December 2009 - We were voted BEST BREAKFAST by Fox News and MyFoxLA.com.
Los Angeles Magazine - May 2009 You'd be hard-pressed to make a misstep ordering anything off the menu at the insanely popular Brent's, an outpost of Lower East Side authenticity in a Northridge strip mall. Thry the matzo brei, cabbage soup, the rightfully famous black pastrami Reuben, and Grandma Eva's noodle kugel.
Fans feel like they "died and went to pastrami heaven" at this Northridge deli, a "local treasure" dishing out "immense" helpings of "corned beef like my mother never made" and other "old-school" "Jewish soul food" choices that are "well worth the drive and the wait for a table." The "nice folks" serving you are "very accommodating," another reason the "décor is so unimportant here."
What's not to like? LA's Magazine Top 10 Delis Los Angeles Magazine - October 2007 #1. Brent's Northridge The strip mall doesn’t seem promising, but the fleet of trucks outside Brent’s, ready to deliver the deli’s provisions, and proclaims it a favorite. From the moment you enter, you can’t help feeling the joyous abandon. Groups wait by the door, the to-go counter is humming, and in the galley kitchen a scrum of countermen slice, pile, and schmear as they work through the tickets on the order wheel. No deli so perfectly combines the quality of the food with...
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Corned beef and comfort. Sunday morning
at L.A.'s best (and busiest) deli Southern California Spaces - July/August 2008
By Merrill Shindler By 9 o'clock on Sunday morning, they're already lined up at Bren'ts Deli in Northridge, waiting for a table or take-out order. An hour later, the crown has turned into an affable mob of couples and families, all daydreaming of bagels and smoked fish, omelets and matzo brie. Forget "Eat at Joe's"—at Parthenia and Corbin, it's "Eat at Brent's." Since 1994, without missing a year, Brent's has...
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Brent’s Deli Receives Top Honors in Tri-Counties Ventura County Star—July 17, 2008
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA–Brent’s Deli has recently been honored by residents and
two regional newspapers for their delicious food and great business success.
Weiser Creative Group President, Paula Weiser, nominated Brent’s Deli in the Large
Enterprise category for the Pacific Coast Business Times’ Family Business Awards. Marc
Hernandez, managing partner of the Westlake Village restaurant accepted the award on
behalf of Brent’s at a banquet honoring Family-owned Businesses that are community
leaders offering superior products and services in the tri-counties.
A short time later, the Ventura County Star bestowed upon Brent’s Deli the Readers’
Choice Award for Best Deli in the east county. The winners in each category are
determined by popular vote from readers of the Star.
Congratulations to Brent’s Deli on their enormous success at their Westlake Village
location.
Mark Hernandez, Managing Partner of
Brent's Westlake Village, CA.
Brent's Deli Gets Heaps of Praise Daily News of Los Angeles - February 2008
By Dana Bartholomew
NORTHRIDGE—Brent's Deli owner Ron Peskin greeted each customer with the golden hands
of a lifelong delimeister.
For the patriarch of Brent's Delicatessen & Restaurant, a warm rugalah embrace is as heartening as a colossal corned beef on rye. "It's a very haimish, a very haimish place," said Peskin, dropping a Yiddish ingredient to describe the folksy, down-to-earth magnet for deli mavens across Los Angeles. "Family-friendly."
In 41 years, Brent's Deli has grown from a mini-mall sandwich outpost to one of the top delis in
the nation, with restaurants in Northridge and Westlake Village.
In October, it was rated best L.A. deli by Los Angeles magazine. For 15 years, the Zagat Survey has ranked Brent's as the No. 1 deli in L.A. "Fans feel like they `died and went to pastrami heaven," according to last year's Zagat guide.
Outside the famous green awning at Parthenia Street and Corbin Avenue in Northridge, motorists hunt for parking as delivery trucks inscribed with “Hungry people eat (at) Brents” roll out sandwich platters from San Diego to Santa Barbara. Inside, diners pack plain green booths with a palpable air of pure food lust.
On a wall hangs a ceremonial fireman's axe, a tribute from emergency workers fed after the
1994 Northridge Earthquake. Nearby hang mementos from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and
the Foo Fighters rock band. "It is the place to
go in Northridge,...the best deli in L.A.," said Councilman Greig Smith, a 25-year regular seated over a tub-size Cobb salad with blue cheese. "The cabbage soup -- it's phenomenal. And the sandwiches; you could eat off of them for a week."
"Just like my grandmother used to make," added Marv Smith of Chatsworth, eagerly awaiting soup centered with a light-but-firm matzoh ball "the size of a softball."
A native of Cleveland, Peskin moved with his
family after World War II to Los Angeles, where
he graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1959.
While in high school, he earned his chops working at his uncle's Linker's Deli in Sherman Oaks, and later Art's and Mort's delis.
In 1969, he scraped together $1,800 to put down on a tiny deli-by chance named after his
3-year-old son, Brent-in a remote strip mall backed by orange groves.
"I didn't let anybody make a sandwich the first year and a half...because I didn't trust anybody," said Peskin, 66, a gregarious man with a gray stubble goatee. "Now, I got good people working for me. It's gotta be the best, gotta be. Otherwise, I get a bit meshugeneh" - or nuts.
Over the years, his Northridge Brent's went from nine workers to 150, while a breakfast special went from 59 cents to $10.25 for bacon and eggs.
Each day, cooks listening to Mexican cumbias cook up 10 roasting chickens, 24 turkeys, 16 briskets, 250 pounds of corned beef, 250 pounds of pastrami and 500 pounds of spuds for the deli's renowned potato salad and amber fries. An additional 75 pounds of chicken a day goes into its restorative chicken soup. And that doesn't include the homemade blintzes, cheesecake, lemon bars and top-selling brownies.
"You want something fantastic?" said Peskin, walking by a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie the size of a saucer. "Taste that."
"The reason the food's so good is we use the same recipes all the time-Ron's recipes," said Rudy Miranda, the Northridge deli's head chef. "My good boss-why I'm here 25 years."
Brent Peskin now manages the Northridge deli, while his sister, Carie, and her husband, Marc Hernandez, manage the Westlake Village deli that went gangbusters after opening in 2006. Ron Peskin's wife, Patricia, handles the books.
"I think I'm most proud of the family, how
they actually work together, their chemistry,
their work ethic," said Peskin, kvelling
over his creation.
