Johnnie's Pastrami

This past weekend while hangin' with my cousin in the Culver City area, we didn't have much time to drive all the way out to lunch at Doughboy's in LA, so we decided to stay local and try out Johnnie's Pastrami on Sepulveda Blvd. just north of Washington.

The place resembled an old school 50s diner, reminding me of something between Ruby's and The Apple Pan. They even had the original jukeboxes at the ends of the tables from when they first opened. They also had quite a lot of tables on their patio, which worked out perfectly since it was hot that day.

They were pretty busy when we went around noon, but the service was prompt. They start you off with a little bowl of dill pickles while you wait. Once you get your order in, you got your food within 5 minutes.

Between my cousin and I, we had the pastrami sandwich and corned beef sandwich, both on French rolls. The pastrami was phenomenal. They slice the meat deli-thin before dunking it in the broth that they cook it in. When the sandwich finally comes to you, it's packed high, but in a way that's very well put-together and not sloppily. Real easy to eat -- you don't have chunks of pastrami falling out every bite.


The pastrami itself was good, but I thought the key to the sandwich was the bread. The French roll that it came on was perfect. Fluffy on the inside, yet had a nice crisp, brown finish on the top. I think they spread a little butter on the halves and grilled them slightly before loading it with the meat.


The corned beef was also good, but I definitely preferred the pastrami. It was also cut deli-thin, but I guess with the way the meat is, or perhaps just the way they packed it into the sandwich, it was much denser than the pastrami, but had relatively the same feel and consistency of the pastrami. If you're a corned beef fan like my cousin, you'll love it.

In my opinion, Johnnie's is definitely one of the better places to get a great pastrami sandwich in LA. Make sure to bring cash though, since they don't accept credit card.

Johnnie's Pastrami Restuaurant
4017 Sepulveda Blvd
Culver City, CA 90230