J’s Deli is back in business on El Paseo, serving up New York-style pastrami Reubens, matzo ball soup and bagels from a new storefront on the east side of the strip near the El Paseo Hotel, more than a year after its original Highway 111 restaurant shut its doors.
The deli describes its comeback simply: “Same deli, same attitude, new space on El Paseo,” according to j-sdeli.com. The new location sits near the Larkspur cross street, and the business is run day to day by founder Jay Rubenstein and General Manager Cristian Benavides, per the same source. The Desert Sun took readers inside the new space this week, giving Coachella Valley diners their first real look at the rebuilt deli.
Rubenstein founded J’s Deli on a foundation of classic comfort food, building what palmdesert.com describes as a passionate local following around New York-style staples including bagels, pastrami Reubens and matzo ball soup. The original full-service restaurant on Highway 111 closed permanently in June 2025, the outlet reports, before the brand announced plans for what it called “The Next Chapter: Reopening Fall 2026 on El Paseo.”
A New Address With Old Roots
The new restaurant is listed at 73655 El Paseo, Palm Desert, CA 92260, according to palmdesert.com’s reporting. The space J’s Deli first opened in back in 2022 was itself a historic Palm Desert site, as The Desert Sun reported at the time. That original restaurant spanned 7,500 square feet at 74-225 Highway 111 and included a 1,500-square-foot covered patio outfitted with misters, heaters, televisions and a bar window, per the same Desert Sun account.
Patch previously reported that the Jewish American deli opened in 2022 at that historic Palm Desert site off El Paseo before its closure last year.
From Deli Counter to Grocery Shelf
Even after the Highway 111 restaurant closed, J’s Deli didn’t disappear from local kitchens. The brand pivoted into what palmdesert.com calls a massive wholesale success story, built around its J’s Deli Famous Bagel Chips line. A bagel chip recipe that started in the restaurant’s kitchen became a hit of its own, now sold at Jensen’s, Gelson’s and Bristol Farms, according to j-sdeli.com.
That wholesale run helped keep the J’s Deli name alive in local grocery aisles during the more than a year between the Highway 111 closure and the El Paseo reopening.
What's on the Menu and When to Go
On the food side, the deli’s offerings include an Asian Chicken Salad and a Cobb salad, according to its location and hours page. J’s Deli has also announced that its dinner lineup is officially open, with select dinner items available Wednesday through Saturday starting at 5 p.m., according to a listing on order.online.
The same listing shows the deli at 73655 El Paseo offering pickup and delivery ordering. Its current hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
