Tell me about your favorite deli food. (We're doing it!)

[not what you'd expect]

Good Morning everyone.

We finally got the green light and are a go on our deli. Wheeeeee.

I'm so excited and absolutely petrified. My husband and I had our first huge argument, so we got that out of the way. I'm amazed there was no blood. Seriously, it was that bad and over something so silly. I mean, paint colors should not lead to such a fight.

But no one is dead and today is a new day and all that.

So I ask you to share your favorite deli food with me for consideration on our menu.

We already plan to have your typical deli sandwiches, like Ham, Turkey, Pastrami, Corned beef?, etc. We hope to offer as authentic a Cuban sandwich as we can, considering the Cuban bread I grew up with is not available (that I know of) here in California. We have already put out some feelers with a local bakery to bake our breads.

We'll have chili and some soups. Salads, like potato and seafood. We're going to look into a small green salad cart type thingie.

Everyone we talked to yesterday is super excited about this little place being open again. And almost without fail, they expressed hope that we will carry the Chinese Chicken Salad that the previous people offered. We do have the ingredients for this salad pasted to the wall of the shop, but no instructions on what to do with them.
This isn't really a big deal with one exception. It calls for Ramen, but I don't know if it's supposed to be cooked or not. I guess we'll try it both ways, but if anyone here has an opinion on this, I'd love to hear it. Could save us a few dollars and some time in trying to figure it out.

Thanks in advance.

[Athena]

This isn't really a big deal with one exception. It calls for Ramen, but I don't know if it's supposed to be cooked or not. I guess we'll try it both ways, but if anyone here has an opinion on this, I'd love to hear it. Could save us a few dollars and some time in trying to figure it out.


Google "Ramen chinese chicken salad" - there's a bunch of hits. I've had what you described before, and though it's not my favorite, I can see how it'd be a hit.

Other than that, what I like in a deli is some variety - maybe a daily special or something like that, as well as a selection of your normal deli sandwiches. High-quality meat, cheese, and bread is essential. A good chef's salad is always nice. A selection of healthy along with unhealthy is great - some days I want fruit with my sandwich, some days I'm going to go with the cookie, if you know what I mean.

Also essential, if you're catering to a business crowd: be quick. We have one deli in my small town here that is amazingly good. They even roast their own meats, and they bring in cheeses not available anywhere else in town. Still, I rarely go there, because experience has shown me that one simply deli sandwich off the menu (ie, not personalized, just the "turkey and swiss" on the menu) takes 10-15 minutes to make if I go in when they're slow. If it's busy? 15-25 minutes. If I had that amount of time, I'd go to a sit-down place and get waited on.

[Lancia]

Don't sacrifice quality for quantity.

Where is the deli going to be?

[not what you'd expect]

Athena, thanks. I'll try that on the ramen and heed all of your other excellent advice.

Lancia, it's in Placerville, California. I am unsure about the rules on self-promotion, so I hope it's ok to say that much.

But yes, quality and cleanliness are our two most important goals.

[Nava]

Meatballs in tomato sauce, meatballs in green sauce, meatballs in mushroom sauce, fishballs in mushroom sauce, fish a la romana (clean, salt, "bread" them in flour and then egg, fry), different types of pasta salad, pasta bolognese, stuffed chicken thighs.

I see a theme there... no, seriously, the reason there's all those -balls there is that you make a complete meal just by adding some rice or pasta and the resulting dish is good for bringing to my office's two-microwaves kitchen.

[not what you'd expect]

Yum, I love meatballs. Thanks Nava, very good idea.

[Sigmagirl]

There was a deli near where I used to work that was very popular. They had sandwiches with "names" -- like the Dave, the Bob, the whatever. People liked that. And they had fabulous carrot cake, and always ran out. I asked "If you always run out of carrot cake, why don't you make more carrot cake?" But answer there came none.
Good, good pickles and high-quality chips.

[Miss Violaceous]

Some salads with ramen involve breaking up the ramen and soaking it in the dressing in lieu of cooking them in water. Others have it added as a topping and it stays crunchy. But if the salad was mixed up and held for a while, they would get soft anyway. You should ask the people askinng about it if the noodles were crunchy or not, and whether they just scooped it up or if they sprinkled the noodles on top at the last minute.

[Sattua]

Curried egg salad sandwich on toast. Yummmmm.

Also, a really bitchin' lox on bagel.

[twickster]

Moved MPSIMS --> Cafe Society, where the foodies hang out.

[silenus]

Really, really garlic-y pickles.

Real Russian dressing. Sauerkraut that will grow hair on your chest. Sandwiches that will feed an army.

These are a few of my favorite (deli) things.

[not what you'd expect]

Thanks for moving this to the correct forum. And thanks to everyone for all the suggestions.

Some very good ideas here that we had not considered. We did ask one lady if those ramen noodles were cooked, but since it's been almost two years since the place was open, she couldn't remember. I think miss V above may have hit on the right answer. The vinegary dressing probably softens the noodles.

Ok, off to go start prepping for paint.

Thanks again everyone.

[salinqmind]

This so reminds me of the deli in Sibley's Department store years ago, I used to take the office lunch order and bring back sandwiches, but mostly little containers of green salad. Plain lettuce with slivers of black olive, red cabbage, drenched in old-fashioned Kraft Italian dressing (that they revised since and it's not the same :()...The only thing I can say is, try to be quick at lunchtime, people just hate hate hate waiting a long time. I love delis! Good luck!

[chela]

Big turn off: Styrofoam containers - there are alternatives!

Will there be hot sandwiches too?

[Farmer Jane]

You need to have a proper Philly!

edit: I like food/sandwich names that have a play on words. Maybe SDMB can help with the menu naming? :D

[billfish678]

There was a deli I used to frequent. One thing they had that I really liked was a BLT. But it wasnt on sliced bread, it was on a "sub roll" of some sort. And unlike many BLTs you get, it was LOADED with bacon and the tomotoes that actually had flavor.

And I'll throw out a few near hearesy suggestions. A grilled cheese, hamburgers, and hotdogs. Yeah, these are more your fast food fair. But, IMO these simple items can be pretty damn good when you use quality ingredients and/or fancy them up a bit with unique breads and or interesting but tasty variations on the classic. Simple classics done right can be the bomb.

For that matter, since you will have a large assortment of meats, breads and other sandwichy stuff, it can't hurt to just experiment. The number of possible combinations is probably mindboggling. Maybe have an "experimental sandwich of the week", perhaps offered at a slight discount. Come up with them yourself or maybe take customer suggestions or make it a small contest even. If it gets good reviews, make it a regular item. Or pull a McRib and offer it for a limited time every now and then.

Oh, and like somebody else said. Cute or theme names (along with a good description that makes the mouth water) for various items never hurts.

And double Oh, I saw a Ramsey's kitchen nighmares last night. On thing he did, which seems so obvious, is to go around and see what ELSE is offered in the local area. Think about something folks might really like to have that you could offer that they can't get anywhere else. For example, Bob might be jonesing for a perfect BLT he can't get anywhere else so he will go to your place, and if your place is decent his other coworkers that don't care about BLTs, but like your other offerings might come along anyway.

[Dr. Girlfriend]

I'll second the pickles. It's hard sometimes to find a good, crunchy, garlicky pickle. And Cubans sound good too.

Any plans to offer any kind of dessert? Some cookies or something?

[Farmer Jane]

Will you serve beer?

Oh, and check out this link if you haven't already: The Best Sandwiches in America (http://www.esquire.com/features/food-drink/sandwiches) Now this article is all opinion and I could do without many of the sandwiches, but at least visiting some of the restaurant links could give you an idea of what makes a deli a Deli.

Mmmmmmm roast beeeeeeeeeeeeeffffffffffffff.

[DMark]

One easy trick that makes customers happy and come back, and is great for inventory, is what a deli I loved in NYC did: Use a huge ice cream scoop to dig in and put that big ball of chicken salad/tuna salad/egg salad etc onto the sandwich!
1. It looked like a lot!
2. Nobody ever complained you were "chintzy" that day with making the sandwich and every sandwich was always the exact same size.
3. The customer could smash it down, or eat some with a fork and ditch the bread.
4. It seemed so sanitary and proportional.
5. Once you figure out that bowl had, for instance, 25 scoops and you sell each for $4 then you can easily calculate how much profit is in each bowl. Also, you don't have to worry about if you, or your husband, or future employees are giving too much or too little.

As far as favorite sandwiches - Capriottis makes a capistrami sandwich that is great.
They throw the pastrami on the grill, get it nice and extra warm/hot, then throw on provolone cheese and let it just melt until it is soft. That is all scooped up, put on a long sub bread, add Russian dressing and top with a layer of cole slaw. It is excellent and one of their biggest selling sandwiches.

And speed is of the essence - when you only have a short lunch break, the last thing you want to do is stand in line for 3/4 of your break. So make sure everything is ready to go and you have a good conveyer belt system in place - one takes the order and money and the other is whipping up the sandwich. Throw in a "free" bag of chips - let them pick which kind.
Oh, and offer those small, individual containers of cottage cheese. Those on a diet appreciate the simplicity of it, and some like it as a side dish.

[delphica]

A really good tuna salad, maybe something that makes yours distinctive from other delis nearby.

[Sandra Battye]

What I love is a roll that is dipped- crusty sourdough or French roll dipped in au jus- and piled high with meat (and maybe cheese). See Tommy's Joynt in SF or Philippe's (http://www.philippes.com/) in LA. They aren't available everywhere and there has to be a reason, but I'd go out of my way to get one.

[Swords to Plowshares]

German potato salad. With bacon. I can't get enough of it.

[billfish678]

Thinking about it some more I am going to suggest you watch every Gordan Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares you can find. For that matter, pretty much every cooking/resteraunt/dinner show thats out there. If you don't have satellite or cable get it just so you can watch these shows. I mean, you are investing a good bit of money in this right? Some chump change and a couple hundred hours of food service education can't hurt. Yeah, these shows are drama ed up, but I think there is also a lot of practical advice, wisdom, and "this is why this is bad/good idea" kinda stuff in there.

I don't know diddly about food or food service, but I am constantly amazed at some of the obvious to me stupid stuff people in the biz do (until a real expert shows them the way that is).

[Dr. Righteous]

Much of this is assuming you are going to have a grill:

My husband's most favorite sandwich to get at a deli is a hoagie roll split in 2 and made into garlic bread, then heaped with roast beef, topped with mozzarella cheese and thrown under a broiler to melt the cheese and heat the roast beef through a little.

