Express Deli Lands on Yelp's Ranking of Top 100 Restaurants in America

The famous reuben wrap Credit: Photo by Doug Trattner

“At any establishment, I don’t think food is ever the sole reason people visit the place,” Micho Aboukhaled, who runs Express Deli & Beverage with his parents, told Scene’s dining editor Doug Trattner once. “You have to have good food and good service, and then there’s the rest.”

The “rest” has been building a community slowly but surely for the last 25 years, ever since his dad Pierre, an electrical engineer in a previous life, bought the deli. But the sandwiches certainly don’t hurt.

The Brook Park deli (5185 Smith Rd.) has garnered its fair share of local recognition and praise, and this week got a national nod with Yelp naming it one of the best 100 restaurants in the country for 2024. No. 13, to be exact, based on community rankings and input from local Yelp managers.

Corned beef gets the royal treatment at this Cleveland-area deli. Pierre Aboukhaled, who owns the shop with his wife, Maha, rises extra early to make their top-selling meat, which is chilled overnight and sliced cold the next day. “That keeps in the moisture,” says their son, Micho, who joined the business in 2015. The TLC this family lavishes on the city’s favorite cold cut has earned them a loyal following for the past 25 years. “I’ve been coming to this deli since I was a little girl,” says Yelper K.H. “This place is a true Cleveland-[area] staple. Cleveland natives know corned beef, and [this deli] has the best Reuben money can buy!”

Not messing with success, Express serves a classic corned beef sandwich with Swiss and mustard on rye, but gave the Reuben a special touch. “We didn’t like sauerkraut, but everyone told us a Reuben had to have it,” says Micho. “So we dried it, seasoned it, and tightly rolled it in a pita with a bit of house-made garlic mayo for a ‘Lebanese touch.’ ” Other popular wraps: Turkey and Pepperoni, with garlic mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, provolone cheese, and a zesty house dressing made by Maha; and Beirut Chicken, with garlic mayo, pickled turnips, coleslaw, and Sriracha, which Micho says reminds him of Lebanese street food.

“We are a literal mom-and-pop shop cranking out our unique take on deli food,” Micho Aboukhaled once told us. “Some of our customers have been coming daily for a decade or longer.”

Here’s to another 25.

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