I live in LA but I have never been to Canter's. I've always wanted to go but there are other similar delis in LA that are good (Langer's and Brent's come to mind) and one of my friends swears that it sucks.
Resigning myself to the fact that I probably will never go to Canter's in Los Angeles, I elected to hit the Vegas outpost in Treasure Island before I headed out of town. We showed up at about 4 in the afternoon so it was a short line and just a few people in the dining room. The ordering system is simple. You stand in line and order what you want, and then you are given a gigantic playing card to display at your table so the server knows where to take the food.
Like I said, I've never been to the one in LA but I'm willing to bet that it looks nothing like the outpost in Vegas. It's very futuristic with multiple TV's on the walls so you can watch your favorite sporting events while waiting for your food. Not that it really matters because we got our food literally 5 minutes after we ordered.
I don't think the prices are all that expensive. A similar sandwich in Los Angeles will cost at most 1-2 dollars less and a similar sandwich in New York will cost close to $20. I elected to get a combo meal which includes a pastrami sandwich, side of fries, and a soda for $17. I wasn't that hungry so I was hoping they weren't as big as the ridiculous sized sandwiches you would get if you were eating at the Carnegie Deli in the Mirage. Although the sandwiches were bigger than the normal, they were still not THAT big. It was perfect for an average glutton like myself.
Unfortunately I let my friend do the ordering while I sat down at a table, and he got me the pastrami sandwich on white bread rather than the requisite rye. No biggie though because the sandwich was good! The bread was soft and the meat was juicy. The bottle of deli mustard that is on every table really has a great kick to it. The fries were perfect too although I didn't eat many of them due to the size of the sandwich.
Overall, my experience was great. I might have to check out the one in LA because I would definitely go back to the one in Vegas.