Deli Lane comes to Sarasota

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Jonathan Maziarz

Sandwiches are a mainstay at Deli Lane, including the Portobello club with pesto mayo (left) and the Panini Caprese (right). All sandwiches are served with a choice of deli salad or french fries as a side.

INFO

Deli Lane

2.5 stars

2157 Siesta Drive, Sarasota, 366-5554.

Dining Guide: Kick it up a notch p. 31

Names can be misleading. Call yourself a "taqueria," and I'll expect barbacoa and salsa tucked into steamy tortillas. Put "steakhouse" at the end of your marquee, and I'll need medium rare beef and a big baked potato. Say "deli," and my mind starts wandering to stacks of pastrami and thick slabs of liverwurst.

And in that respect, Deli Lane doesn't deliver. Sure, there's a nod toward bagels and nova on the menu, and a Reuben makes the sandwich list, but that's about it. Instead, Deli Lane gives us a standard array of American breakfast, lunch and dinner fare that's serviceable enough but no more exciting or different than a dozen other places in town. I'd rather have a deli deli.

Deli Lane is a Miami institution where sisters Sue Russo and Eileen Russo Whitney worked before opening their own carbon copy here. And at first glance, you can see why the restaurant might be popular in its home town, the straightforward menu accented by a few clever little twists that have obviously evolved over the mini-chain's 20-year run. Time and familiarity have likely created a core following in Miami, much like that found at our own local institutions Serving Spoon and Broken Egg.

And as such, Deli Lane gives you exactly what you'd expect. Eggs are competently cooked, especially in the hefty omelets. Hash comes with either corned beef or roast turkey, the turkey version seasoned well enough to make it a viable alternative. Pancakes are pancakes, but the French toast tastes a bit stale and overwhelmed with cinnamon.

Head for lunch, and you'll find salads that are the usual blend of mixed greens and chunky veggies with a standard array of additional toppings, burgers that often see too much time on the grill, sandwiches that are inevitably blanketed in a mass of melted cheese and typical wraps that also suffer from a heavy hand with mozzarella and cheddar. Deli Lane's multiple versions of pasta salad all taste like they were made on the run by a harried 1950s housewife, bland but oddly satisfying. Most of it's worth a nosh, but none of the food distinguishes Deli Lane from the rest of Sarasota's casual dining gang.

Veer into those specialties that have evolved over the Deli Lane's run in Miami, and you'll probably find yourself turning back to the more common fare.

Like the signature pressed duck sandwich, with slices of bird layered with brie and sautéed onions. The roll is a glorified hot dog bun, toasted but still soft on the inside, which melds into the melted cheese and soft onions. Eat it straight, and the duck gets lost in the gooey mess; dip it into the sticky-sweet apricot sauce and that'll be all you taste.

Potato skins are big slabs of deep fried spud, unadorned and arranged around an odd cheese sauce that tastes like a fussy version of the "nacho" splorted out of movie theater and convenience store machines into plastic trays of tortilla chips. Raw cinnamon is the overwhelming flavor of the Swiss apple melt, with crunchy slices of Granny Smith and flaccid bacon sliding out the sides of the bread and showering the table with each bite.

The space on Siesta Drive was home to Southgate Gourmet until chef Cliff Whatmore found a much cushier gig over a year ago. It looks essentially the same, with a long bar stretching across the back of the wide dining room and a few wrought iron tables out on the sidewalk. The Russo sisters didn't have to do much to get it into shape for the opening a little over a month ago.

They may have spent the time they saved working with their staff, an upbeat and vivacious lot who manage to combine both efficiency and an almost overwhelming willingness to please. That goes a long way toward mitigating the unexciting food.

And who knows, maybe Deli Lane will be able to stick it out through the time it'll take to turn the restaurant into a Sarasota institution. After a decade or so, perhaps we'll adopt the faves so popular in the Miami locations as much as we've adopted those gooey, cheesy potatoes at Broken Egg or the salmon scramble at Serving Spoon.

It'll take some time, though.

COMMENTS

RE: Deli Lane comes to Sarasota

Posted by memyselfandi on 11.06.09 @ 02:03 PM

wow, bad advice from a supposed "expert" in their field in sarasota, shocking. deli lane isn't a trendy new york deli restaurant where all the yoo-hoo's go...wait, they do they just don't tell you about it. deli lane is EXCELLENT. the variety that the menu offers it's guests is quite surprising - it has something for everyone. and the prices are fair. the service is excellent and there is adequate parking. what more could you ask for? since arriving in sarasota from los angeles, there are few places in this overdone towne that i actually enjoy going, deli lane is one that i look forward to. try the stuffed artichokes - to die for! and the quiche is a bit of heaven, so is the chicken chili queso and a good old fashioned COBB salad. two thumbs up!

RE: Deli Lane comes to Sarasota

Posted by irwinsinger on 06.07.08 @ 08:47 AM

I also disagree with this writer....
Evidently this writer likes slop thrown on a large plate and dropped on the table by some waitress that is in a hurry to go nowhere except talk on her cell. Yes, I am talking about the Broken Egg.
Deli Lane is classy, friendly, very good products, very clean, and trying hard to make a presentation in SRQ, which I think have done a very nice job doing it.
Good Luck Deli Lane and to the sisters.

RE: Deli Lane comes to Sarasota

Posted by KTB on 06.06.08 @ 10:16 AM

BOOOOOOOO !!!! I usually agree with most of the Creative Loafing food reviews, but this particular review has been one of the least accurate I have read. Deli Lane opened near my neighborhood a short while ago, and since then I have been there several times. I can easily see how our saucy neighbors to the south have made it a staple. The food is quite good and as stated, the servers have been no less than charming. The California Quesadilla tops what most Mexican resaurants have to offer, and the Caprese Panini is also quite tasty, with a balsamic vinegarette unlike any other I've tried. And although the "50's housewife" comment was quite witty (I picture the Ambrosia salad from "Edward Scissorhands"), I have to disagree with that as well. The crab salad is dangerously good and the chunky salsa is a refreshing alternative to what most restaurants have to offer. And the fruit salad!! Unlike most eateries whose idea of said salad is one soggy grape and a deflated strawberry camouflaging a mound of semi-gelatinous cantalope, Deli Lane serves up a nice helping of large berries and fresh fruit. Maybe the disappointment was that unlike most chain restaurants, the servers don't wear a ridiculous costume covered in "flair", and the food doesn't taste like a heaping spoonful of Bloomin' Bypass. (See Chili's on 41 and Bee Ridge for further details)

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