Happy National Hot Pastrami Day (again)

There are a lot of made-up food “holidays” or observances, and many of them are even sandwich-related, yet I am not knocking myself out to celebrate every one of them. Why does National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day get special treatment, with a post last year and another this year?

Well, pastrami is pretty great. Also, the genesis of the Tribunal was contained in a Twitter conversation 2 years ago on National Hot Pastrami Sandwich day, when I posted a photo of a pastrami sandwich from Manny’s so gigantic and luscious that it bordered on the obscene.

Last year I went to Manny’s again, but this year I decided to change things up and visit a place I hadn’t tried yet. The Corned Beef Factory is a sandwich shop fronting an actual corned beef manufacturer on Lake St. in the packing district of Chicago’s near West side.

The Corned Beef Factory

Upon entering, your order is taken and jotted down on a red ticket, which is passed back to a fully visible kitchen area. You pay at the register and wait for them to call your name when your order is ready. There’s no seating–there are some upright wooden barrels outside that would make fine tables in the summer, but even on a relatively mild January day they were not terribly inviting.

Pastrami, spicy mustard, pickle on the side, for Jim

So I hopped on a Divvy bike and rode the 3/4 mile or so back to my office. The sandwich was a bit disheveled by the time I arrived.

I’m sure it looked better when it went in

Those are house-made potato chips, and a good-sized pile of pastrami on seeded rye with a spicy brown deli mustard. It’s not quite the behemoth I’d have gotten at Manny’s, but it’s close to my office and only cost about 1/2 to 2/3 what a sandwich would cost from Manny’s. Not to mention that I haven’t spent the rest of the afternoon in a food coma.

So Happy National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day again, the closest thing to a pet holiday this site has. I hope you all enjoy a delicious hot pastrami sandwich, if not today, then soon!

Jim Behymer

I like sandwiches.

I like a lot of other things too but sandwiches are pretty great