It’s more than just a restaurant name: both owners of Gary and Lenny’s New York Delicatessen have ties to New York.
Gary Schindler remembers making weekend trips to New York to visit his mother. Later, while attending college, he lived in Manhattan.
“Of course, I frequented all those great delis,” he said.
Leonard P. Punia was born in Brooklyn and lived there until the year he turned 26. Together, the two men own the deli that is now on the former Route 1 site of Denny’s.
When he first started in the restaurant industry, Schindler worked for a franchise, but realized it wasn’t what he wanted to do on a long-term basis.
“I wanted to do my own thing and basically be able to react to the customers and what they want,” Schindler said.
With that goal in mind, Schindler bought a restaurant in Newtown, Pa., then known as Posh Nosh, about 15 years ago. Schindler adjusted it to fit his vision, and renamed it Moish and Itzy’s Deli and Restaurant.
Punia, who is also in the real estate industry, was one of his customers.
“I used to go to East Brunswick and Newtown for my deli, because there was no Jewish-style deli left in this area,” Punia said.
After Weinstein’s Deli, a restaurant in the Lawrence Shopping Center, closed several years ago, the void was even more evident, Schindler said.
Punia approached Schindler about collaborating to open a restaurant in Lawrence, and the two men opened Gary and Lenny’s New York Delicatessen in March 2010.
Schindler said the restaurant is popular for brunch, lunch and dinner. It offers lunch specials that double as early-bird specials and run until 6 p.m.
Gary and Lenny’s has an extensive menu, starting with nine kinds of reubens and 22 variations of club sandwich.
Reuben-style sandwiches range from the traditional to the innovative, and consist of a variety of meats, including corned beef, pastrami, brisket, turkey, salami and frankfurter.
The one at the top of the list features hot corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese and russian dressing. The sandwich is grilled and served on rye bread.
Another is made with hot corned beef, pastrami, swiss cheese, cole slaw and russian dressing. But instead of bread, the sandwich is grilled and served open-faced on potato pancakes.
The large variety of club sandwiches also includes familiar options, such as one made with sliced turkey, bacon, lettuce and tomato.
Some other club sandwiches are built around ingredients like kosher salami, roast beef, brisket, tongue, chicken salad, egg salad, tuna or chopped liver.
The menu offers traditional breakfast platters throughout the day, including 26 kinds of omelets.
Smoked fish platters are a popular brunch option, Schindler said. One platter, called Mitchell’s Sunday Brunch, serves three to four people, he said. Despite its name, the platter is available every day of the week.
The restaurant offers 10 salads, and soups that Schindler says are made from scratch. Soup options include matzoh ball, mushroom barley, chicken noodle and french onion.
Also on the menu, are entrees that include traditional favorites made from scratch, such as meatloaf and chicken pot pie, Schindler said.
And of course, the menu also features traditional Jewish deli favorites including knishes, noodle kugel, Nova Scotia lox and more.
“We really have something that appeals to everybody,” Schindler said.
All menu items are available for takeout, and that has become a popular service, Schindler said.
Gary and Lenny’s also offers a variety of catering options. In addition to sandwich platters and trays, the restaurant offers options such as hot buffet items and buffet setups, Schindler said.
Schindler said the catering services have become popular in the area. Gary and Lenny’s caters for Congregation Beth Chaim, a synagogue in Princeton Junction. They have also catered for a variety of local businesses and schools.
Gary and Lenny’s recently hosted a fundraiser for Ben Franklin School. The restaurant donated a portion of the bill from each party that brought a slip for the event. They have also donated food for a couple of recent events hosted by the Princeton Senior Resource Center, Schindler said.
The restaurant features a dining area, and a back room is also available to host meetings, parties or large family dinners, Schindler said.
Schindler believes that Gary and Lenny’s is the type of restaurant where customers feel a personal connection. The staff decorates the front walls with artwork by the restaurant’s youngest diners, and Schindler said he has received positive feedback about the service.
“We’ve gotten a lot of compliments on our servers, and I just think that it’s the kind of place where you go and you know the waitress, Robin, or you ask for Joe,” Schindler said.
Schindler said word of mouth has drawn an increasing number of new customers, and that they also see a lot of familiar faces in the restaurant.
“We’ve already got a lot of regulars, and that’s really what this business is built on,” he said. “It’s regular customers that really enjoy the food and the people here.”
Gary and Lenny’s New York Delicatessen is located at 3331 Brunswick Pike in Lawrence. The restaurant is open 7 days a week and accepts payment by cash or credit card. Gift cards are also available for purchase.
More information is online at mynydeli.com, or call (609) 716-8300.
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