Zaftigs Delicatessen Natick

I visited the Natick location (there’s also one in Brookline), which offers both breakfast and lunch. Upon entering, there’s a counter that appears set up for takeout orders, along with a selection of house-made items like bagel chips and pastries— a nice touch that adds to the experience. Our group opted for lunch and tried a variety of items: a tuna melt, a build-your-own sandwich, hot dogs, and a knish filled with beef (a savory pastry with various filling options). Everything we tried was enjoyable—well-prepared and satisfying. While the food wasn't particularly unique or extraordinary, it was a solid meal, and we appreciated the range of options available on the menu.

Yum! Had a typical wait on a Saturday morning but the staff was super helpful when we called in advance. Probably had the sourest pickles i've ever had in my life here (that's a good thing, my mouth is watering right now). The Benedict on their potato pancakes was heavenly.

Update 2025: We discovered this place two years ago, and it’s been one of our favorite breakfast/lunch spots ever since. Martha is our favorite server—she’s always so friendly and attentive, and truly a highlight of every visit! Our go-to menu items are the tuna sandwich, the lox platter, the potato pancakes and their amazing potato salad. Original Review 2022: The place is bigger than I expected. I love the art on the walls, and the food is really good. I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious the potato salad was—definitely give it a try! Big fan of the pickles, sandwiches, and bagels, too.

First time trying this deli. Called in an order for two rubens. One corned beef and 1 pastrami. The Corned Beef Reuben was made correctly. The pastrami Reuben was not. There was no Russian dressing at all on the pastrami Reuben and all the sauerkraut was only on half the sandwich. They included a pickle with the corned beef sandwich and no pickle with pastrami. It seems to me if your charging $20 for a Rueben there should be some quality control in making it. Maybe they were having a bad day.

Update 2025: Food was awesome! Very delicious food! I will definitely come back if again if I get the chance. Portions sizes are amazing and the staff was very nice. You will not regret eating here! :D 2024: Food was pretty good

Went here for a lunch with a co-worker, based on great reviews. The Good: Service was fast and efficient, food delivered quickly, glasses refilled promptly. The place had plenty of patrons. A bit too dark, maybe, but lively. The Bad: Food. I had a custom omelet with onions, green peppers, and home fries. The omelet was tasteless, with a rubberized texture. The vegetables were hardly there. Home fries tasted like they were cooked 2 days ago and just reheated. The only meal element that tasted good was a whole wheat plain toast. This place has so many 5 star reviews. What am I missing? Maybe I ordered a wrong dish? Not sure what went wrong, but I do not feel motivated to give the place another try, sorry.

Of the two occasions I've visited, I've sat at the bar looking into the kitchen. Not only is the menu full of delicious items, but the classic diner design and booth layout always makes the space feel inviting. What especially impressed me was how fresh the ingredients are, such as the farm fresh honey and the homemade applesauce. Do not sleep on the apple sauce 🍎👏🏾

Had the Sausage Egg and Cheese bagel sandwich. So good - definitely getting it again. Not on the menu. You have to ask for it

They have good pastrami. What the world need now - is more pastrami The service was spot on. I just hate strip malls - but for these guys - willing to overlook it.

Stopped in during holidays Ordered matzo ball chicken soup as best around in my book. Added extra ball Monte Cristo sandwich was good. Pickle always good, potato salad done if best around . My issues was service... Waitress seemed preoccupied talking loudly or deafening yelling across counter in front of me... Wasn't an ambiance filled lunch... She didn't give me silverware set up until asked, Then Monte Cristo comes with cranberry side vs maple syrup? Had to wait til she got done talking with other waitress about issue of employees touching personal property and management issues?? Then adjective for maple syrup Then image usage cellphone in front of me talking to family member of what to pick up and arguing over what donut flavors? WTF at this point... I'll write off as bad day or pre holiday preparations for the holiday function the next day I heard... the kitchen guy was told to put aside some memosas for the waitress as she was going stop back in for the party . I can't argue about food Service I can ignore ad was amusing to see ; hope other patrons less tolerant than I will endure. Charging 2 bucks for what was a nice past treat of stale bagel chips ... petty and should go back to free as minimal if any cost to slice up stale bagels rather than dumping ... wad's competition differential and help appease customers to munch on for slow service during busy times

The food was delicious but the amount of fried haddock on my sandwich was the size you'd give a toddler for lunch. The Knishes were cooked perfectly and the French fries were excellent. The service was also excellent.

