Best Deli

Until recently, Houston lacked an authentic New York-style deli, despite the size of its Jewish community and a natural customer base (a million people who like eating giant heaps of meat in one sitting). Sure, we had our share of fine sandwich shops or bagel joints, but nothing that combined all the elements: an oversize menu, several dozen variations of deli meat sandwiches with cute names, a container of fantastic pickles on every table, and all the classic old-world dishes including latkes, kugel, stuffed cabbage, matzo-ball soup, knishes and nova plates. But five months ago Kenny & Ziggy's opened its doors, and the void was filled. The menu takes half the lunch hour to peruse. With mouthwatering pastrami and corned beef leading the way, K&Z's more than holds its own in the meat department. Its Give Me Liberty or Give Me Schmaltz sandwich heads the list of schmaltzy-named specialty combos. The pickles rock. And the stuffed cabbage! New York?