If we’ve learned anything about South Florida diners’ priorities for their favorite deli, it’s that they love their pastrami, corned beef and turkey sandwiches “substantial,” “stacked” and “overstuffed.”
But patrons also prioritize crisp pickles, coleslaw, a comforting breakfast and, of course, the perfect bagel and schmear (spoiler alert: more on that later!).
We stirred the chicken noodle soup pot for the March installment in our Best of South Florida Dining series to bring your favorite delis in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties to the surface — and any style was on the table.
After a two-week nomination round, a tie left us with six finalists. These included, in alphabetical order:
• 3G’s Gourmet Deli, Delray Beach
• Bagel Snack, Pompano Beach
• Ben’s Kosher Delicatessen Restaurant & Caterer, Boca Raton
• Goldberg’s Delicatessen and Bagels, Fort Lauderdale
• Pickle Barrel Deli & Delicatessen, Deerfield Beach
• Pomperdale Famous New York Deli, Fort Lauderdale
After the voting round for the deli most deserving to be named the best thing since sliced rye bread, we received hundreds of reader responses and now have a winner — and it’s a spot that has won this competition before.
Congratulations to … Bagel Snack!
The Pompano Beach deli, at 1237 S. Powerline Road, took home the win for best bagels during our reader contest’s first year, in 2024. It’s evident bagels were also a deciding factor in this “best deli” category, as many of you mentioned them in your nominations, but you let us know about plenty of delicious dishes as well.
Kim Zweibaum, left, and Mallarie Mondt co-own Bagel Snack in Pompano Beach, a previous Best of South Florida Dining winner for best bagels back in 2024. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The response
“Being named the best deli is more than just the words,” said Kim Zweibaum, who co-owns Bagel Snack with her fiancée, Mallarie Mondt. “It’s recognition to all of our amazing patrons and customers that took the time to vote, those that told others to vote, and those that truly wanted to see us shine and win.”
The couple bought Bagel Snack in December 2024 from Jonathan and Thelma Simes, who had taken over the operation in 1992. The deli has been serving the community for more than 45 years.
“This past year and a half has been hard, but we put the work in. We put the time in,” Zweibaum said. “We put the hard days in, the days when you think you can’t do it anymore, we kept going and always thinking about the small wins along the way.”
She credited their staff with making the win for best deli possible.
“Customers that stop us to tell us how amazing we are, the staff are, the product and everything we’ve done since we took ownership has been nothing but great,” she said. “That’s what keeps us fighting the good fight, every day. Words mean so much. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but the compliments and small things customers notice goes a long way, more than they will ever know.
“So being No. 1 deli is more than just being No. 1 deli. It’s about how we got here.”
Co-owner Kim Zweibaum chats with a customer at Bagel Snack in Pompano Beach. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The transition
In November 2024, Zweibaum sold her shares of Mario’s Fishbowl, a bar/restaurant she co-owned in Morgantown, West Virginia, south of her home in Pittsburgh, to make the leap to South Florida and become Bagel Snack’s new owner.
“I went to college at West Virginia University, and the bar that I worked at through college, I eventually became a manager, and it was my dream to own it,” she said. “In 2017, myself and four of my other co-workers that were in the business with me for 10 years took the bar and grill over together.”
In 2021, after meeting Mondt, who had been in the restaurant business for 15 years, Zweibaum said they decided they needed a change — and to escape the cold.
“My parents retired down here about 10 years ago, and I always wanted to be closer to them,” she said. “Owning a bagel/deli restaurant was always something I talked about wanting to do but never had the courage to uproot our lives and do something like that.”
But with Mondt by her side, Zweibaum said she “knew we could do anything together as long as we had each other.” So she sold her house and they packed up their lives and their animals for the move.
At first, the transition didn’t go as smoothly as schmear on a bagel.
“We didn’t know a soul down here besides my parents, and this was uncharted territory for us,” Zweibaum said. “People are scared of change, so that was also intimidating coming into an establishment that has been run a certain way and has had a lot of the same staff for 35 years prior to us coming into the scene.”
T-shirts with phrases such as “Spread cream cheese, not hate” and “A bagel a day keeps the oy vey away” are for sale at Bagel Snack in Pompano Beach. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
In the first four months, the electricity went out and ovens broke, leaving them unable to bake for four days, but “we immediately went into boss mode,” she said.
