Schmaltz Deli

A great Jewish deli in Naperville?  Who knew!  
We stumbled upon this place on our way back to the city after a long meeting.  Driving down Ogden Ave., we expected to have to settle for a fast food chain.  We pulled into the parking lot of a small shopping center with just that in mind.   We looked up and saw Schmaltz and it was like an apperition.   Exactly what we wanted.   Just as good as the 2nd Ave Deli in NY only new.   Very friendly staff, authentic atmosphere, good ol' stick to your ribs Jewish food.  To die for!

Apart from the line being a bit confusing (I'm guessing that's meant to be part of its charm?) , this place is the bomb. Well, that and the parking lot situation. (If you're paranoid about your car, this isn't a place you want to come. Bring a car you don't care about, or ride a motorcycle that you can stash in a corner spot so hopefully no one will ding it/knock it over. The parking lot for this strip mall is super congested.)

I had the #14 Sloppy Paul (their version of a Reuben) with pastrami, half-stuffed. Having never been here before, I wasn't sure what the relative sizes were...but I saw someone eating an overstuffed sandwich and quickly determined that I'd get through about a quarter of it if I ordered one of those. My SO had the chicken club.

Their house-made bagel chips and dill pickles are fantastic. I'd greatly prefer these bagel chips over any boring potato chips most other places might give you. One of mine was even apparently the top of a sesame bagel, so I had bonus toasted sesame seed yumminess.

And that Sloppy Paul...man, they weren't kidding. But somehow, I did manage to eat half of it (and yes -- it was half-stuffed, but I still only managed to eat half and had to take half home because they are THAT big) without making a huge mess. That is, by far, the finest Reuben I have ever put in my mouth. That marble rye is a thing of beauty. The Russian dressing must be house-made, and it's fantastic. The kraut -- do they make that there, too???? Oh. I'm in love. Can't wait till the weather gets better and I can ride my motorcycle here. Love.

My SO's chicken club was likewise really good -- except that there's no way to take a bite out of all the layers at once without unhinging your jaw. So he had to keep alternating bites between the layers. The bacon they use is also the finest bacon I've ever had -- and I've cured my own bacon before, and it was definitely quite tasty. This bacon was better. Oh dear.

I really want to try their soups (which look fantastic) and desserts at some point, too. With food like that, I don't know how I'll ever have room to do anything other than take some of those things to go, but that's OK. It's also right by the Naperville location of Super H-Mart. Nice!

Great deli, I regret living in Naperville for so long and only discovering it in the last year.  My wife really loves the Sloppy Paul corned beef sandwich, and I like the Oy Vey (build your own) because I'm fussy. The marble rye is excellent.  I really like the bagel chips instead of traditional potato chips.