Kosher Style

A “kosher” restaurant must be properly certified. Many delicatessens and restaurants called themselves “kosher style”—these restaurants are not kosher. The “kosher-style” delicatessens often serve kosher meats, but the presence of dairy products (for example, a “Reuben sandwich” of corned beef and Swiss cheese on rye) means that the establishment cannot be certified kosher. Delis often prefer to be “kosher-style”—it’s cheaper, and eliminating dairy products turns away many potential customers.
   
Kosher advocates claim that “kosher” is part of the Jewish religion and is not a “style”—something either is or is not kosher. The “kosher style” delicatessen has been advertised since at least 1922.
     
   
Wikipedia: Kosher style
Kosher style usually refers to food that is not Kosher, but is a type of food that could be produced as kosher. Generally, Kosher style food does not include meat from forbidden animals, such as pigs or shellfish, and does not contain both meat and milk. In some U.S. states the use of this term in advertising is illegal as a misleading term under consumer protection laws.
 
Jews who do not fully keep Kosher, but keep a degree of Kosher, usually not eating forbidden animals or mixing milk and meat, may consider themselves to keep Kosher style.
 
Some dining establishments, notably delicatessens, serve Kosher style food. This usually means that they serve traditional Ashkenazic Jewish foods, such as knishes, blintzes, matzo ball soup, and cold cut sandwiches. Almost always, when a restaurant calls itself Kosher style, the food is not actually Kosher according to traditional Halachic standards. Several notable restaurants in lower Manhattan fit into this genre, including Katz’s Delicatessen, Russ & Daughters. Canter’s restaurant in Los Angeles and Montreal’s Schwartz’s deli also fall into this category.
 
Jews who adhere strictly to the laws of Kashrut will not eat at Kosher style establishments. Furthermore, the fact that such establishments appear to be Kosher can be deceptive to Jews who are visiting an unfamiliar city and are looking for Kosher food. Furthermore, many of these establishments are also open on the Jewish shabbat for business when this is forbidden by Jewish Law.
 
In Toronto, several kosher style restaurants (Meyers, Shopsys, Colemans, etc.) now serve pork products such as bacon, ham, ribs, sausage, etc. in order to serve a larger number of customers. Some Kosher style hotdog restaurants such as Max’s Famous Hotdogs and The Windmill (hotdog stand) use pork and beef hotdogs.
     
Judaism 101
Kashrut: Jewish Dietary Laws
(...)
There is no such thing as “kosher-style” food. Kosher is not a style of cooking. Chinese food can be kosher if it is prepared in accordance with Jewish law, and there are many fine kosher Chinese restaurants in Philadelphia and New York. Traditional Ashkenazic Jewish foods like knishes, bagels, blintzes, and matzah ball soup can all be non-kosher if not prepared in accordance with Jewish law. When a restaurant calls itself “kosher-style,” it usually means that the restaurant serves these traditional Jewish foods, and it almost invariably means that the food is not actually kosher.
 
Food that is not kosher is commonly referred to as treif (lit. torn, from the commandment not to eat animals that have been torn by other animals).
 
AskMoses.com   
Is “kosher style” good enough, as long as I don’t mix milk and meat?
by Mrs. Dinka Kumer
Say ‘no’ to faux.
 
If your corned beef sandwich on rye with dill pickles does not have qualified certification as being Kosher, then it just does not cut the mustard, even if a rabbi blesses it a thousand times!
 
G-d gave us specific rules about what is kosher, and what is not. Not eating pork and not mixing dairy and meat are two of the basic rules, but there are many, many more details. Meat must be ritually slaughtered, salted and rinsed. Many foods must be inspected for insects. Only certain kinds of fish are kosher. And these are only a few examples!
 
Another major requirement for the kosher consumer is qualified supervision. This means that every food product on the market must be checked to ascertain that it does not have any non-kosher additives — these days, who understands what half the ingredients are anyway! This inspection is performed by properly trained individuals whose expertise is in identifying kosher and non-kosher foods. Even vegetarian, vegan, and organic food products must have reliable rabbinic supervision. Supervision also exists in kosher restaurants to guarantee that everything on the menu is 100% kosher.
 
While ‘kosher style’ may look and even taste the same, it does not have the same spiritual ingredient called ‘kosher,’ and is prohibited. ‘Kosher style’ has to do with the physical aspects of a food—look, smell, texture, taste. ‘Kosher’ has to do with the spiritual side of food—permitted or forbidden.
   
Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project
20 January 1922, The Jewish Criterion, pg. 22 ad:
Kosher Style Goods
(McCann’s Delicatessen—ed.)
 
Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project
17 April 1925, The Jewish Criterion, pg. 16, col. 1 ad:
Kosher Style
Hungarian Cooking
Meat Dishes
Dairy Products
Sandwiches
Home Cooked Meals
(Stark’s Restaurant—ed.)
 
