reference to themselves. It is like blaming the people of Kyrgyzstan for the failure of Circuit City.
I loved this restaurant. Huge sandwiches, some of the best corned beef, roast beef around.
the matza ball soup was simply better than anything I have ever had west of Chicago and east of San Franciso or LA.
and the Knishes – well where else can you get a great Knish instead of a side salad.
Greasy, well, the Rubins were fried in butter, not Grease, as was most of the non deep fried items.
Beside, some of us like grease.
I work in Eden Prarie, and will miss them.
this is not my fault.
Dave
P J’s will be greatly missed. Yes the sammies could be pricy but a 1/2 was always fine for me. For all you whinners…..Go eat your 5$ foot long….Now that’s a waste of money.
Sadly my search for a great pastraimi goes on.
Silly Minnesotans, if you get your heads out of that bucket of lye caked lutefisk for a minute and broaden your palates, you might discover amazing cuizine like the stuff they served at Pastrami Jack’s. It was the only real Jewish style deli for miles. Never mind though, they’re now gone. Maybe as a takeaway, you could try your potato pancake with salt AND pepper next time. Oh My Don-cha-kno?
I am a big foodie, as P jacks was no lincoln del as far as I am concerned. But, it was pretty solid food. The service was very frustrating though, I always got mine to go and they didn’t have a person that did just to go orders, sometimes my food would sit on th ecounter forever before they called my name.I sat and watched one of thier servers move at literally nursing home grandma in a walker pace through the dining room everytime I saw her there. Sounds like a mgmt. issue? I would never put up with that at my business, FIRE THE STRAGGLERS THAT ARE HOLDING YOUR CO’s BACK PEOPLE! BUT, it was worth it for the food, matzo ball soup was pretty damn good.
Yeah the place was nuts to butts packed EVERY single lunch day, like Dave said, can’t belive it wasn’t enough. Maybe they should have closed at like 3 or something?
Folks, for all of you complaining about the price of a deli sandwich – you are wrong. Quality does not come cheap. PJ’s was in the lower range of what real deli costs. Don’t believe me? Look around at real deli prices like at Katz’s, Stage, Canregie or Second Avenue Delis in NYC. Secondly, the sizes of these sandwiches are enormous. The bargain is certainly there.
That being said, PJs was definitely going downhill from the time they got rid of table service. They screwed up orders a lot, and did not know how to make matzah brie to save their lives. However, they did make the best deli sandwiches in town, and they made them well, when they didn’t screw up the order. Mort’s can’t make a sandwich correctly at all, and constantly ruin their Carnegie Deli meats by drying them out and greasing up their bread, yet somehow they survive?
PJs had great pastrami, great corned beef, great pickles, slaw, borscht, knishes, cheesecake, everything. They’ll be missed.
I am so disappointed to hear my favorite deli closed. I live in CT however I am in Edina MN 1 a year and make plans to have lunch at Pastrami Jack’s. I have taken several people that live and work in MN to have lunch there as they had never been there.
Please re open
Why didn’t they move to a halfway decent location if business was so poor? They were tucked away in an obscure little out-of-the-way strip mall in Eden Prairie, no wonder they didn’t get that much business.
I love the guy that actually compared our restaurant market to NYC. NYC is a slightly more expensive city isn’t it? Oh wait that’s right, between San Fran and NYC it is ALWAYS 1st or 2nd in the nation toping the list for the most expensive cities in the nation. That being said, and figuring on the lack of smarts aka intelligence shown by Dan S, I am making an educated guess that he knows nothing about economics. I am also assuming that he has no knowledge of how much more people get paid in those cities per capita to do the same type of jobs that we have here in MN. Nice try though Dan….it will be duely noted what an uneducated comment that was. Read up a little bit sometime bud.
Actually, PBoss, as someone who travels regularly and reads about the industry a fair amount, I *can* compare places to each other relatively well. NYC and San Francisco are more expensive cities to live in, but they offer better food quality, usually at cheaper prices on average, than anything I have seen in my years of living in the Twin Cities. I am not about to get into a pissing match with you over intelligence, since I don’t know you. You can read about deli economics in a simple and easy to find book called “Save the Deli,” that will give you a rough idea of the economics of running a deli, no matter the marketplace. Quality costs money no matter where it is. In Minneapolis/St Paul, lack of quality also costs money for reasons I cannot figure out. Even if I could, I doubt I’d discuss it with someone as openly hostile without reason. Last word on this can be yours.
I went there fairly often, and while liked some of their menu, other parts fell flat. Often times their best items had nothing to do with traditional deli sandwiches and fell into burgers, chicken sandwiches and cookies (but I did love their coleslaw). I admit I stopped going as frequently earlier in 2009 after discovering a few other sandwich shops in the area (near where I worked), but this final goodbye was just crass. If I find out they have another venture I will probably think twice. Besides, in the meantime I found Mort’s, which is more authentic and closer to where I live and work now. However, a good result of Pastrami Jack’s was when one of their former employees opened the more traditional Crumb off of 212/Mitchell. They really want your business and the food is good –and menu’s quality is much more even (and good!). Great post, I should follow this blog.
It really was a great place to eat. A bit over priced I do agree. Service was really bad. I quit going when my job moved sorry to here that it fell flat. I do agree with most everyone the location was very bad. Hope all is well with both of the owners.
PASTRAMI JACKS PLEASE COME BACK! Where can I go to buy my deservingly overpriced rare roast beef sandwich that serves as both lunch and dinner?
I LOVED THIS PLACE ……….NOT SINCE BERNIES OR LINCOLN DEL HAS THERE BEEN SUCH A GREAT SANDWICH MADE OR A BOWL OF FANTASTIC SOUP SERVED THIS SIDE OF THE RIVER.
Come back Pastrami Jacks…but this time, bring some decent staff. The food was AMAZING and we frequented the place, but we always had to proactively apologize to our friends for the service before we walked in the door. The service was always bad, bad, bad. We kept coming, but I think others were not so tolerant.
The food was the nearest thing to an authentic East Coast deli. Now what we have left is Cecil’s which is bland, midwestern and uninspired.
Cecil’s isn’t bad at all. It’s Vienna Beef products insure a certain level of quality. It’s not the level of Carnegie Deli meats to be sure, but I’ve had many a fine meal there.
I wish they would open again. I ate there twice, the food was expensive but you got what you paid for, satisfaction for the palet.