Stepping Out: Kopperman's
Margot Dankner and Alexandra Nathanson
Issue date: 9/26/05 Section: Scene
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386 N. Euclid, St. Louis
Price range: $10-15
If you have a hankering for some great corned beef or salami on fresh kosher rye, St. Louis is often not the first place you would think to look. New York, home to the infamous Katz's Deli, or Ann Arbor, birthplace of the amazing Zingerman's, come more readily to mind as Meccas of these delicious cold cuts. It was to our great excitement and surprise, then, when a St. Louis eatery was featured over the summer on the Food Network's "Best of" Delicatessen episode.
Kopperman's, which was featured alongside delis from Chicago, San Francisco and Ann Arbor, was portrayed as a gem of kosher delight with a great selection of the classics along with some more eclectic additions, such as curry chicken salad. We were so thrilled at the prospect of quality Nova lox and pastrami close to campus that we wrote down the name and vowed to make a visit when we came back to school.
Our anticipation about Kopperman's only grew when we checked out the menu online. With a massive selection of breakfast, lunch and dinner items and names for sandwiches like Cry Me a Liver and Any Pork in a Storm, how could we go wrong?
So it was with high hopes that we arrived to Kopperman's. As we walked in, the few customers at the establishment were all seated outside, while the inside was completely empty. In retrospect, we should have taken this lack of patronage as the first bad sign.
Rather than join the other clientele, we decided to take a seat inside and explore the interior of the restaurant. While a bit kitschy, the decorations, which included neon alcohol signs, giant kitchen implements and a big plaster dog, were charming. The tables and eating areas were more or less clean; however, it was slightly distressing to see mold growing in some of the displayed house-made salads.
After waiting for our waiter for almost half an hour to take our orders (oy vey!), we decided we might have better luck waiting outside. The move improved the atmosphere somewhat, but even with only three other tables, the waiter did not take our order for another 20 minutes.
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