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Attman's Deli, Legendary Baltimore Deli Moves from Cabin John to Park Potomac


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They haven't opened yet (they say next month), but they're having a hot dog cart this weekend. From their Facebook page:

Attention Montgomery County Fans!! Attman's Hot Dog Harry will be coming to Potomac, MD!!

Where? 7913 Tuckerman Lane ( corner of Seven Locks Rd.)
When: This Saturday, Sunday, & Monday ( May 25,26,27th)

Time: from Noon till 4 pm
Serving our Famous Attman's Hot Dogs with Bologna and the Works for $4.00 each / Stay tuned for more information about the upcoming opening of Attman's Potomac, scheduled to open next month!

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The sign on the road says they are open, but not at 7am when I passed by. The crowd of workers out front wearing Attman's t-shirts waiting to get in seems to confirm they will be open sometime today.

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The sign on the road says they are open, but not at 7am when I passed by. The crowd of workers out front wearing Attman's t-shirts waiting to get in seems to confirm they will be open sometime today.

Yup, the Potomac location opened for their first day of business yesterday at 10:30 or 11am (with a preview event over the weekend).

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Yep, we went this past weekend during their preview event. It's so refreshing that this area will finally have a legit Jewish-style deli with major lasting power. The extra lean corned beef on rye was outstanding - generous slices of tender, flavorful corned beef sandwiched by soft rye bread and a slab of deli mustard. The pastrami was very good as well, but it's the corned beef that really stands out here.

I have a feeling this place will make a killing in catering alone. Kind of annoying it's not fully kosher, but there are still a ton of options nonetheless. If you want to check out some pics and such, we just did a post on it here:

Attman’s Delicatessen Opens in Potomac

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Kind of annoying it's not fully kosher, but there are still a ton of options nonetheless.

While I fully support and wish more kosher places would open in the area for my kosher friends, historically kosher delis have been a small minority of delis in the last 50 years anywhere in America and I may be wrong, but I don't know if Attman's has ever been kosher. There is a reason "kosher-style" often is applied to delis who often serve up Reubens and other non-kosher combos.

Also for those that don't know, one of the few (there are only a handful or less) kosher restaurants in DC is Eli's Deli - http://www.elis-dc.com/ that has managed to stay open since 2004 which is a big feat for a kosher DC restaurant. I can't vouch for their food though.

That being said wonderful news that Attmans has an outpost in the DC metro area. When my wife lived in Baltimore years ago, we would regularly head over to corned beef row for excellent sandwiches (love the Cloak & Dagger) and dogs. Can't wait to try the Potomac spot. Sure to make many menschen very happy!

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We were in on Friday, at the tail end of the lunch rush on the first soft opening day.

Perfectly sliced corned beef - I didn't order extra lean but that's what I got. I like a little more fat so it doesn't tend towards dry (as this did). I also expected it to be steamed hot, but this was served at room temperature. Pastrami was very very good, and also just the right thickness. Rye was fine - good rye flavor, but no crisp to the crust at all.

A meat knish was ordinary.

First soft opening day, so no real assessment. A mile away, Brooklyn's is serving meats almost as good, on the best rye anywhere.

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Really enjoyed a pastrami sandwich here this past weekend. No noticeable drop off from the Baltimore flagship. The pastrami is a different animal than Chef Stachowski's and Chef Anda's, both of which are excellent as well. This is more the Jewish deli pastrami I grew up with, and while its not gonna transport you to Katz's by any strech, I am thrilled to have it as an option in my hood. The stuffed cabbage was also enjoyable, albeit a bit underseasoned. And really good 1/2 sour pickles!

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Really enjoyed a pastrami sandwich here this past weekend. No noticeable drop off from the Baltimore flagship. The pastrami is a different animal than Chef Stachowski's and Chef Anda's, both of which are excellent as well. This is more the Jewish deli pastrami I grew up with, and while its not gonna transport you to Katz's by any strech, I am thrilled to have it as an option in my hood. The stuffed cabbage was also enjoyable, albeit a bit underseasoned. And really good 1/2 sour pickles!

