Traditions was one of those places that I knew I was going to love the minute I walked in. I come from an Orthodox Jewish family, in which we are very into our classical Jewish foods. Where I grew up the only kosher restaurants at the time were kosher delis. Kosher delis often specialize in simple Jewish comfort foods like matza ball soup, knishes, pastrami sandwiches and chopped liver.
The Five Towns area is one of the biggest Jewish communities in America, so they take their delis very seriously. For a kosher deli in this market to be successful, it needs to be the real deal. I was very excited to try Traditions because it is the most well-known deli in the Five Towns, which is a title that lead me to expect nothing less than excellence.
Atmosphere of Traditions Eatery
As you walk into the restaurant you have two options. On your left, the loud and intricate takeout service they provide is running like a well-oiled machine. Their takeout option seems to be very popular given that over 15 people can be seen taking calls, working a register or preparing and packaging food behind the desk.
If you turn right, you enter the serine and comfortable restaurant seating area. We sat at a two-person booth, something I have never seen at a restaurant but can’t help but feel like I should have. The waiters were very sweet and brought us pickles and coleslaw while we decided what to order.
A small display on the table had a QR code, which would lead you to an online menu. I’m guessing that the QR-code-menu was a measure being taken due to the pandemic, but either way I thought that it was very logical.
Central Avenue
Something on the menu caught my eye that just seemed unique to Traditions, and while I was in the mood for maybe a steak or a hamburger, I had to order the Central Avenue.
Named after the street that hosts Traditions, and many of the other famous Five Towns restaurants, this sandwich might have even more going on than the street itself. The sandwich came with regular white bread, and even though I’m sure I could’ve enhanced my experience with some rye bread or something along those lines, it is my fault for not asking for it.
The bread wasn’t the main aspect of the dish though. The first layer of the sandwich was some super fatty pastrami that was fried a little in order to render some of the fat. Oh, I also forgot to mention that there was a mountain of pastrami on this sandwich.
Every bite a took enough pastrami would fall out to make up a pastrami sandwich of its own. On top of the pastrami there was a heaping mound of chopped liver. If you have never had good chopped liver from a heimish (Yiddish for cozy/homely) kosher deli, you haven’t lived life. This chopped liver was clearly prepared in my favorite way, which is the superior preparation of chopped liver, in which the livers are sautéed with some onions and then mashed. And again, I must include that there was a lot of chopped liver on this sandwich.
Anyone who is medically at risk for a heart attack should stay away, but lucky for me I was able to really enjoy this sandwich. On top of that there was some coleslaw and some Russian dressing, simple and delicious.
Whether you’re a lover of Jewish foods, looking to try something new, or just looking for some comfort food, Traditions Eatery has my approval.
 | 302 Central Avenue, Lawrence, New York 11559, United States |
 | https://www.traditionseatery.com/ |
 | +1 516-295-3630 |
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Yelp Reviews
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