The weather here was awful so I decided to order using Uber eats. I ordered a cold Corned Beef Sandwich on Dark Rye with Chips. It comes with a half sour pickle. I also ordered their herbed cream cheese with bagel chips. The food was delivered in record time and the driver was great. The food was packaged properly. I've also eaten at the restaurant many, many times. There is small counter seating and then ample table seating like a cafeteria with some booths. I will say the tables are very close together. The food is delicious not overly big like some delis. I realize everything has gotten expensive but for $19.00, I was expecting more than 6oz. If you want anything on it like onion, cheese etc it's extra. The better surprise was the bagel chips with herbed cream cheese for $5.00 delish and a bargain! The menu is extensive with lots of Jewish offerings.

Delicious food. We had an avocado toast with smoked salmon on gluten-free bread, a Rueben sandwich on dark rye bread and coconut macaroons. Everything was perfectly done and delicious.

First visit, 3 of us enjoyed our corned beef and pastrami sandwiches. Each comes with a pickle and a side. The fries were excellent, the potato salad was bland. Nice fresh bread, pleasant server. Bathrooms can be an issue (3 single seaters, creates a wait at lunch time)

Great breakfast/lunch joint! Service is pretty good too!.. that Chicken and Pancake is DANGEROUSLY DELICIOUS! Also recommend their Boston Cream Pie!

Sunday morning, lazy day, why not go get some potato pancakes? Seated rather quickly, but the place was already jumping. Pictures on the wall of famous people. Loud conversations. Fried crispy potato pancakes, side of chicken sausage. Hot coffee! So good! Love coming here. So many choices!

Food was really bad- wierd taste and overcooked. I got a club with chicken- chicken was about 1 inch thick and hard as breaking rubbed. yuck. hard to chew and a weird taste like something else was on the griddle with old oil. also got hot dog, veggie wrap, and a bagel. everything was bland and not great. service was bad too- they forgot to bring us two of our orders. when we asked about it, only 1 other order was brought. we just gave up on the other. they also made a mistake on the check (in their favor)- it was corrected but still not great. this place really sucks

After a trip to Boston, lunch at Zaftigs in Natick on the way home sounded good. In a strip mall, Zafigs is a Kosher style deli. There are both booths & tables . Interior is nice, clean and comfortable. Service was good. We ordered deli sandwiches - corned beef & pastrami. Lots of meat and served with fried & a half sour pickle. When we asked for more spicy mustard, server brought it over quickly. Price was decent - compared to a deli that we go to in Vernon Connecticut, it was pretty reasonable and the sandwiches were bigger. Perhaps more competition in the Boston area keeps the prices lower.

Ordered $19 Rueben sandwich. $3.50 Diet Coke. For $19 the sandwich should cover all the bread. And it should be good quality meat that isn't chewy and full of gristle. The pickle was good. Do not recommend especially based on prices for lunch. $28 with tip!

Bone in my hash. Tiny serving size. There wasn't much hash at all. No butter offered on dry toast. Potato pancakes were over cooked and hard. Service was spotty. We never got forks and knives until we asked. Food took a long time to come out. Ambiance was fine.

Frequent visitor here. Great brunch option The zaftig combo is the perfect sampler of their more traditional items I love the smoked fish plate - so fresh For sandwiches - anything with pastrami is highly recommended Omelettes are huge - you can't go wrong!

Was there a while ago, I ordered a corned beef sandwich. My guest also ordered a lean corn beef sandwich. My sandwich was very fatty. Well I guess lean corn beef was also fatty not as much for dollar more. The best part of the meal was the coffee and the Blondie brownie. Not sure if I'll be going back. Service was also very good..

Bit of a wait but service was good. the food was tasty and came out pretty quickly. Sourdough toast and strawberry butter was fantastic. the decor was top notch and loved the electric vibe.

The friendliest most welcoming business establishment I have entered in 10 years. Made to order perfectly., no complaints! Absolutely delicious! The staff makes one feel right at home. Not an awkward glance or phrase encountered.