FWIW, I had a Corned Beef Sandwich ($9.99) here about a month ago, and was unimpressed to the level of being disappointed. I trust your taste in Jewish deli, so I guess the takeaway here is: pastrami, not corned beef.

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I don't know.   I wasn't impressed with the matzo ball soup or the chopped liver.  The lox, onions and eggs were not "lightly scrambled" but deeply overcooked.  Mr. BLB didn't like the pastrami one bit.

But BL-1st grader LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the place.   But I think he's mostly eating eggs and pancakes.

I voted for not going back but Mr. BLB is a push over for the kid.  I'd much rather head over to Brooklyn Deli.

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I also used to love Attman's in Baltimore for corned beef, pastrami and hot dogs but I haven't been in years (nor made it to the Cabin John one yet) so it doesn't make the list.

I last went to the Cabin John Attman's about six months ago, so I don't want to say this too loudly, but ... it was very disappointing.

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I used to go to Attman's in Baltimore a lot.  It was "goodish" but not great in my opinion.  If you like and want deli...some deli is better than No deli. and okay deli is better than no deli.  hey...DGS is very good (again in my opinion) but its not Cabin John.

Parkway in Silver Spring has been around for decades.  I think its only "okay"   but its better than nothing.

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I was expecting much better from the Attman's name.

I almost never go - and that's saying a lot because it's 5 minutes from my house and I grew up on the stuff.

Brooklyn's, a mile away, is better in pretty much every way.

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I was expecting much better from the Attman's name.

I almost never go - and that's saying a lot because it's 5 minutes from my house and I grew up on the stuff.

Brooklyn's, a mile away, is better in pretty much every way.

I also grew up on the stuff.  Northern NJ.  I also got  to the Lower East Side of Manhattan a lot, had a lot of deli there in some of the "legendary places".    I thought the good deli's in NJ were very comparable to "legendary" deli's.

Having lived in Baltimore for about 6 years I ate a lot of Attman's sandwiches.  Its not because it was great.  Its because I desired deli.  Mediocre deli is better than nothing.  After moving from Baltimore I visited enough over the years including more visits to Attman's.  From my perspective not because it was special..but because it was there and adequate and frankly I thought it better than most deli I was familiar with in the DC area.

On the other hand, DGS, which is a restaurant, and not a deli, does some great deli IMHO.  Especially for this neck of the woods.

This week I learned that one of the most respected, well received, well reviewed deli's in Jersey is owned by relatives of a family with whom I grew up. The deli has been around since the early 1960's.  I never knew of the connection.  I contacted the family member who is roughly my age, expressing that I think that deli does G-d's work.  I sort of believe that.  He told me it would make my eye's water.  I definitely believe that!!

The entire conversation and thinking of deli has made me hungry.  I think I'll visit DGS.  ;)

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On 7/30/2014 at 11:35 PM, DanielK said:

I was expecting much better from the Attman's name.

<snip>

Brooklyn's, a mile away, is better in pretty much every way.

Attman’s Cabin John location closed in March. They’ve signed a lease to take over the old Zoe’s location across from Harris Teeter in Rockville. It’s a five minute walk from Brooklyn’s Deli.

What I found interesting about Market Reporter’s interview with the owner is his direct response to competition with Brooklyn’s Deli. 

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On 7/3/2020 at 5:23 AM, Lydia R said:

Attman’s Cabin John location closed in March. They’ve signed a lease to take over the old Zoe’s location across from Harris Teeter in Rockville. It’s a five minute walk from Brooklyn’s Deli.

What I found interesting about Market Reporter’s interview with the owner is his direct response to competition with Brooklyn’s Deli. 

On Lombard Street in Baltimore there were at different times several competitors in the same block, so I guess Marc isn't worried about being to close to Brooklyn.

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Thanks for the shout-out, Lydia R. The news site is actually called Store Reporter (www.storereporter.com). We cover retail and restaurants in Rockville/Potomac and the surrounding areas and have been following the Attman's story since they closed at Cabin John. More updates to come as they get closer to opening.

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39 minutes ago, Store Reporter said:

I'm not sure why my name is showing as Adrian Dantley,

The text right under your user name is the custom rank you have based on the number of posts. Don has that number correlated with Adrian Dantley because it was his uniform number.

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