Cecil’s Deli – St. Paul, MN

I’m usually suspicious when vegetarians recommend meat places to me, but since it was Trash, I decided to humor her. She hasn’t steered me too terribly wrong yet. I was intending to go to another Jewish deli, but she said if I was looking for a good deli, I had to go to Cecil’s in Highland Park. And before I go any further, I have to apologize to EnyaFace! for not calling her and letting her know I was going here since it’s so close to her house. I didn’t think about it until I was driving home. Next time, Enya!

Cecil’s is a traditional deli with a restaurant area in the back, meat counter and mini-store up front. I followed someone in who was getting a to-go order, so I didn’t look like a newbie when I got to the counter. I ordered a Richboy sandwich (much better than a Po’ Boy) and a bowl of Matzo Ball Soup. After I ordered my food, I wandered the aisles of the small store and found some really bizarre things. I’ve got a couple Jewish friends, but I just can’t get over fish and sour cream (at all, let alone in the same jar).

They came and found me when my order was up. They handed me a bag and I headed home. When I opened it up, I was greeted with a pleasant surprise.

This was a serious sandwich. While on just standard size bread, the thing was packed to stuffing with meat and cheese. It’s layers of corned beef, turkey breast, salami, swiss, American, and pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, and Italian dressing. This thing was heaped like I would make my own sandwich at home, but with much better ingredients. Crazy big. And then the matzo ball soup was amazing. I’ve had this soup at a lot of places, and this is one of the best one’s I’ve had. Very chicken-y and flavorful. Some matzo ball soups are bland with spongy balls, but these were perfectly cooked. I’m guessing just about anything you get at this place is going to be phenomenal.

Thanks for the recommendation, Trash. I’ll be back here (and I’ll bring EnyaFace! next time).

Top 5 things about Cecil’s Deli
1. Richboy Sandwich
2. Matzo Ball Soup
3. This place is filled with meat and cheese – what’s not to like about that?
4. Generous portions, seriously generous
5. I was able to pick up a gallon of milk without an extra stop at the store

Bottom 5 things
1. Gerd would have made us go here every weekend if she had a chance to try it
2. It was a little pricier than I thought it would be (I DID get got the Richboy though… ha ha)
3. It’s a tad far to “swing by” on a regular basis
4. The bread got a little soggy with the Italian dressing, but not terrible
5. I should have eaten there for the full experience (I was going to say something about there not being bacon, but I know my Jewish friends would have called me out on it – ha ha )

www.cecilsdeli.com