Who Really Invented the Reuben Sandwich? The Evidence Might Surprise You.

Who really invented the Reuben sandwich? In 1934, the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska listed it on their main dining room menu for forty cents which is the earliest known written record of the Reuben anywhere. But the origin story involves a late-night poker game, a New York City deli owner, a Charlie Chaplin leading lady, and a waitress who entered a national sandwich contest in 1956. Today I'm recreating the Reuben from scratch with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and homemade Thousand Island dressing on grilled rye. In 2016 Elizabeth Weil wrote an article for Saveur Magazine about her grandfather Reuben Schimmel, and she laid out a verifiable paper trail to the origins of the Reuben Sandwich. The 1934 menu is held by the Douglas County Historical Society. #ForgottenRecipes #FoodHistory #Nostalgia #ReubenSandwich #omaha