Mine is fresh mozzarella (often just called "mutz") & roasted red peppers drizzled with balsamic. I've also seen this offered with the addition of prosciutto but I feel like that's guiding the lily since the delis near us make their mozz fresh multiple times per day. If I'm somewhere that does not make their own mutz I'll get a classic Italian sub with the multiple meats, mutz or provolone, lettuce, tomato and oil & vinegar. And if I'm somewhere where they don't do/are not strong on the Italian thing (rare around my neck of the woods) and I see some sort of buffalo chicken wrap I'll go for that.

I have no idea if you'll be doing breakfast but I am a huge fan of good breakfast sandwiches. Nothing better than a really well made bacon egg & cheese on a roll (not only good ingredients but the egg made to order properly) and some solid coffee. Add in a side of good hash brown potatoes (not greasy but crispy) and I'm good until dinner.

Good luck!

[Grey area]

I would kill for a reuben right now. I expect it's already on your menu though, since it's pretty standard for a deli.
The one sort of food I miss most from the States that I can't get in Korea is a proper sandwich. Subway ain't cutting it no more....

[jsgoddess]

Seconding the Reuben.

What I like in a deli? Convenience. Please don't make me jump through a million hoops, know the secret language, intuit exactly where to order, etc. There's a little grill Asimovian and I go to that says "Order Here" but you don't order there, you order with the grumpy cook behind the other counter. It says "Pick Up Here" but you don't quite pick up there, you pick up with the grumpy cook behind the counter.

You do PAY where it says order, and you do get napkins where it says pick up, but that's not the same!

[Bob Ducca]

Have some kind of sweet treats available... Ice cream (or gelato), rice krispie treats, brownies, etc... I know that with the deli in our building, there's always an afternoon rush around 3pm from people needing a sugar fix.

Will you have fancy coffee (espressos, etc)? That's a huge draw.

[Push You Down]

Curried egg salad sandwich on toast. Yummmmm.


Came in here to suggest this as well as a curried chicken salad. I'd have an old-fashioned chicken salad (DO NOT LET IT GET SOGGY!) on the menu as well at first and see which sells better and then go with that one.


Also remember you are a deli. I might sound great to have a wide variety and options for everyone... but ultimately keep it on point.

[TruCelt]

If you make sure to always have a tasty vegetarian option then every local office will begin to default to your store. A place near my old office made a super-lemony veggie-ful Vegan Tabbouleh that was out of this world. They added tofu but in tiny cubes so as to hide it from the texture snobs.

If you can claim a vegan option you're golden, although many will ask questions about separation during prep, so you'd have to be able to point to the little "Vegan" section of counter. Ditto a fish option for the Catholics on Friday and throughout Lent.

Mozzerella and tomato with fresh basil on a fresh roll is heaven. Or allow folks to build one from the "toppings" you have out Again, need for strict seperation of veggies from meats. Maybe a small shield in between to keep a hunk of chicken from hitting the sliced cucumbers.

Small cheap dessert gnoshes. I'd rather pay $1 for two bites of brownie with high-quality chocolate in it than $2 for a big pasty one.

Fill-your-own sodas and good cups. If folks want to keep the cup and walk around the office with it that's instant advertising. The waxed=paper ones are useless. The fill-your-own option helps keep the line moving.

A big pitcher of Ice water with small cups beside it. It makes me feel like a valued customer even if I'm a little broke and just buying a sandwich.

And as you build some capital, one of those counter-top chicken "broasting" machines that spins the chickens around and constantly bastes them int he drippings of the one above.

And a cheap option like grilled cheese for the day before payday.

Another thing I miss is "Turkey Thursdays" at one place I used to frequent. They'd roast up 2-3 actual Turkeys and put the meat on the by-the-pound salad bar. I spent fortunes there each week.

If you are selling alcohol, and want to increase evening traffic, one place I know declared the 17th of each month "St. Practice Day" (Except in March of course.) and sold a ton of beer and corned beef on those days.

Good luck!

[Mama Zappa]

A deli near where we used to live (Tripodi's, in Chapel Hill NC) used to serve a yummy muffuletta sandwich. I brought one to work one day and was astonished when a co-worker recognized it - I hadn't known that it was a traditional New Orleans dish (and he was from NO). Olive salad, plus meats on a round bread. Pretty easy to make, I'd think, since the olive mixture can be made in advance.

[Push You Down]

If you can claim a vegan option you're golden, although many will ask questions about separation during prep, so you'd have to be able to point to the little "Vegan" section of counter. Ditto a fish option for the Catholics on Friday and throughout Lent.


I'd argue-do some research on the local community. Are there any Vegans? Are there any Catholics? (There's one Catholic Church in Placerville)

No need to cater a population that might not exist.

[Dogzilla]

Well, if you don't have a huge market for vegetarian/vegan, at least try to have one honestly vegetarian soup each day. Don't let it be tomato bisque every day. And by "honestly vegetarian" I do not mean cream of something soup that is actually chicken-stock based and only has cream added. If you're going to call it "cream of [whatever]" soup, please make sure it's actually cream based. And your vegetable soup isn't BEEF vegetable.

I will follow a great soup to the ends of the earth. Bonus points if it's truly vegetarian. I'll eat there 3 times a week if there's always a veggie sandwich and a veggie soup and they're different every day. Nothing wrong with 95% of your menu catering to carnivores.

[Hampshire]

Knish please!

[Sally Mander]

Came in here to suggest this as well as a curried chicken salad. I'd have an old-fashioned chicken salad (DO NOT LET IT GET SOGGY!) on the menu as well at first and see which sells better and then go with that one.
I'll second this. Have the basic no-frills tuna salad, chicken salad and egg salad, but have "gourmet" options a couple of times a week. A deli near me offers chicken salad with either dill and slivered almonds, or with dried cranberries and slivered almonds. They're both incredible.

[hajario]

Don't get shitty pastrami and slice it thin.

[ZipperJJ]

Another vote for vegetarian options. I'm not a vegetarian but many of my friends are and the restaurant we frequent most has a mostly-vegetarian menu. A good vegetarian sandwich would get you plenty of business.

My favorite deli sandwich is either a good club sandwich or simply salami on rye with provolone. mmmm

[TruCelt]

Don't get shitty pastrami and slice it thin.

So, get good pastrami and slice it thin? Or also "don't" to slice it thin?

[silenus]

Or maybe get shitty pastrami and slice it thick?

[jacobsta811]

I love a good reuben.
Put down 1 vote for a small menu - focus on a few high quality sandwiches and not a million that suck. That's one of the things they harp on, on every episode of every food show known to man - Kitchen Nightmares, Restaurant Impossible, etc but it just ... doesn't... sink.. in for some reason. Even though the benefits are obvious since -> less inventory = less cost = fresher inventory = better tasting food in a virtuous circle. (vs more inventory = more cost = older inventory = crappier food = slower sales = even older inventory vicious cycle).

[TruCelt]

I'd argue-do some research on the local community. Are there any Vegans? Are there any Catholics? (There's one Catholic Church in Placerville)

No need to cater a population that might not exist.

I'd argue that Catholics aren't the only ones who will buy the fish option. They will, however, tell each other and make you their Friday regular spot if they can count on a good one.

I'm not even Catholic anymore but the training stands, and I appreciate seeing it. Plus I just like to have fish in my diet.

Oh! and steamed veggies. Have steamed veggies as a side offering. Borccoli and carrots, or green beans. Nothing fancy, they don't even have to be hot, just lightly steamed and available.

In short, make good nutrition convenient and they will come.

[Hello Again]

I love a good reuben.
Put down 1 vote for a small menu - focus on a few high quality sandwiches and not a million that suck. That's one of the things they harp on, on every episode of every food show known to man - Kitchen Nightmares, Restaurant Impossible, etc but it just ... doesn't... sink.. in for some reason. Even though the benefits are obvious since -> less inventory = less cost = fresher inventory = better tasting food in a virtuous circle. (vs more inventory = more cost = older inventory = crappier food = slower sales = even older inventory vicious cycle).

You can't say this enough times. Do NOT try to be a Jewish/Italian/Hispanic deli all at once. YOU WILL FAIL AT ALL THREE.

Focus on your strengths, on cuisine you personally really know and understand, and on a small, manageable menu. If you don't know it, don't sell it, or at the least don't sell it as the specialty of the house. For example, if you don't know why its bad to buy cheap pastrami and slice it thin.... don't worry about it. Just have regular Boar's Head pastrami on hand for whoever wants that, and don't claim to be a Jewish deli.

[lokij]

Consider curing your own pastrami and bacon. It's not hard and the difference it makes is incredible.

[longhair75]

I will chime in with the Reuben sandwich lovers.

[Cheshire Human]

A friend of mine owns a convenience store with a deli counter. One thing he does is try out things as a monthly special, and what doesn't sell well doesn't wind up on the regular menu (darn, there went the hot dogs I liked), but if it does sell well, you've got a real winner, like his Rib-Eye sub. I help out during busy times when he or his wife has to be away, and I probably make 2 of them for every 1 of anything else.

Oh, and I liked this liverwurst sandwich I got at a deli near a jobsite I worked one summer. Never seen one anywhere else. It's what I lived on for lunch!

[twickster]

I don't like sauerkraut, so don't care for Reubens -- but I love what is in some delis called a "special": coleslaw and Russian dressing. Make a ham and Swiss special on rye, and I am a happy, happy woman -- as long as I have access to somewhere to wash my hands (and face) after. (Properly done, this is a very messy sandwich.)

[Sally Mander]

I don't like sauerkraut, so don't care for Reubens -- but I love what is in some delis called a "special": coleslaw and Russian dressing. Make a ham and Swiss special on rye, and I am a happy, happy woman -- as long as I have access to somewhere to wash my hands (and face) after. (Properly done, this is a very messy sandwich.)

I've usually seen that called a Rachel. Same as a Reuben, but with coleslaw instead of sauerkraut.

[Proudest Monkey]

Good, fresh bread.

I'd prefer average fillings on awesome bread to awesome fillings on average bread.

[not what you'd expect]

Oh my, you guys are all so great.

So many good suggestions here. I'm going to study this a bit more tomorrow. I'm too pooped right now to do it justice.

We do have a simple vegan sandwich planned. A Reuben for sure. Pulled pork. We hope to get boars head meats since we know it's very good quality and a bakery that will do our breads fresh three times a week. Tuna salad and chicken salad too. I put carrots in my tuna. Yum. And we intend to be generous with ingredients. Hot sandwich's too. Hubby makes a good aus jus. I make a chili that is similar to Wendy's. We're having cornbread croutons to go with that
We have a couple of sweets, a pumpkin cookie and an apple cake, but that's about it. We are trying not to directly compete with our immediate neighbors. We watch a buttload of tv having to do with food and/or restaurants. I think we've learned a lot.

