Canter's Deli
Restauranteur and New Jersey transplant Ben Canter and his brothers opened Canter’s Deli ( originally called Canter Brother’s Delicatessen) in 1931 on Brooklyn Avenue in Boyle Heights. By the late 1940s, the migration of Jews from Boyle Heights to the Fairfax District was gaining steam. Boyle Heights establishments aimed at serving Jewish clientele such as Solomon’s Bookstore and Leader Beauty Shop were also relocating west, and in the process, were helping to transform Fairfax Avenue into a hub of Jewish commercial activity.
Following this trend, Ben Canter opened a second location on 439 North Fairfax Avenue in 1948, designed as a combination restaurant and bakery, offering lox, smoked white fish, cod, pastrami, corned beef, and other classic deli fares. Four years later, Canter's moved into a larger location at 419 North Fairfax Avenue and became one of the city’s first 24-hour eateries. After buying out the competing Cohen’s Deli in 1959, Canter’s fortified its reputation as they prime culinary anchor on Fairfax’s commercial strip. As one new arrival to the the Fairfax District recalled, “ the big draw, exactly one block from our house, was Canter’s Delicatessen. …[It]served as an all-day and late night gathering place for the neighborhood, for Jewish show business people, and for Jews from all over the Los Angeles area. "
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