My father had a formal wear store a couple of doors down from Hobby's. Sam was my Dad's landlord and he would eat there everyday and when I worked for my Dad in the early 70's during the summers I would eat there also. I always loved their food. I remember Sam and his wife. My Dad was also a WW2 veteran and when the riots broke out in July 1967 we were supposed to go on vacation that week. We cancelled our plans because my Dad had to be near the store. And as Sam did with his courage , my Dad was the same way and he went down to the store each day of the riots to make sure the store was not damaged. We lived in Union and we were so worried each day he traveled to Newark. Similar to Sam, my Dad was a well respected business and he treated all of his customers with respect and his store was not touched. He continued to own and operate the store from that location up to his retirement in 1986.

Went to NYC for the first time last year. A Reuben is my favorite sandwich and was excited to try some in New York to see how they stacked up to the many I have eaten in Los Angeles. Had some at Junior's in Brooklyn, Tom's Restaurant and Katz's Deli in Manhattan. All were letdowns. Was scheduled to fly out of Newark and the flight got delayed and we were stuck in Newark for 3 extra days. Then I found Hobby's. The best Reuben sandwich I had on the trip. Redemption.

My great-great grandfather emigrated from Russia and settled in Newark in the late 19th century My grandfather and father was born and raised in Newark New Jersey and in 1965 my grandfather had a barbershop by 1967 when the riots came out it was burned down and he left and never went back

That corned beef sandwich at the beginning looked amazing 😋

I think it's sad how neglected Newark is. Putting luxury condos and Whole Foods is not going to fix a systemic problem. Newark, Irvington, Camden, they all need the state's serious attention.

Coopers, Bragmans and Knobbys were the places to go if you were looking for a good sandwich in Newark back in the day.

Thanks lots. 💗

-Being born & raised in Newark also, I always thought they never should have demolished those tall Scudder homes, Stella Wrights, & some other projects in the city. They housed many, city gov't should have kept them, brought in a higher police presence, maintained the property better than they did & they really could have made a difference. Those buildings were built to last & stronger than many of the new housing now. But still, along with the new housing added to the existing ones they could have housed more people in Newark. New York still has their tall projects, busting at the seams, with even more people. For decades before all other cities & states, NY was the king in crime, housing problems, drug & gang problems, & if their crime levels could be lowered, then so could Newark's. But instead of tackling these problems head on, the government would rather schmooze with big money clients while thinking of the "hood" areas as afterthoughts. We can only wait & see what Newark's mayor Raz Baraka, & the rest of city & state government do next.

Unscathed when other businesses were damaged. Powerful lesson here

Best pastrami I’ve ever had in my entire life

I've been here for 60 years they had great movies theaters here. Besides Hobbys down neck had great food Italian, polish, German, Besides Spanish and Portuguese.

im gonna go to this deli and get a reuben, they look so good. what a great, great story. Brummer!!!!

Everybody thinks Newark is coming back after watching this. Of all the hundreds of delis and restaurants that were downtown this was the only one open at the time of its filming. And guess what. It's now closed.

Need to make a pilgrimage there

all i hear is music, the voice was mute

There's always talk about the damage, violence etc, but not the causes of the riots;

Having been born and raised in Newark, downtown looks well and good but what about the "hood" parts of the city? Houses, buildings that's been abandoned/condemned for as long as I can remember. Empty, vacant lots that can be used to build shelters for the homeless/hungry or a daycare center or a store. Stop focusing so much on rebuilding downtown and neglecting the rest of Newark

I love Hobbys

and what would Newark be like without this dump?