Anybody have favorite soups?

We're adding meatballs, Thank you Nava. Citizen Pained, thanks for the link!

Good Pickle brands are welcome if anyone has a favorite. I need to google Knish.

Thank you all again. I really can't express how grateful to you all I am. This is the best board in the world.

[congodwarf]

Kielbasa - grilled, BBQ, boiled - doesn't matter. It's all good and makes a great sammich (or not if they're watching carbs).

[longhair75]

I don't like sauerkraut, so don't care for Reubens -- but I love what is in some delis called a "special": coleslaw and Russian dressing. Make a ham and Swiss special on rye, and I am a happy, happy woman -- as long as I have access to somewhere to wash my hands (and face) after. (Properly done, this is a very messy sandwich.)

I ordered a Reuben at a local new restaurant recently. They brought me a sandwich made with turkey, ham, Swiss cheese, coleslaw and thousand island dressing on toasted sourdough. It turned out to be a tasty sandwich, but a Reuben it was not.

I grew up within walking distance of the Blackstone hotel in Omaha Nebraska. In 1925, Reuben Kulakofsky served his favorite sandwich to his friends at a high stakes poker game. The owner of the Blackstone was a player in that game. He put the Reuben on the menu in the dining room. The hotel closed in 1976.

[monstro]

Cookies are good. I don't go out for lunch, but occasionally I'll forage the streets for cookies to cure a late afternoon slump. For pre-packaged, I vote Linden Cookies (http://www.lindencookies.com/).

In addition to mayonnaise, you could make and offer a curry mustard spread. A cup of mayo, 1/4 cup of yellow mustard, 1 tbs of curry powder. It offers just the right kind of flavor and spice. I like it with chicken.

A nice simple side dish: marinated cucumbers. Didn't know about them until I moved to VA.

[jsgoddess]

Anybody have favorite soups?

Italian wedding. Cream of broccoli. Hot and sour. Avgolemono.

The better question is do I have a least favorite soup. :D

[mac_bolan00]

though i have visions of fantastic meat sandwiches, i'm always thankful i packed chopped egg with mayo. don't know why but chopped egg makes for a yummy pack lunch.

[Helena Handbasket]

Anybody have favorite soups?


Stuffed bell pepper soup. To. Die. For.

[Farmer Jane]

We've all mentioned coffee and the price of drinks, right? Any good deli these days has to have decent coffee.

[ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies]

Before I can offer any suggestions, I'm ethically obligated to ensure that you are going to use Best Foods mayo. Failing that, I may still be convinced in exchange for at least a vow that Miracle Whip will not ever be found within a 100 foot radius, along with perhaps a Doper Discount should we ever wander our way down to Placerville from Humboldt. :D

[stolatt]

I would like a deli with a variety of delicious soups. I would like chicken noodle with egg noodles, baked potato soup and stuffed green pepper soup. Trust me, I'd go there everytime I felt sick, needed comfort food or it was raining. I guess I am just a soup freak.

[Lamar Mundane]

My only piece of advice is to be flexible, and don't hesitate to drop an item from the menu/recipe if your customers aren't liking it, even if it's your Grandmother's recipe and everyone in your family loves it. A deli opened up about a half-mile from me a couple of years ago, and I was thrilled to have one close by. On any cold cut or Italian sandwich they put on a dressing that was a balsamic vinagrette, which would have been great on a salad, but just overpowered the sandwich. The balsamic vinegar was really strong.

I kept asking them to hold the dressing, but sometimes they or I would forget. It happened enough times that I stopped going there and went to another shop further away. One of the last times I went, I asked them to hold the dressing, and the counter help said "We should just drop that from the sandwich recipe, nobody likes it." They aren't open anymore.

[Chronos]

Also be ready, willing, and eager to put something together on the fly if a customer asks for it. Put it on the menu, even, listed as "build-your-own", or whatever.

And a variety of different mustards isn't a bad idea. Mustard keeps next best thing to forever, and some folks have strong opinions about it.

But me, I'll just be having a Reuben.

[MissSwitac]

What others have called a Special or a Rachael, we call it a Dinty Moore in my area. Corned beef with melted swiss, russian dressing and coleslaw on toasted rye with a few seconds under a broiler. ~drool~. It's my same order at every deli and some are better than others. The key to a great sandwich is quality bread. Don't penny pinch on bread. You can't have a great sandwich, no matter what's inside of it, if the bread is crap.
Good luck with the new business!

[Happy Lendervedder]

Pickle/relish recommendation: McClures (http://www.mcclurespickles.com/). Family owned and operated, and absolutely fantastic. They've got spicy and garlic options.

They were featured on "Best Thing I Ever Ate." I believe Ted Allen was the one featuring them.

[Johnny L.A.]

Remembered from MAD magazine:

Hello, Deli
This is Joe, Deli
Would you please send up a nice corned beef on rye?
A box of Ritz, Deli
And some Schlitz, Deli
Some chopped liver and a sliver of your apple pie
Turkey legs, Deli
Hard-boiled eggs, Deli
With tomatoes and potatoes you French fry, oh,

Please don't be late, Deli
'Cause I can't wait, Deli
Deli, without breakfast I will die!

[lavenderviolet]

Well, if you don't have a huge market for vegetarian/vegan, at least try to have one honestly vegetarian soup each day. Don't let it be tomato bisque every day. And by "honestly vegetarian" I do not mean cream of something soup that is actually chicken-stock based and only has cream added. If you're going to call it "cream of [whatever]" soup, please make sure it's actually cream based. And your vegetable soup isn't BEEF vegetable.

I will follow a great soup to the ends of the earth. Bonus points if it's truly vegetarian. I'll eat there 3 times a week if there's always a veggie sandwich and a veggie soup and they're different every day. Nothing wrong with 95% of your menu catering to carnivores.
This is pretty much what I came in here to say. As a vegetarian, I'd be a big fan of any place that had at least one decent vegetarian sandwich and an "honestly vegetarian" soup, even if the majority of the menu has meat.
Another nice veggie-friendly thing to do is to make sure that it's indicated on your signs if you're willing to make some or all of the meaty sandwiches vegetarian upon request. I feel more comfortable at places that explicitly state that they will do that for vegetarian customers.

[Nava]

Another idea:

the deli I buy all those -balls at has maybe 80% of their dishes which are "permanent" (different ones M-Th and F-S, since those are actually different markets - most people here are off on Friday afternoons so that lunch already counts as "weekend fare"), 10% which varies according to market (for example the fish a la romana: which exact fish depends on prices) and another 10% which changes.

They also mark dishes as "meatless", "vegetarian", "gluten-free" and "lactose-free" when it seems relevant (no need to mark the fish as 'meatless', but they'll mark the salads, and the fish a la romana, white sauces and cakes are gluten-free: they use maize flour, not wheat)

[not what you'd expect]

I left my charger at the store yesterday and my computer is not going to last long this morning without it. This is going to shorten the already decreasing amount of time I can spend here and I can tell you I'm not happy about it.

Just to touch on a few things. I promise no miracle whip. :0) First lunch for dopers is free, forget the discount!

I'm not a big fan of soups, so I really appreciate all those suggestions. We've decided to add a small portable green salad cart, which we had not planned on before.

We won't do fancy coffee because there are too many other places nearby that offer that already, but a decent cup of coffee with creams/sugars will be available. Fountain sodas and bottled teas, etc.

Did I miss a suggestion for a broccoli salad? I thought those were popular, but maybe not.

Crap, battery indicator is red. Have a good day you guys.

[lost4life]

Clearly mark the vegetarian options. My daughter's one of those (;)) and often has to search for the non-meat options on a menu.

Have a kids menu or offer kid size portions (half a sandwich, bag of chips and a small drink).

Check out Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, MI. They do sandwiches right and are considered one of the best delis in the country.

If your crowd is local businesses, time is a huge factor for lunch. When I would go out with cow-workers, if a place took too long, it was removed from our list of places to eat. Also, some businesses will let you advertise or leave menus in their break rooms in exchange for a small discount. The last place I worked had several thousand employees, and all the local places offered 5-10% off. Be proactive and approach them. You are offering a service that benefits their employees.

Make a really, really good sandwich and provide excellent, efficient service. Seriously. I eat out a lot and am amazed at how many businesses are struggling, yet offer mediocre food and bad service.

Please keep us informed of your adventures. I'll never do it, but I've always wanted to open my own corner pub (well, it doesn't have to be on the corner). I'm always interested in hearing other people's stories.

[Hello Again]

I ordered a Reuben at a local new restaurant recently. They brought me a sandwich made with turkey, ham, Swiss cheese, coleslaw and thousand island dressing on toasted sourdough. It turned out to be a tasty sandwich, but a Reuben it was not.

That's a pretty standard "Turkey Reuben" actually.

[Dogzilla]

I am a soup hound, so you asked for it. ;) These are from my own personal recipes, which I will sell you for a small fee. ;>)

Favorite, all time, hands down: Broccoli cheddar. With shredded carrots and dill. Lots of dill. And thyme & basil. No chicken stock.

Vegetarian Veggie.
Veggie version of white navy bean soup (no ham hocks).
Potato-Leek. With shredded spinach and shitake mushrooms.
Veggie chili. Lot's of veggies, chick peas, black beans, fake meat optional, preferably omitted.
Tomato bisque, but it MUST be served with a grilled cheese samich, no exceptions or substitutions. That's like, the 11th Commandment.
Chicken Noodle is always popular.
Mushroom Barley - no beef, just shrooms, toasted barley and veggies.
Black bean & rice.
Curried lentils & wild rice.
Squash/root vegetable soup with onions and apples -- should be savory with the tiniest hint of cinnamon. My favorite was something like pumpkin, turnip, summer squash, carrots, onions, & apples. Delish!

I can probably think of more.

Also, I have certain salad rules. In order for me to call a salad "good" it must contain at least:
•Greens, but absolutely, positively, under no circumstances do I enjoy a salad made with iceberg lettuce. Anything but iceberg. For the love of all that is green and crunchy.
•Carrots. I don't understand why it's so difficult to put carrots on salads, but it's surprisingly hard to find.
• Some form of nut or seed: walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, even peanuts. I like a crunchy thing in my salad and this helps jack up the protein a bit for the vegetarians.
•Some form of cheese: gorgonzola, sharp cheddar, feta, mozzarella, asiago, doesn't matter. This also helps jack up the protein.
•If you can add a bean or legume like peas or chick peas, that's another protein to balance out all the greens in the salad.