I can't hear on a random Saturday afternoon when we decided we didn't want sushi. Haven't been here in quite a while. It hasn't changed. And that's a good thing. The paragraph Happys coffee was nice and hot, I water bath class, constantly field as needed. We got knishes. One meat one potato. Flavorful and wonderful, I'll be at a little on the small side for me. But very light and not. We both ordered Reuben sandwiches. I got mine with coleslaw. He got his with fries. Again, super flavorful just the right size and I don't even know how to explain that they didn't taste heavy? Even the coleslaw was light and airy. The waitress gave us a little surprise bit of potato salad, cause hubby had mentioned he liked it, but didn't order it. Her name is Julie . She's a true gem for the company. We will definitely be back as soon as we can.

Awful rubbery turkey. Wait staff was overworked and testy. Falafel was undercooked, turkey "like rubber" with tons of gravy with no return option. Having no options as the wait staff was/seemed tired/testy added to a costly waste of my time and money!. Pleezze go to CROWN if you want good Yiddish Food.

I used to love Zaftigs, but sadly, it's not the same anymore. My recent visit was incredibly disappointing. To start, items were completely forgotten from my order. The food that did arrive was either cold or, worse, literally frozen in the middle! The only redeeming dish was the soup, which was delicious, but everything else felt rushed and lacked the comforting soul Zaftigs used to be known for. Also, can we talk about the temperature? It seemed like no one cared that the food was barely approaching room temperature. And please, Zaftigs, bring back the free bagel chips and spread! It's the little things that made the place special, but now, even that has disappeared. In summary, if you're craving warm, comforting food, you might want to look elsewhere.

Absolutely terrible. Something very very crunchy stone like in the corned beef sandwich and the corned beef was not very good either and a hair in the potato salad was the last straw. Not going back Ever.

Great rapid service, excellent deli food Prices are very reasonable. Have eaten here for years.

In the area for a short stay and ended up going to Zaftigs a couple times! Great food, tremendous service, clean and welcoming. Chicken & Pancakes dish was a great hit at our table. The homemade corn beef hash was tasty. Looking forward to visiting again.

I've been eating at Zaftigs for years. My favorite things to get are 1. the grilled banana bread - always start with that 2. The rough rider omelette - corned beef 3. The reuben sandwich I never go wrong with those. They used to give bagel chips when you were seated but doesn't look like they still do. That's too bad. Service is friendly and quick. Restaurant isn't much to look at but nothing bad enough to take a star away.

Allow me to set the scene: Me, hungry and about to be very HANGRY if I didn't get a small-but-delicious something to eat at 11:50am before a meeting. I expected a great little snack of some sort - I didn't even care if it was sweet or savory - and asked what kind of cookie one jar was? Bored-looking girl behind the counter (April 13th at 11:50) told me it was sugar, and kind of stared at me after that. Not sure why, it isn't as if I was going to reach up, grab the entire jar of sugar cookies and run out the door. Decided to get one since I wasn't up for a chocolate chip cookie on an empty stomach, she tossed it in a plastic bag and said nothing during the entire transaction. Once I got back in my car, I took a big bite expecting some kind of deliciousness and all I got was...... a mouthful of cookie that tasted as if someone forgot to add enough sugar and vanilla!! So much for a snack, and at that point I became quite HANGRY!

Nice people- good food. Probably 15% too expensive but prices at restaurants seem to be outlandish now so ok.

This is a review for their corned beef hash - the best I've had in a long time. Usually hash is mush, but here you can see - and taste and feel - the individual ingredients. That's what hash is supposed to be like and rarely is. Topped with three poached eggs... Beyond that, this is a nice place. I've been there twice. Good service. Good iced coffee. Good home fries. Very expensive. I tried their potato pancakes and was disappointed. They were very heavy and a bit dry.

Got the chopped liver appetizer- it had no flavor. How can chopped liver have no flavor? Also, had a potato knish- it was tiny. Tasty but not much for $4.

It seems like a cozy family friendly diner. We tried the potato pancake, knishes, corned beef hash, challah french toast, matza brei, eggs empire, and coffee. It was a lot for two of us! The wait staff is very friendly. Cozy location! They will refill your coffees. I would recommend to try this diner and return. There is plenty of parking.

I love Zaftigs in Brookline and was excited to know that they had one just next to my house. Favs: Latke Piccata Knish Potato Pancakes Sweet Noodle Kugel Homemade Knishes Cheese Blintzes Lucky they have an appetizer platter that had all my fav dishes.

