Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessan
Chicago once had a robust number of delis and other food businesses near the late Maxwell Street Market — a hub for Jewish merchants and successive waves of other immigrants. Manny’s has been in the area in one form or another since 1942, eventually ending up in its current location in the mid 1960s, where it has become something of a civic institution. Is it technically a “deli” if there’s no meat market, pickle barrels or packaged foods to go? Who cares when the latkes are so huge and crisp, the matzo balls and kreplach soups such bowlfuls of love, and the warm corned beef sandwich the behemoth of your dreams? I always vow to take half home and occasionally succeed.