[Snickers]

...And to piggy back, 'round here Hello Again's "Turkey Reuben" is known as a Rachel. It was mentioned before, but around here, Rachels seem to sub turkey for the corned beef in a Reuben, but everything else remains the same (I think). I haven't seen a Rachel that's corned beef but with coleslaw instead of sauerkraut, as was mentioned above.

And just noticed - I dunno about the ham. Rachels around here don't have ham, I don't think. (I don't really know myself; I prefer the perfection of the Reuben so I've never ordered a Rachel.)

[TruCelt]

Another thought: Caramelized onions. (Those who hate the "c" word used this way please start your own thread!) ;-)

Each night before you shut down, put a big pile of onions, a couple of tablespoons of Safflower oil and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic into a crock pot and set it on "low". In the morning you will have a brown yummy mass that can be added to any hot sandwich on request. It's really amazing and makes the whole place smell incredibly good.

Which brings me to a more basic point - consciously address the smell that hits your customers when they walk in. You won't be baking your own bread, so it's not going to take care of itself. This + clean bathrooms factor higher than I care to admit in my restaurant choices. (lest I lose my "foodie" card.)

[gwendee]

What will your hours be? Are you focusing on breakfast or lunch? Will you have evening hours?

It's been more than a few years, but I've worked in several delis, from one in a gas station convenience store to a more high end place. I have all kinds of suggestions, but it depends on who your customers are.

I don't know anything about Placerville. Is your location near office buildings, or in a strip mall, or near a residential area? Sorry if you covered this, I got sucked into soup recipes. Will you want to follow the Clam Chowder on Fridays convention?

Do 300 middle schoolers walk by at 2:45pm? Those kids have money. Sell snacks. Get a gumball machine.

Will you have seating, or just carry-out? What's your kitchen set up like? Will you have a flat top? An oven? Or just microwaves.

How much room is in your salad case? I'd recommend keeping a fruit salad along with the savory salads. One place I worked sold a ton of rice pudding. Another place kept it, but rarely sold it.

(A lot of places around where I used to live called the RB on garlic bread that Dr Righteous described a Balboa. They are delicious, and now I want one, but they aren't known locally. May have to settle for a cheese steak, which is good, but not the same. Hmm, might have to go home for a visit soon.)

[Implicit]

We already plan to have your typical deli sandwiches, like Ham, Turkey, Pastrami, Corned beef?, etc. We hope to offer as authentic a Cuban sandwich as we can, considering the Cuban bread I grew up with is not available (that I know of) here in California. We have already put out some feelers with a local bakery to bake our breads.

To keep your menu small and your ingredients list manageable, limit yourself to one style of hot sandwich and one style of cold sandwich. Model your hot sandwich on the traditional Cuban sandwich using whatever bread works best in your sandwich press and offer other fillings with the same style: Cuban Reuben, Cuban Tuna Melt, Cuban Veggie, Cuban Ham and Cheese, etc. Then offer turkey, egg/chicken/tuna salad on another kind of bread (croissant or whole wheat roll) as your cold sandwich option. The roll can do double duty as an add on for those wanting soup or chili.

[tr0psn4j]

Reubens like a mother fucker!

[cmkeller]

Another thought: Caramelized onions. (Those who hate the "c" word used this way please start your own thread!) ;-)

Each night before you shut down, put a big pile of onions, a couple of tablespoons of Safflower oil and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic into a crock pot and set it on "low". In the morning you will have a brown yummy mass that can be added to any hot sandwich on request. It's really amazing and makes the whole place smell incredibly good.

This. My favorite sandwiches are always the ones where fried onions are an ingredient. I'm sure that the option to add them will be very popular.

[Push You Down]

That's a pretty standard "Turkey Reuben" actually.


Save for the ham, that combination is also called a Sputnik.

[Lynn Bodoni]

Generally, I get a grilled corned beef and swiss on rye, with mustard. Not your standard Reuben. I like Reubens, but the sauerkraut is generally too much for me. You really do need some awesome bread for your sandwiches, though. And though I'm an omnivore, there are times when I'm just in the mood for a vegetarian dish. I am weird, I like iceberg lettuce and don't like Romaine or the other darker greens, other than spinach. I think that they are just too bitter tasting.

If you're quick at making deviled eggs, that might be an offering. Only if you're quick, though, and you also plan to offer egg salad. Even the most skilled deviled egg maker will mess up some eggs, and you put the messed up eggs in the egg salad. Deviled eggs can really dress up a platter, too, if you offer platters.

Soups? I like chicken and rice best, closely followed by broccoli and cheese. I love ham'n'beans, but prefer to make my own. My daughter will travel quite out of her way in order to get a good French onion. And if you can, you should offer cornbread squares or muffins for your chili.

Please take a look at the handicapped access threads, and make sure that YOUR deli doesn't make it in one of those. This will be a big dealbreaker to many of your potential customers, if they are handicapped or go out with someone who is handicapped.

[grayhairedmomma]

If you're going to have a coffee station for people to add cream and sugar, make sure it is accessible by 2 or more people at a time. And preferably have it out of the way of other drinks and the order/pay lines.

There used to be a small deli in my office building who lured customers in after the lunch rush by making big, fresh baked cookies every afternoon. These were mass-produced, preformed frozen cookies (http://www.spunkmeyer.com/Our-Products/Foodservice-Products/Frozen-Cookie-Dough/Value-Zone-/Chocolate-Chip-Cookies---59300/), so nothing special. But they were warm and gooey, "only" cost a $1.25 and were a nice mid-afternoon treat. The staff used a small toaster oven to bake them so there were only about a dozen or so made everyday, but it was kind of fun to try and race down to get one before they were all snatched up. And if they were, you were already in the mood for something sweet so people would usually purchase something else instead. So a win-win for the deli owners.

This same place also used to have a small basket of hardboiled eggs by the register every morning. It was nice to stop in and quickly grab an egg, banana and a cup of coffee for breakfast sometimes. Again, I think they boiled a dozen or so per day, sold them for about 60 cents each, and were typically sold out everyday by mid-morning. Another easy way to make a few bucks.

Also, a basket of fresh oranges, apples and bananas. Some pre-made, pre-wrapped sandwiches, those little containers of hummus and crackers, yogurt are great for people who don't have time to wait for something to be made. You don't need a huge selection, just basic options so that people can get in and out.

If you're going to be in an office park, you might want to think about little things like this.

Good Luck!

[kelly5078]

My absolute favorite has always been Zingerman's "Stan's Canadian Hotfoot": Montréal smoked meat served warm, Switzerland Swiss cheese, hot mustard & New Mexico green chiles on Jewish rye bread. I just had one a couple weeks ago, my first in 25 years (Ann Arbor's been a bit out of my way since then), and I was in heaven.

[zoid]

I know it's been said before but for the love of GOD keep the place CLEAN!. Clean like you'd be willing to lick the counter on a dare.

And roast your own turkey. Buy breasts with the ribs and skin on, roast them, cool them, and slice them. Nothing says "I don't give a shit" like pressed turkey loaf.

And for slicers - get a Bizerba. They are worth every penny.

[Harborwolf]

...And to piggy back, 'round here Hello Again's "Turkey Reuben" is known as a Rachel. It was mentioned before, but around here, Rachels seem to sub turkey for the corned beef in a Reuben, but everything else remains the same (I think). I haven't seen a Rachel that's corned beef but with coleslaw instead of sauerkraut, as was mentioned above.

And just noticed - I dunno about the ham. Rachels around here don't have ham, I don't think. (I don't really know myself; I prefer the perfection of the Reuben so I've never ordered a Rachel.)In my deli, a reuben is corned beef, swiss, sauerkraut, and housemade thousand island (because I take my reuben seriously and commercial dressing is crap) on rye bread. I have to go commercial on the rye as well because my normal bread bakery doesn't use caraway seed. A rachel is a reuben with turkey instead of corned beef. That's it. Both sandwiches are equally popular overall, so if you honestly may as well do both.

As far as the dressing goes, if you can't find one you like on the sandwich, it's easy to make: sour cream, chili sauce, diced and blanched onion, horseradish, and salt/pepper. I add a bit of HP Sauce and a tasty local deli sauce to get mine to taste right.

And do not ask for cole slaw. Slaw has no damned business on a proper reuben.

A bit of background on the place I'm running now. We're known for our soups, with eight of them daily. Three constants (chicken noodle, chili, and a champagne cream of mushroom) and five rotating daily specials from a rather large list. We also have deli sandwiches (premade or to order), pizzas (commercial supplies there. Don't have the gear to make our own dough), cookies, and three cold salads in the case (a tuna pasta, a chicken salad, and a standard potato salad)

My best selling soup is my chicken noodle. Nothing else comes close. It's incredibly simple to make, and I go through a pot a day every day. All my other soups can do that from time to time, but the chicken noodle does it like clockwork with heavier sales during cold and flu season. I'd say it's a must for a deli. You'll know you've got it right if people come in to get it when sick or for a sick family member.

As far as the other soups, I go through a lot of chicken gumbo (with a good dark roux) and cheddar/ale soup (with a good ale. No cheap lagers). Chili is good, but a solid white chili will do better. You'll want a couple of vegetarian soups in the rotation. A tomato soup with a grilled cheese for rainy days. I do an italian wedding soup that flies out, but it's a pain to make (hand rolling 200+ meatballs takes some time) so it only comes out once a month. I've an assortment of spicy soups that I go through. They don't fly, but they've got a consistent following as you can't find a good spicy anything in my area.

The cookies are highly recommended. Keep it simple if you're going to make them. You can't go wrong with chocolate chip. A nice shortbread cookie can do pretty well too.

Another good seller is hard boiled eggs. Easy to make. Cheap. People grab a couple in the morning. Maybe a couple with lunch. If you're going to be making egg salad anyways, boiling up a few extra eggs and keeping them in a cooler is a good idea.

Make your own croutons. You'll likely have surplus bread, so just cube it and toss with butter, garlic, herbs, etc. Bake them off and you'll have a deli that will make people hungry just by walking past.

That's about all I can think of. As has been said, the most important thing is to have a few things that you always do and that you do better than anyone else. Good luck. :D

[mcgato]

Before I can offer any suggestions, I'm ethically obligated to ensure that you are going to use Best Foods mayo.I second that. Although, I don't really like mayo, but I do work for the company that makes Best Foods mayo.

