Pastrami Joe’s (Marshall)
105 N. Jefferson StreetI always loved getting sent to work in downtown Battle Creek because of Pastrami Joe’s. They had the best sandwiches.
The Pastrami Joe’s in Battle Creek closed though. They had a hard time staying afloat during the pandemic because Kellogg employees weren’t working in the office. That really cut in to Pastrami Joe’s bottom line.
The restaurant eventually closed and now a Torti Taco is in the space on Michigan Avenue.
Pastrami Joe’s didn’t totally go away though. There was also a second location in Marshall and that one depends a lot on the lunch crowd from nearby Oaklawn Hospital so they were able to stay open.
Pastrami Joe’s is just off Michigan Avenue in downtown Marshall on Jefferson Street. The small brick building could be easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. There are street parking options up and down the block.
The restaurant isn’t very big but there is a decent sized dining room off to tone side plus a few tables outside for those nice days.
It’s a counter service restaurant so there are a couple of cash registers right up front with the menu board hanging on the wall behind the counter.
I put my order in online because I knew what I wanted and I knew I had about a 15 minute drive to downtown Marshall to pick it up.
Pastrami Joe’s has a huge menu of both cold and toasted sandwiches but…they Pastrami right in the name. I’ve tried other things over the years and they’re always delicious but the Joe’s Famous Hot Pastrami is just so hard to pass up.
The sandwich was ready by the time I walked in to the store. The lady at the counter handed me the bag and told me to grab a can of Coke from the cooler on my way out.
We still had to drive to a job site so I threw the sandwich in the back of the car and grabbed the bag of chips first. I picked the “Dirty” Potato Chips with cracked black pepper and sea salt. I’m not familiar with this brand but I like the pepper and sea salt combination.
The sandwich was still nice and warm by the time I got to it and unwrapped the green and white checkered paper it was wrapped in. The sandwich is a huge pile of steamed pastrami with dill pickles, dark mustard served on Marbled rye. Pastrami Joe’s is probably the closest you can get to a New York Deli style of pastrami in Southwest Michigan. It’s not piled quite as high as something like Carnegie Deli but there is quite a bit of meat on it.
The cost of my meal was right around $14 before tip.
I’ve been pretty bummed Pastrami Joe’s left Battle Creek. I don’t get to Marshall near as much as I do BC, but at least when I do get sent a little farther east, I know there will always be something delicious. I never stopped at this Pastrami Joe’s before because I was always busy trying different things in Marshall. With the Battle Creek location gone, this will become a priority stop for me in the future.
SW Michigan Dining 