I’m looking for inspiration.
I made ruben pizza squares for the last event in the courtyard here at our deli and it was a big hit with our customers. I even impressed my husband!
But I need some more ideas. So what ya got? When you walk into your favorite deli, what are you happy to see as a special?
Inspire me you guys!
Well, as far as pizza goes, anything that tries to imitate a philly makes me very happy! And those reuben squares sound delicious.
Coney dogs!
I don’t know if this is all that universal, but I’m a total sucker for salmon salad sandwiches - I’ll buy those over anything else. Almost no one ever offers them, though.
Salmon salad sandwich and potato dill soup - I can be there by Saturday. 
BTW…A++ for UserName/Post Combo
Ooh, I’m gonna make reuben pizza squares! What a great idea!
Was wondering how your deli was going. Have you posted much about it since you began? Where can I find your updates? Or feel free to summarize here if you’d like.
How about something like pepperoni or sausage rolls?
I’ve always wanted to own a shop like that, just so I could have a board reading:
TODAY’S SPECIAL:
You Don’t Piss Us Off,
We Don’t Beat You To Death
I guess it’s more accurate to say that I’ve always wanted to have enough money that it wouldn’t matter if put that board in my shop.
I haven’t posted too much about it, but we opened just about 3 months ago. Finally!
Things were very slow at first and I was totally petrified. But our averages are coming up and we actually turned a small profit for the month of June. The feedback we get is very good…almost always. I did have one customer tell me yesterday that her only real criticism is that I am not charging enough for my tuna/chicken salad.
We have 7 yelp reviews now and our rating is 4 1/2 stars. We have over 50 likes on facebook.
The actual running of a deli is nothing like I thought it would be. Since I’m in charge of the front, cooking is not the focus I thought it would be. But I’m enjoying the customer interaction a lot more than I thought I would too.
So all in all, I feel pretty good about our chances.
But this is seriously eating into my SDMB time. I can’t remember my last day off.
To expand my coney dog idea, I recently went to a place that had coney dog PIZZA. Regular pizza with a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, onions, sliced hot dogs, coney sauce instead of tomato sauce, and a drizzle of mustard on top.
One of my favorite delis has some nice variations on chicken salad. They always have plain old regular chicken salad, but once or twice a week they have either chicken salad with dill and slivered almonds, or chicken salad with dried cranberries and slivered almonds, or a curried chicken salad with walnuts.
On those days, people are knocking over little old ladies and kicking babies out of the way to get at the chicken salad.
Salmon, dill, fennel, capers, cream cheese all spread on a tortilla. Roll the tortilla and slice into rounds.
(There are other ingredients, but that is the basic recipe)
Hal, that would be nice. Luckily, I’ve never had a horrible customer.
Thanks for the ideas guys. **Cat,**aren’t you headed this way soon? If so, if you want to tell me when you’re going to be here, I’ll make those special for you. Seriously, it would be my pleasure. I love salmon salad too, but haven’t tried it here since the seafood salad I did try didn’t sell well. And my potato soup is yummy. I like the idea of adding dill to it. Hmmmm
And now I want a hot dog pizza.
Wow, that sounds uniquely vile. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Then again, I would have said Rueben pizza was equally pukeworthy, so what the hell do I know?
Steering away from food-which-isn’t-a-pizza-in-pizza-form, standard pizza topped with grilled chicken, fresh tomatoes and lots of fresh garlic is a classic. Especially now that tomato season is coming up.
You could also do a caprese themed pizza, with sliced fresh mozz, tomatoes and fresh basil, with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Maybe grilled zucchini.
You know what’s awesome, and not on enough menus? Baked potato pizza.
Stay with me here. Boil up some potatoes, make up a white/alfredo sauce, fry and crumble some bacon. Pizza crust, sauce, maybe add some more chopped garlic, top with potatoes, top generously with cheese and bacon, bake, top with green onions and serve with a sour cream dipping sauce. Seriously delicious.
One of my favorite restaurants used to have a smoked salmon salad that was to die for. Supremed pink grapefruit, field green mix, avocado, smoked salmon, and a light cream dressing. The grapefruit and salmon really played off each other so well. This could be fantastic in a wrap.
I see you’re from Mpls. Have you ever tried the one from Pizza Luce?
That sounds yummy, Snickers. I might just have to try that one.
Maybe one upcoming Friday you could try the smoked salmon spread that others above have mentioned; I have had a similar spread, and it’s really good on crackers or in a tortilla roll up, although it’s a little rich to want to eat too much of it.
(I don’t know if it would be a fit for your deli or not, but it is really tasty, even if it’s just something you did as a one off experiment. I understand that good smoked salmon is spendy)
Good luck!
Something rare. Super-rare roast beef. Or (less likely but not absolutely unheard of at a deli/sandwich shop) a rare steak sandwich served hot. I want to see that bread turn red.