[not what you'd expect]

I am a soup hound, so you asked for it. ;) These are from my own personal recipes, which I will sell you for a small fee. ;>)

Favorite, all time, hands down: Broccoli cheddar. With shredded carrots and dill. Lots of dill. And thyme & basil. No chicken stock.

Vegetarian Veggie.
Veggie version of white navy bean soup (no ham hocks).
Potato-Leek. With shredded spinach and shitake mushrooms.
Veggie chili. Lot's of veggies, chick peas, black beans, fake meat optional, preferably omitted.
Tomato bisque, but it MUST be served with a grilled cheese samich, no exceptions or substitutions. That's like, the 11th Commandment.
Chicken Noodle is always popular.
Mushroom Barley - no beef, just shrooms, toasted barley and veggies.
Black bean & rice.
Curried lentils & wild rice.
Squash/root vegetable soup with onions and apples -- should be savory with the tiniest hint of cinnamon. My favorite was something like pumpkin, turnip, summer squash, carrots, onions, & apples. Delish!

I can probably think of more.

Also, I have certain salad rules. In order for me to call a salad "good" it must contain at least:
•Greens, but absolutely, positively, under no circumstances do I enjoy a salad made with iceberg lettuce. Anything but iceberg. For the love of all that is green and crunchy.
•Carrots. I don't understand why it's so difficult to put carrots on salads, but it's surprisingly hard to find.
• Some form of nut or seed: walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, even peanuts. I like a crunchy thing in my salad and this helps jack up the protein a bit for the vegetarians.
•Some form of cheese: gorgonzola, sharp cheddar, feta, mozzarella, asiago, doesn't matter. This also helps jack up the protein.
•If you can add a bean or legume like peas or chick peas, that's another protein to balance out all the greens in the salad.

Thank you! I love carrots. Good thinking on the nuts and beans on the salad cart.
I was drawing a blank on what to provide other than greens and tomato.

I got out one of my cookbooks this morning and went to the soup section. I was unimpressed by what was there, but your list above sounds great.

So, just how much is it gonna cost me to get the black bean and rice and squash/root veggie soups. Those two sound like they'd be a good fit up here. :) Apple hill is just up the road and very popular with locals and tourists alike. And the black beans that were a staple for me growing up are finally getting popular here too.

I'm leaning towards having two soups a day. Chicken noodle every day. And switch up the other choice like Minestrone on Mondays, Clam Chowder on Tuesdays, etc.


Harborwolf, I swear I typed the above before reading your post. Sounds like my thinking on the chicken noodle soup is a good way to go. Thanks so much for all your suggestions.

Trucelt, those onions sound scrumptious and so easy. I'm for sure gonna try that.

Gwendee, we are only planning to open from about 10:30 to 3:00. So lunch only.
We may open 7 days a week, but not sure yet. This is all subject to change though. We will open earlier and stay later if it looks like we need to. This place is in a little courtyard just off main street in downtown historic Placerville. There is a lot of foot traffic. I hear that July and August are slow due to heat, but it's so cool in the courtyard that we may be better off than some.
They do have a lot of events like jazz concerts and stuff in this courtyard too. Our deli will seat about 22 indoors. I'm guessing there are about 30 seats outside. the courtyard is shared with the other business's that are in this building. A hotel on one side, a gelato shop in front.

I was there all day today and had several people open the door to ask when we're opening and tell me how excited they are.

I think that we would actually have to try to fail not to succeed. I'm a clean freak, so I know that won't be an issue. I'm finally over my irrational fear of not knowing how much bread to have on hand. Now I am freaking out about what Point of sale system to use. :)

Thanks again everyone for all the support. I am so grateful that I found this board last year.

[Rachellelogram]

Post back with how it goes, I'm excited (and extremely freakin' hungry!) after reading this thread. Also, shocked that my mom apparently named me after a sandwich.:p

[Lasciel]

Seconding some things other people mentioned up-thread:

1) Have a few non-sammich non-soup non-salad options for non-peak lunch people who want to snack instead of having a full-lunch or are grabbing elevenses or post-lunch-crash foods.

Good choices I buy when I see them:

Deviled eggs and hardboiled eggs (sugar AND salt nearby, please!)

Snacky veggies (cuke, carrot, and celery sticks, sliced raw peppers and roma tomatoes (so that the tomatoes aren't all drippy) and raw mushrooms are good choices. I know lots of people who wouldn't be caught dead at a salad bar, but will eat the everloving shit out of a raw veggie plate.

Portable hot bready/savory substances - think covered meat pies or savory turnovers (a really good one from the caramel onion and roast beef would go nicely, as well as a vegetarian one - sub some lovely grilled portobello strips for the meat... mmmmm.)

Sweet stuff, but in SMALL quantities - no big huge cookies the size of your face! A nice selection of counter-stable high-end chocolates and gums is a good idea also. Lots of stuff can go here that you don't make yourself, but will be a good addition to your countertop. Any local sweet-shops around? Ask them if they want free advertising and extra counterspace to show their wares. Think big taste in small packages, and hit all of the important sweet groups - chocolate, coffee, tart/sour, fruit-flavored, and straight-up sugar rush. :D


2) Most importantly for me and lots of my friends:
OFFER HALF SANDWICHES and HALF-SIZE SOUPS!!!!

I hate going to a deli and having to pay full-price for this enormous sandwich (regardless of how good it is) because I know I'll get about a third or half way through it, and it will never ever taste as good as a leftover when I take it home.

It also sucks because most times there are great little side items like lovely cold salads and veggies or handcraft salads, and if I can't get through even half of my sandwich, how am I going to enjoy these side dishes that look/smell so wonderful? And I don't want to order JUST a side item, because then I get the stink-eye from the deli people. Please don't be those deli people. Please make our lives easier.

In other words: Please for the love of all that is holy to you, be nice to those of us with small appetites! We may not eat much, but we do eat, and we'll be so damn loyal!

[Harborwolf]

Portable hot bready/savory substances - think covered meat pies or savory turnovers (a really good one from the caramel onion and roast beef would go nicely, as well as a vegetarian one - sub some lovely grilled portobello strips for the meat... mmmmm.)Pasties are common in my neck of the woods, but they might be different enough to sell well in your area.

2) Most importantly for me and lots of my friends:
OFFER HALF SANDWICHES and HALF-SIZE SOUPS!!!!

I hate going to a deli and having to pay full-price for this enormous sandwich (regardless of how good it is) because I know I'll get about a third or half way through it, and it will never ever taste as good as a leftover when I take it home. Not sure about half soups. As long as you have a few different sizes (12/16/32 oz), you shouldn't need half soups. That said, half sandwich with small soup flies at my place.

One thing I forgot to mention is frozen soups. When I took the place over, that was how we took care of our extra soups to cut back on waste. Put them in quart containers and stick 'em in the freezers for customers to grab. It's a bit of a weight on my shoulders now that the soups are selling well, but I still wind up making some just to freeze for part time and seasonal residents to take back to their far away homes. Works well because they share the soups with their friends who then come back for the fresh stuff. :)

And in the spirit of sharing, I'll pass along any recipes you want. I think you're safely far enough away to not compete. Send me a message and I'll grab some of my popular ones.

[MissSwitac]

I think I may be the third person to mention Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor. Check out their menu. I've been to many deli's in my life and theirs is number one BY FAR and the reason is they have high quality ingredients. The sandwiches are expensive as hell but well worth it. I live about an hour away and we go a few times a year. It's always jam packed.

[silenus]

Make sure you give us the name of your place when you open. I have friends and relations all around that area, and will gladly send them to you.

[not what you'd expect]

Make sure you give us the name of your place when you open. I have friends and relations all around that area, and will gladly send them to you.

Oh that is so nice. It will be the Courtyard Deli.

I'll never be able to show my face around here again if we suck. We better not suck.
:)

[ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies]

Ok, now that the Miracle Whip issue has been addressed...

I can't agree more with those who stress the importance of good bread. It adds so much to a good sammich or bowl of soup.

Being a California native I'm also a big alfalfa sprout fan, for sandwich topping instead of or in addition to lettuce, and as a salad bar item. I also acknowledge the health risks of purchasing sprouts that are grown elsewhere, but they are quite easy to grow yourself, but you'll need a good bit of space in order to have fresh daily batches available. And if it is something that goes fast, you may encourage some traffic with people trying to get their orders in when there are still sprouts left. ;)

I'm also a huge garlic fan, and my favorite pasta salad right now is available from the deli at the Arcata Co-op. It is called Garlic-lovers pasta salad, and a small container of it is usually packed with at least 8 or 9 decent siced cloves of roasted garlic. Their recipe uses buttermilk instead of mayo, and is really delicious which is quite something for me to say, as I love mayo and mayo-based salads.

Speaking of mayo-based salads, a dearly departed neighbor of mine had the best recipe for potato salad that I've ever had in my life. I had the recipe for awhile in college but lost it, and I can't remember the specifics. If I recall, he cooked the potatoes ahead of time and then soaked them in vinegar in the fridge overnight, draining off the excess vinegar in the morning. It also had a pretty high concentration of hard boiled eggs mixed in, as well as chopped dill pickles and olives. And, of course, Best Foods mayo.

This is an evil thread.

[not what you'd expect]

This is an evil thread.

I'm sorry. :)

[Tibby or Not Tibby]

Make a Philly style Italian Hoagie—and they will come.

The proper roll is crucial. I no longer have the luxury of living in Philadelphia, with access to the finest hoagie and cheese steak rolls—D ’Ambrosio and Amoroso’s—but, I make do with a reasonable facsimile (Publix Hoagie Rolls). You can do the same (or import some Philly water and bake your own—the tangy Philadelphia water is what makes these rolls great).

There are slight variations to constructing a proper Italian Hoagie, but you can’t go wrong following my recipe:

Hollow out some of the soft bread inside the roll to make more room for the delinnards (I’d like credit for this new word). Liberally slather extra virgin olive oil on the inside of the roll and sprinkle with Italian herbs; two layers of provolone cheese; one or two layers each of the following thin-sliced meats (good ones, like Boars Head): Genoa salami, capicola Ham, prosciutto…and, if you’re feeling spunky, mortadella and sopressata. Then, stuff the pocket liberally with the veggies (ladled from a bowl of shredded lettuce, onions, banana peppers and tomatoes that have lounged a while in e.v. olive oil, oregano, basil, salt and pepper). Sprinkle with some dried red peppers—bon appétit!

…Even better, turn it into a grinder by putting a final layer of provolone atop the veggies and toasting in a pizza oven till the cheese is gooey. And, if anyone asks to substitute mayonnaise for the olive oil, toss them out on their ear.

