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Canter's Deli marks 95 years with 95-cent pastrami sandwiches
Canter's neon sign has glowed over Fairfax Avenue since the family moved the deli there in 1953, and this week, the LA institution is celebrating 95 years in business.
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Courtesy Canter's Deli
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Canter's Deli turns 95 this year, and the iconic Jewish deli and coffee shop will sell its hot pastrami sandwich — with coleslaw, pickle and chocolate chip rugelach — for 95 cents.
Is there a catch?
No. But dine-in only, limit one per customer.
I don’t eat meat
Lucky you — a plant-based corned beef substitute is available.
Canter's 95-cent pastrami birthday special
Canter's Deli, 419 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles
Monday, August 3, 6 p.m.-midnight
Dine-in only
Why it matters
The Fairfax institution has been feeding Angelenos since 1953, serving everyone from the neighborhood's Jewish community to the Supreme-loving skate punks who arrived decades later.
Co-owner Marc Canter, the third-generation owner, put it best: Canter's is the place where "grandkids grow up and bring their grandkids."
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Why 95 cents?
Canter says the price is purely symbolic of the anniversary, not the actual cost — they charged 50 cents for the 50th anniversary and 75 cents for the 75th.
The history
Now three generations deep, the family has logged roughly 159 years combined behind the counter: Canter's grandfather, about 50; his father, about 65; and Marc himself, 44 and counting.
The sprawling namesake business started in 1931, when Marc Canter’s grandparents sold corned beef sandwiches off a cart in Jersey City before landing in Boyle Heights on Brooklyn Avenue (now César Chávez Avenue).
Canter said his Aunt Selma struck out on her own in 1948 at age 23 and moved the business to Fairfax. Her parents joined her there in 1953. One current employee has been on staff since 1964 — 62 years and counting.
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Despite the neighborhood's changes, Canter's hasn't: No remodels, no menu overhauls. The matzo ball soup, potato pancakes, and cheese blintzes have never left.
"The ancestors are watching from above," Canter said, "so you have to keep [going] to make them proud."
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