“We never wanted to change the brand, recipes or staff that our customers love and feel comfortable with. We started making small changes, necessary changes, changes that show our employees and customers that we care and help us in the long run.”
Slowly but surely things started to come together, Zweibaum said.
“Our goal every day is to have fun but also kick butt,” she said. “Whether it’s the kitchen, deli, cashiers or servers, this job can be fun and you can stay on task at the same time and have a good time.”
A nova platter is on the menu at Bagel Snack in Pompano Beach. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The food
First, they took the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to the menu.
“We’ve added a few things that sold well as specials such as avocado toast and the Monte Cristo,” Zweibaum said. “But we wanted to keep everything the same, so we didn’t overwhelm our customers or staff. Will we make more changes in the future? Probably, but baby steps.”
Other than bagels, “omelets are a big seller, and they are huge,” she said, as well as deli sandwiches such as pastrami, corned beef and the Reuben (and its variations).
“All of our meat is sliced to order, so it’s fresh as could be,” Zweibaum said. “Our platters are also a big hit; customers get to choose one, two or three different homemade salads on a plate full of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, carrots and cucumbers and, of course, it comes with a bagel.”
Which are their favorite items?
“My fiancee and I love our freshly sliced turkey and our homemade tuna fish salad,” she said. “We are always getting those put into wraps with our fresh produce. Our health salad (a different spin on coleslaw) and our cucumber salad are crisp, healthy and a few of our favorite options as well.”
Breakfast fans will also find a lox, eggs and onions scramble, matzo brie, homemade corned beef hash, fluffy buttermilk pancakes and challah French toast.
For lunch, there are deli-style salads of all sorts — egg, whitefish, tuna, veggie tuna and chicken — and specialty salads such as Garden Gourmet, Beachside Bounty and Mediterranean Medley.
A Rachel sandwich comes with a side of fries at Bagel Snack. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
As far as the classics, there are grilled cheeses, melts, BLTs, cheesesteaks, hot dogs, burgers, blintzes, knishes, potato pancakes and soups.
And what’s a proper deli without Dr. Brown’s sodas and black-and-white cookies? Don’t worry, Bagel Snack has both.
They have your carbonated cravings covered with cold cans of the brand’s popular flavors, along with a full lineup of coffee, juices and teas. Finish your meal with something sweet like the cookies or vanilla crumb cake.
While the quality of food sets their deli apart from others, Zweibaum said there’s something not on the menu that also keeps customers coming back: the atmosphere and service.
“We are a quirky, comical, funny group,” she said. “We aren’t robots in a corporate establishment. We are in a small business and we care about each other like we are family. It’s just about bringing people together and finding common ground … You won’t find a team like ours.”
Bagel Snack fans voted the restaurant the Best of South Florida Dining winner for best deli. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
What fans said
In his nomination form, Pompano Beach resident Fernando Pardo proudly proclaimed: “Bagel Snack is hands down my favorite Jewish deli in South Florida,” adding “their spinach knish is incredible, the matzo ball soup is pure comfort, the spinach Florentine eggs benedict platter is one of my absolute favorites, and their egg salad is always so good.”
For Pardo, Bagel Snack has “the perfect mix of classic deli comfort food, generous portions and the kind of menu that keeps me coming back again and again.”
Also from Pompano Beach, reader Janet Weiss said the deli is her “go-to” for bagels.
“I have tried bagels from other shops, but I keep coming back to Bagel Snack,” she wrote in her form. “I love the egg, cheese and Taylor pork roll on a toasted bialy for breakfast and a Palm Aire salad with a scoop of tuna salad and a toasted everything bagel! Their soups are absolutely delicious, especially the mushroom barley soup.”
Server Alina Zitti hard at work in the dining room at Bagel Snack in Pompano Beach. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Reader Debbie Fisher travels south from Boynton Beach to get her Bagel Snack fix.
The “restaurant has a welcoming, at-home ambience from the owners to the staff.” she wrote in her nomination.
“Friendly smiles surround me. I particularly enjoy the hearty meals offered here. The loaded bagels with meat, salads or whatever brings comfort to your palate [and] are worth a visit. Yummy food and nice-sized portions are a constant.”
She called the fish platter “better and fresher than [at] delis I visited in New York” and the chicken soup “rich and flavorful.”
Bottom line, she said, “Bagel Snack is my go-to restaurant whenever I’m in Pompano.”
For more information, visit bagelsnack.com.
Don’t miss previous Best of South Florida Dining series winners!