Better still: forget all the other suggestions proffered here and just specialize in Philly Hoagies, Grinders and Cheesesteaks.

[Tibby or Not Tibby]

Besides the venerable Philly Hoagie and Cheesesteak, here are a couple more suggestions:

Two sandwiches I haven’t eaten in over 30 years, but whose taste resides happily in my memory banks:

1) The Hot Jewish from the Wurst House (http://thedp.com/index.php/article/2002/02/wurst_house_solves_latenight_craving) (sadly turned into a pizza shop, apparently sans Hot Jewish), West Philadelphia—a sandwich that was <Rob Lowe voice, Parks & Recreation>literally 10 feet tall/> fatty: hot steaming pastrami and corned beef, provolone cheese, sauerkraut, cole slaw, Thousand Island dressing on rye (or hoagie roll).

2) The Hot Corned Beef & Chopped Chicken Liver on Rye from Corky & Lenny’s (http://www.corkyandlennys.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=14), Cleveland, Ohio.

So, you’ve just got to put those on your menu. Also, offer a good smoked whitefish salad as a bagel accoutrement alternative to lox. And put thick slices of Vidalia onion on your liverwurst sandwiches!

[Rhiannon8404]

Oh that is so nice. It will be the Courtyard Deli.

I'll never be able to show my face around here again if we suck. We better not suck.
:)

Just saw this thread. We're in Sacramento and my mom lives outside Placerville. We get up there like once a month. We would totally turn out for your opening. Is your location where the Courtyard Cafe was?

[phall0106]

I've got nuthin' to add to the wonderful suggestions here, except to say that if you're using local ingrediants, let you customer's know. Apples from up the street, veggies from local farmers, bread from local bakery? Let them know.

I'll gladly spend extra money at places that I know are supporting their fellow businesses.

[not what you'd expect]

Just saw this thread. We're in Sacramento and my mom lives outside Placerville. We get up there like once a month. We would totally turn out for your opening. Is your location where the Courtyard Cafe was?

Yep. That's it. :) While we were working there today, about twenty people opened the door and asked if we were open or when we were planning to open. Downtown was hopping today.

So Encouraging.

I'll let you know when we are opening. Hoping for late December. It will be so great to meet you!

[not what you'd expect]

I've got nuthin' to add to the wonderful suggestions here, except to say that if you're using local ingrediants, let you customer's know. Apples from up the street, veggies from local farmers, bread from local bakery? Let them know.

I'll gladly spend extra money at places that I know are supporting their fellow businesses.


We do hope to do that as much as possible. We want the support of the community, so we want to support them as well.

[TruCelt]

Y'all made me spend wayyyyyy too much at the grocery store deli counter today. : snigger :

I bought at least 1/4 lb of pretty much everything, but it all started with the really big pepperoni they had displayed. This thread plus that reminded me of my all time favorite ever sandwich: Grilled muenster and pepperoni on brown bread.

Not fatty pepperoni though, it has to be rendered and super crunchy. When I was young and poor I used to buy a few slice, render them slowly in the crock pot, then use them at flavorings. (also used the oil the way my GrandMother used bacon fat. Fry scarmbled eggs in it, use some in the crust of a savory ie, that sort of thing.)

If you really want to make your salad cart great, try putting out pepperoni crumbles as a topping option. Yuummmmmyyyy!

Oh, and Friday is a great day to do a "Make your own Caesar Salad" day with really good anchovies and fresh grated parmesan. I also really like the salad bar to have spinach as an option. Kale comes a near second. I've always felt that most lettuces are a waste of cropland.

Oh, and a really good Ranch dressing. Even just a decent (i.e. doesn't taste like elmer's glue) Ranch will call my name a couple of times per month. There used to be one that a local restaurant called "Country Buttermilk." I had to get a weekly infusion, and 20 years after they closed I still miss it.

[Lynn Bodoni]

If you offer a potato soup, you might consider offering grated cheese (for a small extra charge). I love potato soup with grated cheddar, or even American.

And a combo plate of a cup of soup and sandwich or salad, or sandwich with a small salad, might be very popular. A lot of people don't want a huge lunch, but they need SOME lunch, or they'll get all stabby from hunger. Or they might want to save room for dessert. I don't usually make or keep desserts at home, because I'll eat them all. But I like to have a small dessert a couple of times a month. If you do desserts at all, you might consider baking cookies and selling some at the checkout, people will think that it would be nice to have a cookie during the afternoon break.

[not what you'd expect]

If you offer a potato soup, you might consider offering grated cheese (for a small extra charge). I love potato soup with grated cheddar, or even American.

And a combo plate of a cup of soup and sandwich or salad, or sandwich with a small salad, might be very popular. A lot of people don't want a huge lunch, but they need SOME lunch, or they'll get all stabby from hunger. Or they might want to save room for dessert. I don't usually make or keep desserts at home, because I'll eat them all. But I like to have a small dessert a couple of times a month. If you do desserts at all, you might consider baking cookies and selling some at the checkout, people will think that it would be nice to have a cookie during the afternoon break.

Hah, that's funny. Today we found an old broken cheese grater at the shop and I told my husband, we need to get a new one of those. Fresh grated cheese would be good on top of soup and salads.

We will offer a half sandwich/soup combo. And I'm planing to offer pumpkin spice cookies every day. Along with an apple cake with caramel sauce. I know I need something sweet after a meal or I am left wanting and I know a lot of people feel the same.

Trucelt, pepperoni crumbles sound like a good addition. Sorry if this thread hurt your pocketbook. :)

[Digital is the new Analog]

Just for fun..put a SDMB reference in the menu..see if anyone picks up on it. :)

My personal taste in sandwiches is rather bland. I don't like messy. I used to put mustard on my some sandwiches, but when I order it out, they just slather WAY too much on. And if I say "light on the mustard", they only put too much on. Then again, I'm really not the standard deli customer.

Good luck with the place. It sounds like you have all the pieces for success!

-D/a

[devilsknew]

Look, I'm going to be a bit harsh... I'm trying to get a sense of your "deli"- and so far, opening a place that is going to be a "lunchmeat shop" with no culinary experience or background either practically or on the business end is going to be a dead end.... and taking hodgepodge advice without a clear vision from a message board is not smart either. My best advice is that you need to find something that you can make well, and homemade unlike any other, there is a reason Katz's has been around so long and namely it is a tradition and feeling... probably specifically homemade Pastrami and Homemade pickles were the main key to their success.... not to mention their special recipe "buy a salami for your boy overseas". But my point is... what is goinf to seperate you from other Deli's or a Publix or any other chain supermarket for that matter.

And please...please, hire somebody that has at least worked in a deli... make them your manager and pay them well.

[ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies]

:rolleyes:

[devilsknew]

Roll your eyes at your own peril and ignorance. Restaurant is a hard and cruel mistress.

[not what you'd expect]

Just for fun..put a SDMB reference in the menu..see if anyone picks up on it. :)

My personal taste in sandwiches is rather bland. I don't like messy. I used to put mustard on my some sandwiches, but when I order it out, they just slather WAY too much on. And if I say "light on the mustard", they only put too much on. Then again, I'm really not the standard deli customer.

Good luck with the place. It sounds like you have all the pieces for success!

-D/a

I love the idea of a secret doper reference on the menu! Now I just need to figure out what would work. Hmmmm. Gotta put my thinking cap on.

Thanks!

[not what you'd expect]

Look, I'm going to be a bit harsh... I'm trying to get a sense of your "deli"- and so far, opening a place that is going to be a "lunchmeat shop" with no culinary experience or background either practically or on the business end is going to be a dead end.... and taking hodgepodge advice without a clear vision from a message board is not smart either. My best advice is that you need to find something that you can make well, and homemade unlike any other, there is a reason Katz's has been around so long and namely it is a tradition and feeling... probably specifically homemade Pastrami and Homemade pickles were the main key to their success.... not to mention their special recipe "buy a salami for your boy overseas". But my point is... what is goinf to seperate you from other Deli's or a Publix or any other chain supermarket for that matter.

And please...please, hire somebody that has at least worked in a deli... make them your manager and pay them well.

I can understand your concern, but we aren't totally without experience. We do have our menu pretty much planned and it includes salads and chili and soups, so we will be more than just a lunchmeat shop. But asking for advice and ideas from as diverse and smart a group of people as is available here, well I think it's been one of my best ideas so far. Plus it's free!

I'm actually torn about hiring someone with actual experience in a deli. We do want to be smart about this. But employees mean workers comp insurance and other expenses that we don't have to incur if my husband and I can handle the volume of customers by ourselves. Plus I'd hate to hire someone only to have to let them go because we can't afford to keep them.

Perhaps we should look into a consultant to help us get up and running, but we're trying to be very careful with our money. It's flowing rather quickly already and there are always things you didn't count on.

In short, your advice about hiring a manager is not without merit and something worth considering. But what better place is there than here, to come to for free ideas to make us stand out from others is there?

Thank you for taking the time to respond. :)

[Ibanez]

Authentic deli pickles, motzo ball soup and at least smoked meat on rye. Fly the meat in from NYC or Montreal if you have too.

[Digital is the new Analog]

I love the idea of a secret doper reference on the menu! Now I just need to figure out what would work. Hmmmm. Gotta put my thinking cap on.

Thanks!

Um...third sandwich on the menu called "Hi, Opal"?


-D/a

[TruCelt]

I love the idea of a secret doper reference on the menu! Now I just need to figure out what would work. Hmmmm. Gotta put my thinking cap on.

Thanks!

Easy, sandwich number three is the "Opal".

Or if you're going to have a lamb or mutton option . . .

ETA: Oops! Ninja'd by Ibanez. How did I miss that?

[astro]

Re the OP I do love a good rare roast beef sandwich on a toasted "everything" bagel with sprouts, tomatos, red onion, cheese, lettuce, and a light dab of mayo.

I've never run a deli but as a commercial real estate broker I have sold and leased several delis and other small restaurants. or the real estate they resided in, after they failed, and the owners partnership, marriage or relationship has broken up, and they've declared bankruptcy.

Running a small food service business seems neat, but it's a brutal, brutal way to make a living and unfortunately most of the time trying to be special, and high quality, and artisanal etc. only hastens their demise. Sometimes being too successful can also swamp a business as easily as not having enough customers.

There are success stories but they are far fewer than the failures. The "small restaurant" successes generally have a few things in common.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
They don't "trust" anyone and keep an eagle eye on inventory, receipts, and the register. They know people will steal if given even the smallest window of opportunity.