5 January 1945, New York (NY) Times, “Delicatessen Store Groups Seek Means of Keeping Open,” pg. 17:
Mr. Schweller said the meat shortage was felt most keenly by the kosher and kosher-style delicatessens, of which there are 1,000 in the city, with the bulk of their business dependent on a few meat items.
 
Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project
26 February 1954,

, pg. 5, col. 1 ad:
WEINSTEIN’S CATERERS
Kosher style or strictly kosher, if desired.
     
Google Books
8 November 1971, New York magazine, “Kosher Catering,” pg. 52, cols. 1-2:
Although caterers mentioned elsewhere in this article do “kosher style” food, they are not as strictly kosher as the four that follow.
 
Google Books
To Be a Jew:
A guide to Jewish observance in contemporary life
By Hayim Donin
New York, NY: Basic Books
1972
Pg. 97:
The expression kosher-style is misleading and deceptive. Kosher does not stand for an ethnic way of cooking food nor for certain tastes. it is a regligious term with very specific regligious meaning. Its applicability is determined by set regligious criteria. Either a food is kosher or it is not. Wherever the term kosher-style is used, the inference is clear that, although the reference may be to favorite Jewish dishes, they are not kosher.
   
Google Books
Ham—Kosher Style!
By Samuel P. Levine
Published by Levine
1979
 
6 March 1983, New York (NY) Times, pg. G23:
Dining Out Guide
DELICATESSENDS and DAIRY RESTAURANTS
Following is a select list, based on a roundup by a Times critic, of “delis,” a New York Jewish-Eastern European institution, and the few remaining kosher dairy restaurants in the city. All of the following delicatessens are kosher style and a few are kosher as noted.
   
26 August 1983, New York (NY) Times, “Houston St.: Downtown Boulevard Revisited” by Ari L. Goldman, pg. C1:
Lower East Side
A block beyond Essex on Houston is Ludlow Street, where Katz’s Delicatessen stands. Katz’s has a healthy rivalry going with Henry’s a few doors away. Henry’s has a bright neon sign that says, “The Only Kosher Restaurant in the Vicinity,” an allusion to the fact that Katz’s, though kosher-style, is not kosher. Katz’s revenge was to hang a sign over its entrance that says “Main Entrance.”
   
DebbieSchlussel.com
IRONY: Obama’s “First White House Seder” Not Kosher
By Debbie Schlussel
Last week, I told you about Barack Hussein Obama’s plans to hold the first ever White House Passover Seder.
(...)
Reports say the food at the Pharaoh-Bama Seder was “kosher style,” which means not kosher. Whenever you see a deli or restaurant that says “kosher style,” it’s a misnomer. There is really no such thing as kosher style. Something is either kosher or it isn’t. “Kosher style” is a euphemism for “Jewish ethnic food.” So, at the Obama minstrel seder, they ate Jewish style food, which wasn’t even kosher.
 
Yup, Obama’s Seder wasn’t kosher. The irony speaks volumes.
     
(Trademark)
Word Mark MOTHER KLEIN’S KOSHER-STYLE
Goods and Services (CANCELLED) IC 031. US 046. G & S: Pet Food. FIRST USE: 19791010. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19791010
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 73239577
Filing Date November 19, 1979
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition February 16, 1982
Registration Number 1195321
Registration Date May 11, 1982
Owner (REGISTRANT) Mother Klein’s Kosher Style Pet Products PARTNERSHIP 1766 Windsor Rd. San Marino CALIFORNIA 91108
Attorney of Record Donald D. Mon
Disclaimer Without waiving any common law rights, the words “Kosher Style” are disclaimed apart from the mark as a whole.
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Cancellation Date December 23, 1988
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark SHAPIRO’S DELICATESSEN KOSHER STYLE SINCE 1905
Goods and Services IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Retail bakery shops, retail grocery stores and retail delicatessen services. FIRST USE: 20010501. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20010501
IC 043. US 100 101. G & S: Restaurant and delicatessen restaurant services and catering services. FIRST USE: 20010501. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20010501
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 26.15.20 - Polygons inside one another
26.15.21 - Polygons that are completely or partially shaded
Serial Number 76324687
Filing Date October 12, 2001
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition July 8, 2003
Registration Number 2781202
Registration Date November 11, 2003
Owner (REGISTRANT) Max Shapiro, Inc. CORPORATION INDIANA 808 S. Meridian Street Indianapolis INDIANA 46225
Attorney of Record Jay G. Taylor
Prior Registrations 1932439
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “SINCE 1905”, “DELICATESSEN” OR “KOSHER STYLE” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Other Data Registration limited to the area comprising the entire United States except for the state of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Concurrent Use Application Serial No. 74/304852.
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE