Restaurant Review: Datz Delicatessen

When I hear the word “delicatessen”, I usually think of the meat counters of old New York with a fat man in an apron slinging together meat, bread and cheese for a quick and cheap sandwich that is best served in paper and to-go. Datz Delicatessen (2616 S. MacDill Ave., Tampa, Florida 33629, 813.831.7000) takes this concept and throws it on it’s ear, keeping the sandwiches but serving them up in a fancy feast, complete with many optional Microbrews and some specialties that would bend even the most comprehensive Deli’s budgets.

I found myself there to celebrate the departure of a military friend who was being transferred out west. When I got there, I was a little confused by the layout, a seemingly standard deli to the left with refined seating and wine all around me. We were seated upstairs, which has it’s own bar and a buzz of people running around. From what I hear from regular patrons, this is pretty normal. Datz never really slows down. This is evident in their service, which is a little slow but does get it right when they aren’t being overwhelmed.

The menu is comprehensive, from simple sandwiches you’d expect through complex favorites like Brisket and seafood. Want something other than a sandwich? Their menu includes many salads, 75+ specialty beers, 150+ kinds of cheese, 1700+ bottles of wine to choose from and 20 kinds of artisan breads. I doubt anyone would find Datz to be inadequate when it comes to selection. That said, I was here for what they do best… the sandwiches.

I ordered the Cue the Brisket, a hand-sliced pile of smoked beef brisket, cole slaw, bbq sauce all on a sweet sourdough bun. It came with a side of homemade potato chips covered in this creamy, slightly sweet ranch dressing. Everything about this sandwich was top notch. The brisket, and I say this is a bbq guy, was just right. It was actually smoked, and properly. It fell apart as soon as I pushed the hearty sandwich together, compacted so I can put it in my mouth. The coleslaw was chunky and a bit spicy, not runny and pasteurized as I’ve seen before. The BBQ sauce was a semi sweet concoction and they used just enough to enhance the meat without overwhelming it’s smokey essence. The bun, a meal all of it’s own, did it’s best to hold everything in place. At $9.95, this isn’t a cheap sandwich. That said, it’s a great value. There’s probably a half pound of meat here.

Along with the sandwich, I decided to try some of their fried pickle spears. I haven’t had a good fried pickle since I left New Orleans. Datz gets it right with a light tempura crust and ranch sauce for dipping. Like any good fried pickle, the crunch was intact and the sweet and salty within stayed within. Every bite was fresh and flavorful, just as it should be. At $2 (on special!) these were a bargain as well.

Drew wanted to split a desert, so we ended up doing a four-way split of a piece of their red velvet cake. Stacked 5″ tall and as decadent as you can get without chocolate, this cake was creamy throughout with a series of cream cheese layers stacked on moist cake layers. Every fork full very well could have sent me into diabetic shock, but it would have been totally worth it.

Datz offers weekend brunch from 8:30AM to 3PM. That will be my next review of them, elbow deep in whatever wonderful breakfast concoctions they’ll be serving up.

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