Manny's Cafeteria and Delicatessen, commonly known as Manny's Deli and sometimes known as Manny's Coffee Shop & Deli, is a

delicatessen A delicatessen or deli is a grocery that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessens originated in Germany (contemporary spelling: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the mid-19th centur ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, United States, located in the Near West Side community area. It has been described as "the biggest, best-known, and oldest deli in the city". The deli has long been a meeting place for Chicago politicians and became the subject of national interest because of its popularity with President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. One writer called Manny's "the second-most-likely place to see local politicians, after City Hall", and former governor

George Ryan George Homer Ryan (February 24, 1934 – May 2, 2025) was an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Secretary of State of Illinois from 1991 ...

referred to it in his memoir as "one of my favorite places to eat lunch in Chicago" and reminisced about once receiving a phone call from

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

while eating a corned beef sandwich there.

History

Manny's traces its history back to 1942, when the Raskin brothers, Jack and Charlie, went into business together in Chicago, opening the Purity deli located at Van Buren and Halsted streets. After World War II, Jack Raskin opened his own restaurant on

Roosevelt Road Roosevelt Road (originally named 12th Street) is a major east-west street in the city of Chicago, Illinois, and its western suburbs. It is 1200 South in the city's street numbering system, but only south of Madison Street. It runs under t ...

near

Maxwell Street Maxwell Street is an east–west street in Chicago, Illinois, that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. It runs at 1330 South in the numbering system running from 500 West to 1126 West.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee (1988). ...

, where he purchased a business known as Sunny's. In order to save money, Raskin chose to name his new restaurant "Manny's" after his son Emanuel, known as Manny, thus requiring only two letters on the "Sunny's" sign to be replaced. The restaurant had various locations over the ensuing years, with Manny Raskin eventually taking over for his father Jack. Manny Raskin moved the cafeteria to its current location at 1141 South Jefferson Street in 1964. Manny Raskin's son Kenneth began managing the restaurant during his father's lifetime and continued to do so after his father's death in 1983. It is now run by Ken Raskin and Ken's son Dan. It has moved multiple times through the years, and was renovated in 2016. The restaurant celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2022 with Governor

J. B. Pritzker Jay Robert Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Illinois. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, Pritzker has started several vent ...

in attendance. In 2002, a Manny's location was opened at

Midway International Airport Chicago Midway International Airport is a major commercial airport on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the city's Loop business district, and divided between the city's Clearing and ...

, but it closed in 2017 when many of the airport's restaurants were replaced. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Manny's gave away 1,000 free sandwiches to masked customers. In 2022, Manny's began to make some of its food available for shipping nationwide.

Cuisine

Manny's is self-described as a "Jewish-style cafeteria", although it is not

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

. Among the foods it is known for are

corned beef Corned beef, called salted beef in some Commonwealth countries, is a salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added to ...

sandwiches,

pastrami Pastrami is a type of cured meat originating from Romania usually made from beef brisket. The raw meat is brined, partially dried, seasoned with herbs and spices, then smoked and steamed. Like corned beef, pastrami was created as a way to pres ...

sandwiches,

potato pancakes Potato pancakes are shallow-fried pancakes consisting of grated or ground potato, matzo meal or flour and a binding ingredient such as egg or apple sauce, often flavored with grated garlic or onion and seasonings. They may be topped with a vari ...

, and

matzo ball The Matzo Ball is an annual Christmas Eve nightlife event and party held in a number of major cities in the United States targeted primarily at young Jewish singles and organized by Mazel Events, LLC (previously the Society of Young Jewish Profe ...

soup.

References

{{reflist Restaurants in Chicago Jewish delicatessens in the United States Cafeteria-style restaurants 1942 establishments

History

Cuisine

See also

References