Crescent Moon
The Original Reuben Sandwich
As legend has it, the Reuben was created at a poker game in Omaha’s Blackstone Hotel in the 1920s. Reuben Kulakofsky was one of a group of men who regularly played late-night poker with hotel owner Charles Schimmel. Each time, they would save a few nickels and dimes from each hand and call down to the kitchen for a midnight snack of meats and breads. Kulakofsky came up with a sandwich everyone loved so much the hotel owner put it on the regular menu, calling it The Reuben.
Today, Omaha's Crescent Moon Alehouse—located across the street from where the Blackstone Hotel stood—serves up a reuben using the original recipe that's heralded as one of the nation's top sandwiches. The corned beef is so perfectly seared and tender, it's as close as you'll get to the original without a time machine.
