Corky & Lenny's
 Cleveland, Ohio           Date of Visit: 07/01/12              http://corkyandlennys.net   

We got an offer to take our first trip to the new casino, the first of four in Ohio, and since the hubbub has subsided to some degree, we took a shot. Not crazy but still busy for a Sunday morning I enjoyed watching the show that comes free with any casino visit while Steph worked over the "Sex In The City" slot just long enough to validate our parking and make a couple bucks. In addition to a buffet the casino has a small food court area where three venerable Cleveland contenders have set up shop. Michael Symon’s burger spot (B-Spot), Rocco Whalen’s (Fahrenheit) Italian place named after his mother, and Corky & Lenny’s, a deli operating in Cleveland for over 50 years. We had breakfast a couple of hours earlier so we thought we would grab a sandwich before heading south.
 

I wasn’t sure what the “food court” would look like. It looks like a food court. Nothing special for the casino, which makes sense. [From directly inside casino owner’s head “stop chewing; continue gambling”] The difference between the food court versions and more traditional spots is similar to the difference between Uno’s in Chicago and Uno’s on the Ohio Turnpike. At least there are people actually cooking here (no microwaves).

Between the four of us we tried a corned beef sandwich, a Reuben and a roast beef. The sandwiches came with fries, slaw, potato salad and each had a pickle and a cookie. The roast beef and cheddar was fine. I wouldn’t say the deli meats are any better than boar’s head or other good options you can get from deli cases. The corned beef is also good but lacks the depth that make places like Slyman’s, Primo’s and Carnegie Deli's something you crave. The Reuben was similar to the corned beef as there was little in the way of kraut and dressing flavors to “Reubenize” it.
 

The Corned Beef is Just Fine With a Mild Pickling
 

The Rueben Was Below Par With Little Addition and Special Brick Bread
 

The most significant difference was the toasting of the rye which should be a plus but turned out to be more of a defect as the top slice of bread was more consistent with a ceramic tile than toast. The sandwiches do look huge but they are much  more front loaded here than they are at my favorite places resulting in bare bread on the back halves unless you redistribute prior to noshing.

We tried the fries which were completely unremarkable and the pickle didn’t do much either. Much more restrained than standard pickles and nearly nonexistent compared to Carnegie’s garlicky bombs, it left much to be desired.
 

Lackluster
 

Absent Luster
 

One thing they did deliver on were the sides. The potato salad and the cole slaw were both very well done. Well seasoned, interesting profiles and good accompaniments to the sandwiches, they easily outshined the sandwiches themselves.

Each sandwich also comes with a little treat of a wax paper wrapped sugar cookie. The cookie is all around standard but a nice little touch of sweet on the house is a nice little touch. You can see the little guy wrapped in paper sitting on top of the Reuben in the picture above.

I don’t know if this casino outpost is similar or different to the original location but if it is I would most certainly drive across Cleveland to get to Slyman’s before repeating Corky & Lenny’s.

Slaw and Potato Salad Were Much Better Than Sandwiches