Author: Denise Taylor, Globe Correspondent
Date: March 4, 2002
Publication: Boston Globe, Calendar, Hit of the Week



Not every sandwich is so perfectly conceived that a fight erupts over who invented it. Such a trophy is the Reuben, that tantalizing tower of tender corned beef, tangy sauerkraut, melted Swiss, and Russian dressing squished between buttered grilled rye.

For years credit went to New York deli owner Arnold Reuben. Word was he stacked the first in 1914 for Chaplin film starlet Annette Seelos. Then, in the '80s, the earth shook. Nebraskans claimed Reuben Kulakofsky devised it in 1925 at an Omaha poker game. Other Nebraskans place the seminal Reuben at Lincoln's Cornhusker Hotel, circa 1922 (have they nothing else to do?).

The more pressing question here: Where to find a super Reuben? The answer: S&S deli in Cambridge. Its grilled Reuben with chips, slaw, and a half-sour sits on caraway-seeded marble rye. Lightly salted, juicy homemade corned beef, just enough buttery sauerkraut, thin gooey layers of mild Swiss, and a nice shmeer of dressing pay glorious homage to Arnold, or Reuben, or whomever.

S&S Restaurant 1334 Cambridge St., Cambridge. 617-354-0620. Reuben sandwich, $7.50.

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