They are well aware upfront of what the real world "make or break" profitably targets are for the store and track income and expenses very closely.

They have negotiated a relatively cheap rent and have an "out" clause they can exercise on relatively short notice if the business is not making it.

They work brutal hours and have accustomed themselves physically and psychologically to a meat grinder life. This is a difficult transition for many people.

They beat the crap out of their suppliers for deals and are completely aware of what competitors are paying. Their suppliers are not their buddies or their friends.

They get the food out as quickly as possible. Hungry people are impatient and at lunchtime are on a limited time window. People on a lunch break may wait 15 minutes for a sandwich, but they will not do it more than once or twice.

They don't take vacations for the first 5 years of running the store

They don't get overly precious with expectations, They keep things simple and efficient and have limited menus

They are generous with portions of high profit stuff (ie fries chips etc)

They keep staffing at minimal levels and are super selective about whom they hire even for low level positions.

They use coupons when starting up (net or printed) to build traffic. Door hangers in surrounding neighborhoods are huge traffic builders

They are fanatical about clean bathrooms

They always check IDs when selling beer or wine

They have an emergency slush fund set up to be able to replace equipment to make major repairs if necessary. They do a lot of equipment maintenance themselves and are almost Jr league techs with some pieces of equipment

They know that a lot of people are out to fuck them out of as much money as possible and plan accordingly

They don't "trust" anyone and keep an eagle eye on inventory, receipts, and the register (yes this is being repeated for emphasis)
-------------------------------------------

Unfortunately the above is not always a good match for nice, trusting people with a culinary vision.

[zynik]

I just wanted to emphasize one point made by astro said: Be fast. Don't make your customers wait in line for too long. Long lines put people off from your store (I've often skipped places that look really crowded), and limit the number of sales you can make in a given time.

Some chains are really good at moving their customers along; maybe you can do a quick store visit to see how they do it.

[cmkeller]

That's great advice. There's a bagel store near where I live where they have very quick turnaround; no one who's been there before is daunted by a seeing a long line there because they know from experience that the line moves quickly.

[Harborwolf]

I'm actually torn about hiring someone with actual experience in a deli. We do want to be smart about this. But employees mean workers comp insurance and other expenses that we don't have to incur if my husband and I can handle the volume of customers by ourselves. Plus I'd hate to hire someone only to have to let them go because we can't afford to keep them. Just remember that you can train someone with a good work ethic to cook. Better yet you can teach them to cook your food. Not to spread a brush too broad, but most of the chefs and the like I've worked with have been utterly useless at best and cost the store tons of money at worst. The most reliable people I've worked with had food service experience from working in the industry but weren't chefs. If you're going to hire, find yourself a workhorse and fire them fast if they're not.

[goldmund]

Sloppy Joes. You know, the good old school cafeteria, Manwich style ones. I only offer two bits of anecdotal evidence. My dad ran a deli/catering shop several years back. He'd make a bunch of Sloppy Joe sauce and keep some on a steam table. They sold VERY well, many customers came specifically for those. Also, when I lived down in NJ for four years, I frequented a Deli that offered Sloppy Joes once a week, and they always sold out, often by noon.

It's a tasty, cheap, filling meal that has a comfort food appeal to a lot of people. And it's pretty cheap and easy to make, with a good profit margin. Create your own unique recipe for the sauce, and serve it on good quality rolls, and it ought to be a good seller.

[not what you'd expect]

Astro, thanks so much for taking the time to make such an extensive list. I'm so grateful for all of the advice.

I think the one point you make that has me the most worried is the amount of hours it is going to take to make this work. And it is probably the issue my husband and I are arguing about the most.
He thinks we can do this in 8 or even 6 hours a day. I do not agree with him in the slightest.
I think it will take closer to 10 and maybe even 12.

In my years as an Office Manager, I learned that thieves come in all shapes and sizes, so I think I have a healthy dose of distrust built in theses days. Sadly.

I also have a lot of fear. Just as I solve one issue in my head that is freaking me out, another one moves to the forefront. Whether this fear will help or hurt remains to be seen.

I know how important good quality and generous portions are, so that doesn't worry me. I'm a clean freak, so I'm good there. I am smart (ish) and hard working and I have always been highly productive. I really do work circles around most people. But, I'm also getting older and don't have the stamina I used to have. I know we can't keep people waiting when they are on lunch, so this concerns me a lot. I know we won't have much time to get this right.

I am giving more serious thought to a consultant with deli experience. Harborwolf, you're correct, it is not a chef we need. But someone that can teach us the day to day stuff we don't know would be worth every penny. I can also get around the need for W/C insurance and setting up payroll with a consultant vs an employee. At least until we get a better feel for what our needs are in this regard.

I really can not ever thank all of you enough for all the helpful advice.

[Push You Down]

I've really enjoyed this thread and I had a recent personal experience that I feel is a good cautionary tale...

My wife and I discovered a little sandwich place a few months ago- They had a coupon in one of the local weeklys announcing their opening.
We went... and fell in love with this place. It's called Root Beer Joe's in Pasadena.
They served frozen yogurt and sandwiches- 8 kinds of sandwiches.
Great bread with generous meat portions with this delicious "garlicky" spread (I think it is garlic paste and mayo with maybe some wasabi in there? Very spicy and good).

Their hours were limited Mon-Sat 11:30 to 6pm. Often after work we'd be craving their sandwiches and debate whether we could make it there before closing. Some acquaintances of mine also fell in love with it and lived closer and went all the time.
I bought a large amount of sandwiches once to feed some people at an event and they all agreed these were the best sandwiches they had ever had.

My wife and I went back last weekend after about a month. We heard from my acquaintance that they were closed for a few weeks due some plumbing issue with their building.

When we walked up we were really excited because they had out a sign listing their new hours. 7am to 7pm.... that seemed like a big jump but one that would make it a viable dinner option. There was also a line of people--not that big of a deal usually and we were glad to see them busy. When we got inside the place... we instantly became worried.... now they had soup and pastries and espresso and that wasn't at all what we came there for. Sure we were not the center of the universe for this place but...
The pastries were clearly from Costco. I recognize those muffins.
This place is very small and lacks a real kitchen so I know they aren't making those soups in house.
I think they might have always had the espresso maker so I think they just made it more prominent. That was part of the problem.
It actually took me a minute of scanning the blackboard menu hanging above the counter to FIND the sandwiches listed.
The prices went up a little... but not a horrific amount. I think the "full sandwich" about 8 inches long used to hover around 6.50 and now it was 7.50. They also added some sandwiches (a teriyaki chicken for example)

So we ordered (1 full Italian and 1 full roast beef) and then waited.... and waited. After a half hour checked in with the counter girl and sandwich prep guy. Their order system had gotten messed up and best I could figure was they gave the wrong sandwich to someone who had left and then had a mix-matched order that no one claimed- a half club and a full Italian.... The full italian was ours and he hastily made a full roast beef... which was when I realized that the price had gone up and the sandwiches had shrunk by a 1/3.

They also had messed up the Italian and left off the cheese and salami making it just a ham sandwich.... but it was still a REALLY good ham sandwich just not what we wanted. And the roast beef was just as good as it had always been...but we've never been able to finish a full. We always have a tasty third left to take home. We both finished our sandwiches without any problem.

I'm pretty forgiving but my wife is not. It's not the same place that we fell in love with. She might begrudgingly go again if we're really craving it. I'm not really going to recommend it as enthusiastically as before.
(I'm really curious to talk to my acquaintances to see if they have been since the change.)

So what I'm really saying is--Variety is nice... variety can also muddle everything and diminish what you do well.

[not what you'd expect]

Push You Down, That's too bad. We certainly don't want to make that kind of mistake.

Everyone we talk to tells us about a good turkey and feta sandwich that they used to get at this place when it was a cafe. When that many people mention it, we figure it is something we should consider, but another fellow that took over the bakery we're hoping to do business with, has advised against it. So we're torn about that too. We don't want to make the menu too big and if we don't get that turkey/feta sandwich right, it could hurt us.

We are searching for something to make us special, whether it is a spread like you mention or bread made only for us or something. I'm glad you've enjoyed the thread. And thanks for sharing that story.

[Dogzilla]

Re: The root veggie soup and the black bean soup. I was thinking that you'd be making the rounds of the local farmers' markets to obtain whatever is in season. So if your standard daily soup is chicken noodle (excellent choice, can't go wrong), then the rotation soup would be based on what produce is in season right now. Which means, something with pumpkin and squash in it is right up your alley about now. You're about to get into winter soups, which are usually heavier, cream based soups like mushroom barley or potato-leek.

Another cautionary tale.
There's a place in my town called Soup Swift. It is poorly named because they are not swift; service is very slow there. They offer maybe 5-6 soups each day, 2-3 sandwiches, 1 salad, and have a few baked goods in a display case, like cookies and Rice Krispy treats (! Who doesn't love those! Cheap and easy to make!).

My beef with the place is their 1/2 soup-1/2 sandwich combo. You get about 8 ounces of soup and a tiny little sandwich... for $10. If I'm going to pay $10 for soup and a sandwich, I expect leftovers, not to still be hungry after I've eaten. So watch your price points in relation to portion size. You want to give people a generous enough portion so they feel they are getting a good value at the price, and at the same time you want to make a profit.

Also, and finally: Don't blend the soups. I like to chew my food. I don't like soups I can drink out of a straw. I can't really think of any soup I'd prefer blended with the possible exception of tomato bisque. That's the other problem with Soup Swift: most of the soups are blended. I get that must be easier for the chef, but it feels like you aren't really eating anything, if that makes sense.

Another idea might be to have some of the most popular sandwiches and soups prepackaged to go and kept in a little counter cooler or something, so that customers can run in, grab something to go real quick, check out and go nuke their soup back at the office or something. The deli line is for people who want something specific or something that's not in the quicky to-go display case.

[TruCelt]

Oh yeah, the line-ups. That's really important. If it's not clear who's in line,a nd who's waiting to pick-up, and whether it's ok to breeze up to the counter if you just came for a candy bar, then the result is customers who feel uncertain and maybe even nasty toward each other. I find the places where I feel a sense of homey camaraderie are the ones where the rules are obvious.

P.S. Has enough time passed for me to sate my curiousity by asking about the paint colors? What did you settle on? What was the beef about?