This review is only for the bagels they sell at this location because they are not the same bagels as they sell at their Brookline location. The ones sold here in Natick are not bagels, they are bread. They are pathetic. What a sad realization when I got home after getting a dozen. They are not even made at this location. Yuck.

Made a special trip to Zaftigs yesterday as I used to live the area and found myself close - was craving good chopped liver and lox and bagels. Well, one out of three was edible. The bagels come from a third-party delicious. The chopped liver was grainy and a very strange consistency, threw it away . The side of lox was all dried out and smelt terrible threw it away too . Very disappointed and a big waste of money .

Knish. Check. Best ever, seasoned chopped beef, light breading. Did u say pastrami? Want it lean? Want it full flavored? Want it on cissel bread? Yes you do. Get it with the coleslaw. Enjoy the half sour pickle. Service was great.

Meet here since it was the half way point for both parties and across from the Natick mall. Love the decor. It was actually larger than I expected once we we went indoors. Plenty of parking as it is located in a shopping plaza across from the mall. It was busy but we were able to get a table fairly quickly inside. They have outdoor dining as well but it was getting a little too warm out do we opted for indoor dining. Food portions were decent. Love that we came around 11 and had option to choose breakfast or lunch items. The menu options had a variety to choose from. 3 of us choose lunch items and the other 2 choose breakfast items from the menu. Our server was friendly and attentive. We had a overall great experience and even had left overs for later.

Ordered two sandwiches. I know corned beef has a good amount of fat on it, but the corned beef on my two sandwiches contained more fat than meat. Very disappointing.

Overall: OK, not sure if I would go out of my way to return. Service is warm and friendly. Half-sours are good. Portions a little smaller than expected - certainly not large enough to split with a second person. During peak hours, it can be difficult to flag a server down. Bottomless coffee is $3.95, which is quite expensive when nobody refills your cup

The service here is very good, with attentive staff ready to upsell but not annoyingly. The knishes are delicious, flaky buttery and fluffy. The cheese blintzes gooey and smooth. The matzo ball soup wasn't my favorite...it did not have the level of flavors I would have expected after the knishes. I do go back though!

We were able to get a table fairly quickly on a Saturday morning which was nice. They don't have any nondairy coffee creamer options that I could tell. I ordered a veggie burrito and realized after I left that I got something different. I was too tired to notice it was wrong but I will say that I barely touched it and ate what was left of my kids meal and the wait staff didn't ask me if anything was wrong with my food. The meat burrito I got didn't have a lot of flavor in it and there was way too much cheese. If you like cheese you'd like this burrito though you might want to add a little salt and pepper. The home fries were gross. Worst home fries I've ever had unfortunately. The pancakes I had were delicious and the meat knish was as well. The wait staff was nice and overall attentive. When I go to breakfast I expect it to be at least as good as what I make at home and this didn't hit the mark. I don't think I'll be back.

First time trying Chopped Liver in my life. It did not have strong flavor like Liver Pâte or Liverwurst. I had it on a bagel with a side of potato salad. It was very filling with a total of approximately 12:50 USD. Service was very attentive, and professional.

It would be nice if the staff used gloves to handle food. Such as potato knishes. The staff however are very friendly

This place has gone really down hill unfortunately. We walked inside and it smelt like someone had recently vomited it was so off putting. Our waitress was super rude and the food was pretty bland. I've been eating at the Brookline Zaftigs for over 15 years and this location is just super disappointing.

Ordered takeout for a weekday lunch. Meal was just average. A quart of matzo ball soup, had only two regular size matzo balls. Soup was good, tasty not too salty, but at other delis you get one large ball in what is probably like 8 oz of soup in a standard bowl - so a quart size plastic container should have more than 2 matzo. Had a lean corned beef on rye with a side of slaw. Sandwich was a bit small for the price, taste was fine, but clearly not a photo the deli would want on their menu. I know costs are up, but don't pinch an oz here and there and expect good reviews. Clearly, not a New York deli and they need to try harder, before they are just part of history. Sorry - I should have taken photos to show the soup and the sandwich combo. Will try another place in the future.

