Best Bites: Ben & Bill's Deli | News | Seven Days | Vermont's Independent Voice
Get Tickets | Join the Super Readers
Vermont's Independent Voice

December 15, 2009 News + Opinion » News

Pin It
Email
Print
Favorite
Share

Best Bites: Ben & Bill's Deli 

By

595 Shelburne Road, Burlington 657-3673

click to enlarge 6a00d83451b91969e201287657ce02970c-pi.jpg

When I was a kid, Jewish delis scared me a little. Looking into the case, I was nose-to-nose with the piles of chub and their cured, dead eyes. The old-world smells seemed somehow unclean. This is why they hate us, I thought.

Since Ben & Bill's opened in the Burlington Price Chopper, I have been facing my fears, and then some. Two days after eating a Hot Brisket sandwich ($8.49), I am still swooning. The well-marbled but otherwise lean meat tastes almost creamy, especially in a light bath of Russian dressing. The warm, seeded rye on which the meat lies is baked in-house. It's mild but for the musky crunch of the caraway seeds.

Something you really don't see every day is the stuffed knish ($7.49). Before grilling up the potato pocket, Ben & Bill's stuffs it with your choice of pastrami or corned beef. My pastrami was thick-cut with pockets of fat that melted into the mashed-potato filling of the knish. The outside of the knish was suitably chewy, making for a delightful symphony of textures.

The homemade potato chips added to that mélange. The spuds were cut thicker than most chips; most were crisp, a few were pleasingly chewy. All were delicious.

click to enlarge 6a00d83451b91969e20120a754d3a2970b-pi.jpg
The case at Ben & Bill's includes Jewish deli staples, from Dr. Brown's sodas ($1.19) -- I got Cel-Ray -- to latkes, noodle kugel, chopped liver and frightening mummified fish. There are chocolate and cinnamon babkas and two sizes of black-and-white cookies, but part of the beauty of eating at the Price Chopper food court is variety.

I headed to the bakery for a decidedly goyishe snowman-shaped brownie sundae.

Did you appreciate this story?

Show us your ❤️ by becoming a Seven Days Super Reader.

Tell me more!
Got something to say? Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!

Tags: ,

Pin It
Email
Print
Favorite
Share

More News »

More by Alice Levitt

About The Author

Alice Levitt

Alice Levitt
Bio:
 AAN award-winning food writer Alice Levitt is a fan of the exotic, the excellent and automats. She wrote for Seven Days 2007-2015.

Speaking of Blurt

Comments (7)

Showing 1-7 of 7

Add a comment

 
Subscribe to this thread:
By Email
With RSS
Showing 1-7 of 7

Add a comment

Seven Days moderates comments in order to ensure a civil environment. Please treat the comments section as you would a town meeting, dinner party or classroom discussion. In other words, keep commenting classy! Read our guidelines...

Note: Comments are limited to 300 words.

+ send a news tip
+ send a letter to the editor

Latest in News

Recent Comments

Keep up with us Seven Days a week!

Sign up for our fun and informative
newsletters:

All content © 2019 Da Capo Publishing, Inc. 255 So. Champlain St. Ste. 5, Burlington, VT 05401
Website powered by Foundation