Counter Culture.

The People Make The Jason's Deli Experience Worthwhile.

Jason's Deli
All Over The Goddamn Place

Ambiance: 4 out of 4 soups
Service: 2 out of 4 soups
Food: 2.5 out of 4 soups

There are a lot of delis and sandwich places in Dallas, and most are the same. Except for Jason's Deli.

The clientele here will make you want to start your own People of Jason's Deli website. Whether you're with a group of friends or by yourself, it's a great people-watching spot.

And, hey, the food is OK, too.

The abundance of menu items is pretty long at Jason's deli. You can get sandwiches, soups, salads, pasta dishes and many other things. It's basically a typical deli. On this occasion, I ordered the 1/2 Chicago Club sandwich and 1/2 Fire Roasted Tortillia Soup. It came with chips and was more food than a person needs to eat during one sitting. The cost came out to around $7, and it came with free trips to the salad bar for breads and also a free ice cream cone, which is nice.

Plus, the place looks and feels like a modern deli without the grease and grime on the walls from years of abuse. What's not to love about that?

Nothing. And yet neither the upkeep nor the food is the real draw here. No, Jason's Deli's hidden gem is its crowd. The people that this menu and salad bar draws are extraordinary.

There are four groups of people dining at a Jason's Deli at any given time: 1.) Business people eating alone; 2) all-you-can-eat buffet-busters; 3) medical patients who should still be in their hospital beds; 4) said patients' visitors, who should be in prison.

Let's break these down.

The first group of business people have no one to eat with at lunch, want a good and healthy meal and want a place where they can enjoy the food and their surroundings. Generally, they finish their meals within 30 minutes, which includes ordering, waiting to be served at the table and also eating.

The second group of people come to eat a healthy buffet, except for the fact that their self-prepared bowls could fill a gallon bucket with salad items and there is about three cups of ranch piled on top of their “healthy” lunch. They also fill their 16-20 oz cups full of ice cream after their meals. No joke. I've seen it.

The third group of people are the patients. Why? Because the Greenville Avenue location is across the street from Presbyterian Hospital. They literally wear their hospital bracelets here, and they look like they should be prepping for surgery, not lunch. It's pretty scary — especially when they glare at the non-patients. It's almost like a prison cafeteria.

The fourth group, the patient visitors, seem to keep the patient visitors somewhat in line. But that might be nothing more than illusion; most of these people look like something out of the television show Cops, clad in NASCAR-related apparel, Harley Davidson tattoos and, more times than not, mullets.

It is all class, all the time at Jason's Deli, folks.

But, hey, it's fun — like reality TV without the glass barrier.

If only they served alcoholic beverages here. Then I think it'd be my favorite bar in town.