NOT DISABILITY ACCESSIBLE We've eaten at this place before and never had cause to complain, but last weekend we took my mother-in-law to visit. She has dystonia, a muscle disorder in her hands and arms. She cannot lift a cup steadily and needs to drink with a straw. The restaurant would not give her a straw. I asked to speak to the manager to clarify why that could possibly be the case. Apparently, the owner made a unilateral decision that no straws of any type were to be kept on the premises. I told her that not giving straws for environmental reason might make sense for the average customer, but some customers needed the disability aid. She told me that she knew this, and the owner had gotten these complaints before, but he would not budge. Absolutely unacceptable for a restaurant to refuse to make a cheap, trivial concession to guests with disabilities and physical limitations. We will not be returning.

This is one of my favorite breakfast places in Natick. First of all, the menu is 10/10, they have so many options and so much authentic and yummy high quality food. The latkes are amazing, the eggs benedicts, omelettes, avocado toast, all so good. They also have the BEST FRIES!!! I am so picky about my fries and I love these, they have such good seasoning and are crispy. To top it off they have a lot of lunch options as well. If you're a pickle fan you will definitely want to get one if their HUGE in house made dill pickles.

Friendly service. Staff wear fun T-shirts. I feel this place's reputation is based on marketing ( like those t shirts) and hearsay. Not clean. We were in at opening time. Generally this is when restaurants are cleanest. Even the obvious glass booth partitions were disgusting. Food- I ordered challah French toast. It looked and tasted like thick white bread fried in pan. The inside was white and dry. No sign of egg. The syrup is not real maple. No clue how the reviews are positive. As I said; marketing and repeating a reputation. I witnessed a Staff behind counter who serves food, put hand in hair, and nose.

We were craving beef knishes. Picked up a few and some noodle kugel. The knishes were strange. And off-putting. We used to frequent the Brookline location often. Let's just say thanks for the memories. The kugel smelled like a ripe lunchbox...almost pickly. Tossed it all. I guess the saying is you can't go back. And we won't. Bittersweet memories.

Just because you serve pastrami, corned beef, knishes and such should not allow you to call yourself a Jewish style deli or even a "comtemporary" one. The food must also be good. It must be edible. My sister, her husband and I were in Boston for a funeral. We Googled best 10 restaurants in Natick and this deli was on the list and only a 5 minute drive from our hotel. There is nothing much positive to say. We ordered a three-piece potato pancake appetizer. I don't know what is was but it was not a real potato pancake. They appeared to be made from mashed potatoes, were very thick and not at all tasty. The applesauce, which came along with it was pink (orange?) in color but my sister said it tasted fine. My BIL ordered the two hot dog platter. The dogs were from Pearl Meat Packing. There is no Jewish deli in the Continental U.S. that serves hot dogs from this company. Big, big red flag and the taste was not good. The waitress (Jackie, I think), was absolutely terrific and provided superior service but could not even tell us if the dogs were all beef or a combo of both pork and beef. Any Jewish Deli should be serving all beef dogs. My sister and I had a corned beef and pastrami combo on rye. I had one bite and refused to eat any more. She at about a half of hers. The meat was tough, chewy and completely tasteless. The knishes were obviously frozen and microwaved and awful as well. When I asked about the worthless pickles, the waitress said they ran out of their regular pickles but failed mention it because she said she didn't think it mattered. I was expecting sours and half-sours but got dill pickles and not good ones either. This is a Jewish Deli for crying out loud. Pickles matter!!! To their credit, they took my sandwich off the bill and offered me a substitute dinner but I would not dare. I ordered a bottle of rasberry lime rickey which is their in-house brand. Tasted so sweet, it needed to be club soda'd down just to be able to drink it. All in all, I would have to say this may be the worst deli in the U.S. If you go there, go at your own peril but since taste is individual, make up your own mind.

Still so happy this place is around! They've done something new with their potatoes and I love it! They seem crispier, fresher and I love the green onion & cheese sprinkles...at least I think it's cheese? Same yummy wheat bread and great location for breakfast/brunch! They also have yummy desserts...cupcakes, brownies, cookies and my favorite, the Congo bar!

I'm glad to see Zaftigs still thriving. they now have seasonal outdoor seatings if you want to support them but we're still weary about indoor seating. The staff are still just as friendly and prompt as they were during my very first visit. Please consider visiting this fine establishment if you haven't already. Like my review and want to see more? please consider nominating me for Yelp elite!

One off my favorite place for breakfast! Usually I order takeout, however sometimes I seat dinner in and the service has been great plus is very clean with a funky pictures on the walls making the place unique! I recommend !