Artie's Delicatessen   

Most of the big old-school Jewish delis in New York are old -- Katz's, Second Avenue, Carnegie. Artie's, by comparison, is new. Erected in 1999, Artie's doesn't drip with the same kvetching immigrant history, but it does drip with the same kvetching immigrant pickled brine. In the heart of Upper West Side schmooze, the low-key deli aims to please its core contingency while not alienating a contemporary secular crowd unfamiliar with abstract concepts like kugel, knish and lox. The menu is made up of the classics -- try the pastrami and corned beef Reuben with sauerkraut, flanken in a pot with mushroom barley, and a big tuna salad platter. The Hebrew National hot dogs and burgers are biblically big, and one of the latter even boasts strips of pastrami sunbathing on top of its patty. By the time you get to dessert (homemade ruggelach, apple strudel, more pastrami), the only thing you'll wish was history are your clogged, kvetching arteries.