Here’s the UWS Dish: Barney Greengrass’s Pastrami Reuben (With a Side of Schmaltz Herring)

By Abigael T. Sidi

Everyone knows who the Sturgeon King is; his highness needs no introduction. Nova, whitefish, sable, sturgeon, trout – Barney Greengrass (“a New York tradition since 1908”) has it all and will ship it to you nationwide.

In its century-plus in business, Barney Greengrass has been covered a gazillion times, so how can my column possibly add anything of significance? Well, reading through the gigantic menu, I realized that while Barney Greengrass is pretty much world famous for its smoked fish, there is an entire menu section dedicated to meats.

“I’ll have the Reuben!”  I said, on a recent visit accompanied by my father. Speechless, my dad looked at me in utter disbelief, then warned me he would NEVER allow me to write my column using the good family name…unless I also covered his menu choice: schmaltz herring with onion bialy. Deal.

First, the schmaltz (it is an “appetizer” after all). The fillet was sliced into six pieces and, I must admit, looked enticing with its shiny skin and nacre flesh. The bite was incredibly salty, though, so Dad showed me how it’s done: “Take a piece of bialy (toasted, crunchy, thin and light, delicious bagely flavor), spread some cream cheese, tack on a slice of herring with a little bit of onion, sprinkle a few drops of lemon, and there you have it!”  I bit into the mini-sandwich, and, wow: Now, the rich, meaty fish came through, with a pure, raw intensity that overshadowed the pickled/vinegary varieties more commonly offered in the city.

Now to the Reuben. It’s served open, butterfly style. Intimidating, to say the least. The melted cheese is plentiful and not too oily, the sauerkraut is of the milder, softer variety with a pleasant texture, and the layers upon layers of hot pastrami are juicy, fatty, and incredibly tasty, with subtle briny undertones. The thickness of the slices is somewhere in between the thinner 2^nd Avenue Deli and thicker Katz cuts. The Russian dressing is there but does not interfere with the stars of the show, and the rye is slightly toasted.  To absolutely no one’s surprise, Dad couldn’t get his eyes off the sandwich and ended up eating half of it.  “Good call, Abs,” he whispered.

I kept glancing at the register, looking for a rare instant when his highness, third-generation owner Gary Greengrass, might have a minute for questions.  When the moment came, Dad tagged along… and proceeded to immediately cut me off so he could ask about his herring.

Gary answered in an engaging and playful voice: “There’s scarcity these days. Generally, the ones that work are the fattier and meatier; most of them Icelandic herring.” Asked where he gets his fish from, he answered, “For all our fish, we work with our smokers, some from Brooklyn, some other places as well. But these guys don’t get the fish from Hunts Point [i.e., the Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx]. Our smokers get the product directly.”

Asked whether the schmaltz are prepped in house, he nodded. “You get the fish and you fillet it up, then it sits in salt for around six months,” he said. “It’s very salty. Some people love it; if you love it, you know, that means you’re a real Jew!”

I glanced at Dad. He was beaming, and yep, we’ll never hear the end of that one.

Finally, I could ask about my Reuben. How so tasty? “The pastrami, it’s a piece that’s closer to the rib, it’s fatty, it tastes different,” Gary told us. “You could buy stuff for a fraction of the cost, but we go for the cut closer to the rib, it’s the way it’s always been…We started in 1908, and we’ve been in this location since 1929, this is the new location.”

Gary Greengrass’s favorite sandwich? “Well, this tire [pointing to the right side of his stomach] likes whitefish, nova, extra cream cheese, tomato, onion, all on a toasted bialy.”

Barney Greengrass is open from 8:30 a.m. till 4 p.m. from Tuesday to Friday (till 5.p.m on weekends) and is closed on Mondays. Indoor and outdoor seating available but no reservations (on weekends at brunch time, the wait for a table can be 30 minutes+).  And famously, Barney Greengrass is CASH ONLY; watching Gary somehow master his way through the mixed piles of $100 bills, paper orders, receipts, and regulars’ monthly bills (you read that right) at his register, all the while a foot away from the front door, is the stuff of legends. Certified childhood memory.

On our way out, I ask Gary whether a Greengrass the Fourth might have been identified. “A son, 18, in college learning business…He’s interested,” he answers, with a hopeful smile.

I’d like to dedicate this “Here’s The Dish” to Bob Tannenhauser, who was the first to give me a shot in real world journalism back in 2023. I hope to carry the torch. May his memory be a blessing.

The Dish: Pastrami Reuben ($24), plus Schmaltz Herring ($15)

The Restaurant: Barney Greengrass, 541 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 86^th and 87^th streets)

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