[Caractacus Pott]

Another idea might be to have some of the most popular sandwiches and soups prepackaged to go and kept in a little counter cooler or something, so that customers can run in, grab something to go real quick, check out and go nuke their soup back at the office or something. The deli line is for people who want something specific or something that's not in the quicky to-go display case.Seconded and thirded. For the carry-out customers, simplify the options to maximize speed. Picky customers have counter service to get exactly what they want. Time-pressed customers will gladly live with the limitations of the fridge.

If you're going to do this, test out the breads and fixings to be sure they don't end up a limp mush after a few hours wrapped and chilled. Some places put the lettuce and tomato slices in a plastic wrap separated from the rest though it might be better to design take-out sandwiches that don't require wet ingredients.

For the selection, I'd limit it to a maximum of 5 sandwich types: three basic, two fancy that change on a regular, even daily, basis. Similarly, do not go crazy with 50 similar kinds of sides on grab 'n go. Two or 3 flavors of potato chips, a couple soups, 2 or 3 cold salads. I do not want to wait behind someone who can't decide between the dill potato salad, the German potato salad, and the red potato salad or the tomato bisque and the tomato basil soups.

This may sound odd but make the breads different shapes. For instance, the ham and cheese is always on square wheat bread, the Cuban on an oblong roll, and the tuna salad on round poppy seed roll. When I'm doing the lunch run for the office, I can quickly pick up 5 squares, 3 round, and 1 long instead of reading labels to find the hams, tuna salads, and cuban, respectively. At the office everyone can find their sandwiches without pawing through them all. Everyone wins.

[billfish678]

A depressing but important thing to think about ahead of time. I've been watching a lot of Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares about people's failing food places lately. Its so bad it often freaks ME out thinking what these people are under. 250k, 500k, 800k, 1.2 mill, 1.5 million dollars in the hole. And their houses morgaged to the hilt. Their whole life savings and retirement invested (friends and families money invested too). People at or near retirement age. All running businesses that are just digging the hole deeper day by day. People who have been running them for years and they've never made a profit. Places where they need to have 10's of thousands of dollars of business a week just to break even, much less dig themselves out of that deep ass hole. And they got more staff than customers.

For the love of God, don't turn yourself into one of those people. Decide ahead of time exactly how much money you are willing to loose trying to make this dream happen before you'll walk away. When you hit that...walk away. Don't dig the hole deeper and deeper and deeper.And try to set up youre rent/loans/whatevers so that you can do that in a way that allows to do so.

Good luck.

[TruCelt]

I had a fantastic sandwich at the Corner MArket today. Fresh baked harvest bread with turkey that could have been better but more than made up for by good thick crisp bacon and ripe avocado. Also a cup of coffee jsut the way I like it - thick enough to chew! LOL!

A potentially excellent experience almost completely spoiled by the constant rocking of the wonky table. Please, please check your tables and have on hand whatever you need to fix them when they are wonky. Arrrggghhh!

[not what you'd expect]

I promise no wonky tables. :0) And we do have a limit on our finances. I'm prepared to walk away if we reach that limit.

[lurkedtolong]

What I love is a roll that is dipped- crusty sourdough or French roll dipped in au jus- and piled high with meat (and maybe cheese). See Tommy's Joynt in SF or Philippe's (http://www.philippes.com/) in LA. They aren't available everywhere and there has to be a reason, but I'd go out of my way to get one.

Agreed a great french dip is always a plus and something i try anywhere thats new to me. I generally gauge the quality of a place based on the quality of the tuna and chicken salad since these are made in house. Alot of deli's around south florida always have something that they make inhouse such as Homemade Ketchup or Homemade Mayo, do you have any such specialities?

[not what you'd expect]

My husband makes a very good Au Jus since that is his favorite sandwich. We do have some unique recipes, but I'd love to have a signature spread of some sort instead of just mayo/mustard.

I do get compliments on my Tuna/Chicken salads, so you might be okay with our food. :)

p.s. I was raised in Florida. We're going to have a Cuban sandwich, but it may not be on authentic Cuban bread since we can't find a bakery to do it for us. Darn it.

[lurkedtolong]

My husband makes a very good Au Jus since that is his favorite sandwich. We do have some unique recipes, but I'd love to have a signature spread of some sort instead of just mayo/mustard.

I do get compliments on my Tuna/Chicken salads, so you might be okay with our food. :)

p.s. I was raised in Florida. We're going to have a Cuban sandwich, but it may not be on authentic Cuban bread since we can't find a bakery to do it for us. Darn it.

That shouldn't be a bad thing if you put your own spin on a cuban sandwich lots of places here don't make it correctly and people still would order them. I've had a cuban at a authentic cuban restaurant here and they used french bread some days. Im close to Miami so wth right?

Have u thought about hiring a human sign to drive business to your door you know the people on the side of the road holding a arrow with some wordage? They are cheap around here.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

Don't want to tell you how to do your job, but I absolutely LOATHE tuna salad that is made with a ratio of roughly one (1) 55-gallon drum of mayo for each can of tuna. Sadly, this is the recipe that dear old Mom follows to this day....:D

Seriously, good tuna salad is a favorite for many, with just enough mayo and maybe some celery and onion chopped up for texture. Some of that spread on a french roll with tomato, sliced onion, provolone, sweet or banana peppers---Heaven.

My best to you in your new endeavor.

[not what you'd expect]

Thanks MPB, I promise not too much mayo. I don't like that either.

Lurkedtolong, That's just sad that you would get a french roll even in Florida. I guess I've been gone from there too long. :)

[TruCelt]

How's about an update thread? I wanna hear all about it!

[DMark]

Yes! I too would like to hear more.
You don't need to provide receipts, but it would be fun to hear about the challenges, what has worked and not worked, how satisfied you have been with the experience, what you would have done differently - if anything - and generally, how things are going!

[Athena]

Count me in as wanting an update as well. C'mon! Don't hold out on us!

[Son of a Rich]

Put a menu board before you get to the counter so the maroon at the head of the line isn't staring off going: "uh...duh...I'll have..uh...". :)

[DMark]

Put a menu board before you get to the counter so the maroon at the head of the line isn't staring off going: "uh...duh...I'll have..uh...". :)

So true - as only a moron would wear maroon before Labor Day...but having a menu at the beginning of a line is always a great idea!
However, I have seen idiots at In 'n Out Burger get the to the front of the line, after waiting in line for 10 minutes, and think for another 5 minutes before ordering - and they ONLY have burgers and fries...

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Update would be great! Meanwhile, here's my delicious sandwich:

-Toasted whole wheat
-Deli turkey
-Veggies (lettuce, tomato, pickled onions are typical)
-Avocado
-Bacon
-and the key: mayonnaise mixed liberally with Sriracha, spread on each slice of toast.

These are wonderful with a cold beer, but I imagine a Coke wouldn't be bad, either.

[not what you'd expect]

How's about an update thread? I wanna hear all about it!


Hi TruCelt, thanks for asking!

Well, we finally opened on April 10th. We are getting very good feedback on our food and on how nice the place looks. We did a quiet opening and haven't done any advertising yet. So our numbers are still pretty small, but we are okay with that while we work to improve our sandwich making time and front counter time.

The process took much longer and cost more than we had initially anticipated. I said I was prepared to walk away if I reached a certain point, but of course, once you invest $25,000.00, it's a tad difficult, so I had to eat my words on that, but at least it wasn't too much over our initial budget. All the delays have hurt our finances though, that's for sure.

The process itself was less fun than you might imagine. All the delays and tight finances have been very stressful, but it has been exciting too. And the place really does look nice. I've had more than one customer pull me aside to compliment us on the decor.

Our pulled pork is very popular. People love my chili and my whoopie pies are a hit with everyone that tries them. We can't get people to try the jalapeno bacon and I may remove the seafood salad from the menu before long since it doesn't sell well. It's really tasty too, but our customers are not too adventurous. We are still making adjustments every day.

Harborwolf has been a huge help to me. I've pestered him with questions.

So all in all, it's scary and fun and exciting and stressful and sometimes I can't believe we did it.

[Cat Whisperer]

Okay, I'm going to need your location so we can stop by and try some delicious deli food. :)

(But seriously, you're a small business owner now - time to change your location field and get more business!)

[TruCelt]

Congratulations! I'm sorry it's been so hard - but it sounds like so far you've accomplished what you set out to do, so Yay!!! What colors did you end up going with?

We can't get people to try the jalapeno bacon and I may remove the seafood salad from the menu before long since it doesn't sell well. It's really tasty too, but our customers are not too adventurous.

Samples!!! Put some out and they will follow. Have you considered taste spoons like they have at ColdStone? Offer a try to anyone who's waffling about what to get. . .

Ansd remember, the adventure level will change when the crowd begins to grow.

[not what you'd expect]

Cat Whisperer, we are in Placerville, CA. Old hangtown, right on Main Street. The Courtyard Deli. It would be great to meet some dopers. :)

We are giving away a lot of samples and always offer to let someone try before they buy. We even send one of the girls out to the main entrance of the courtyard with samples. It's helping. But we do still need to advertise. A lot of people don't know yet that we are finally open.

We ended up with two shades of gray and a dark maroon accent on some trim, which matches the window frame. The tables really came out great. We painted the legs black and put flooring
slats on the tops. We've had four customers tell us they are stealing our idea for their own old oak table. The wood slats are sort of cherry colored.

We got most of the art from Home Goods, but we also have a local artist that has placed four of his prints on the walls on consignment. That was helpful.

So we're learning and improving and adjusting things as needed. The food is good and our service is friendly but we are still a little slow. Hopefully it will be less stressful when we know more and are more practiced.

[Cat Whisperer]

Cat Whisperer, we are in Placerville, CA. Old hangtown, right on Main Street. The Courtyard Deli. It would be great to meet some dopers. :)<snip>That's excellent - we're driving to California this summer! See you in a couple of months! :)

[Rhiannon8404]

That's excellent - we're driving to California this summer! See you in a couple of months! :)

Let us know when and we'll meet you there for lunch! We're about 45 minutes away in Sacramento.

not what you'd expect, I am trying to coordinate with my mom to go there for lunch one day next week. Hope to see you soon!

[zoid]

Cat Whisperer, we are in Placerville, CA. Old hangtown, right on Main Street. The Courtyard Deli. It would be great to meet some dopers. :)

Holy crap! Who drew those town boundries (http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ACAW_enUS378US379&q=Placerville,+CA&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x809a4f453ba558ed:0xb5032ced3367ea36,Placerville,+CA&gl=us&ei=H1iXT83NI4HWgQeSutnvDQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=2&ved=0CEcQ8gEwAQ)?!

[not what you'd expect]

You guys are making my day. Looking forward to meeting you.