The Biggest Taunt in Midtown

I guess it has been a while since I was on Seventh Avenue in the mid-50s, because I hand't notice that Ben Ash Delicatessen has changed it's neon sign. The old one had been kinda ugly and the new version is a big improvement. It's also much more amusing, because it contains an elaborate, long-winded dig at the more-famous Carnegie Deli, which is located right across Seventh.

Under "Ben Ash Delicatessen" and "Cheesecakes*Bar*Takeout," was this open question in slanting capital neon letters: "No One Can Beat Us/Why Wait on Line When You Can Be Eating Now/Come on Over and Compare."

The taunt is obviously aimed at the Carnegie, which, in good weather, always has a line snaking out its door and down the avenue. There was no line outside Ben Ash. But then, if there was, they'd have to change the sign, wouldn't they?

As for why the Carnegie has a line and Ben Ash doesn't, maybe it has to do with customer reviews like these. My favorite is the one "An Experience Forever Painfully Seared Into Our GI Tracts."