Mort's Palisades Deli, more commonly referred to as Mort's Deli, was a

Jewish deli A Jewish deli, also known as a Jewish delicatessen, is a store that serves various traditional dishes of Jewish cuisine, mostly Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. Known for their robust sandwiches, such as pastrami on rye and Reuben sandwiches, they also ...

catessen located at 1035 Swarthmore Ave on the corner of

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

Pacific Palisades, California Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside Los Angeles, Westside region of the city of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of downtown Los Angeles. Throughout January 2025, the majority of Pacific Palisades was severely affec ...

History

In the early 1970s, Mort Farberow opened a butcher shop on Sunset Boulevard in the Village neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. Business was steady, but he was still unsatisfied with the direction of his business. Farberow and his wife Bobbie Farberow then relocated around the corner to Swarthmore Avenue, where they opened "Mort’s Palisades Deli" in 1972. Mort's could not have come along at a better time as the opening coincided with a massive growth of the Jewish community in the Palisades. In 1978, Mort's moved to a larger location on the opposite side of the street at 1035 Swarthmore, where it remained until it closed its doors in 2007. During the 1980s restaurant boom in the LA Southlands, the deli came under increasing competition with up to 30 delis opening in the Palisades area. Farberow responded to this by cutting waste and raising prices. By 1989, Farberow's was seeing a switch over to leaner meat, especially turkey, due to an increase in health-consciousness. In 2005, the deli was hit by an armed robbery, the first in its history. Original owner and proprietor Mort Farberow once said in an interview with the

Jewish Journal ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', known simply as the ''Jewish Journal'', is an independent, nonprofit community weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of greater Los Angeles, published by the nonprofit TRIBE Media Corp. It ...

, “We make 99 percent of our food from scratch ncluding all the soups Being there seven days a week, getting to know the people, has made Mort’s the institution it is today." Generations of Palisadians grew up eating at Mort's Deli, only to return with their own children. It became a fixture of the community and an important landmark in the local culture, and much of the deli's staff had worked at Mort's for decades. The 2000 ''

Fodor's Fodor's is a producer of English-language travel guides and online tourism information. It was founded by Hungarian Eugene Fodor, who created his first travel guide, ''1936...on the Continent'', with the intention of improving upon the directo ...

'' guide to LA praised especially the variety of foods available on the menu.

Closing

Farberow died in 2002, and in 2007 his widow Bobbie decided to sell the deli to former Los Angeles mayor and area resident

Richard Riordan Richard Joseph Riordan (May 1, 1930 – April 19, 2023) was an American businessman, investor, military commander, philanthropist, and politician. A decorated Korean War veteran and a member of the Republican Party, Riordan served as the 39th ...

, who owned several other eateries in the Pacific Palisades area including the seafood restaurant Gladstones and the Original Pantry restaurant in

downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

. Riordan re-opened the deli under the name "Village Pantry" in 2008. ''Eater'' magazine described the re-opened deli as "wiped clean of its former self (save for the "planned" memorial wall for former owners Mort and Bobbie Farberow)" and criticised the raised prices.

Celebrity clientele

Mort’s boasted a long list of notable celebrity patrons including

Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He is known for his dry wit, portrayals of awkward social situations, and brutally honest takes on everyday life. He has received two Prim ...

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...

, and

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

. One day, Marlon Brando came into the deli and proprietor Mort Farberow was the only person in the place who recognized him. Another time in 2001, actor and local resident

Steve Guttenberg Steven Robert Guttenberg (born August 24, 1958) is an American actor, author, businessman, producer, and director. He is known for playing Carey Mahoney in the '' Police Academy'' films from 1984 to 1987. He also acted in '' Three Men and a Baby ...

was having lunch with his mother at Mort's when he encountered fellow actors and former honorary mayors

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian and American comedian, actor, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television ...

and

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...

. Guttenberg's mother was encouraging him to run for honorary mayor of the Palisades at the time, and recalling the memory at the deli Guttenberg said, “My mom went up to Tony and said, “Excuse me, Hannibal, should my son be mayor?”. Hopkins replied, “It would be a wonderful thing.” Guttenberg would indeed later serve as honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades.

In popular culture

Mort's Palisades Deli was featured prominently in several episodes of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

original series

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...

as ''"Leo's Deli "''.

Legacy

On January 3, 2020, local city councilman

Mike Bonin Michael Bonin (born March 19, 1967) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the Los Angeles City Council District 11, 11th district from 2013 to 2022. A Progressivism in the United States, progressive ...

named Bobbie Farberow, former owner of Mort's Deli and widow of founder Mort Farberow, who Bonin said is a "community volunteer extraordinaire", the 2019 honoree representing Pacific Palisades as part of his annual tradition of selecting a representative to be honored for the work they do for each of the neighborhoods he represents.

References

External links

Mort's Palisades Deli listing in the LA Historic Resources Inventory
{{Pacific Palisades Defunct Jewish delicatessens Defunct restaurants in Greater Los Angeles Jewish delicatessens in the United States Jews and Judaism in Los Angeles Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles Restaurants in Los Angeles Ashkenazi Jewish restaurants