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 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.
German potato salad. With bacon. I can’t get enough of it.
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).
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!
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…
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Knish please!
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.
Don’t get shitty pastrami and slice it thin.
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
So, get good pastrami and slice it thin? Or also “don’t” to slice it thin?
Or maybe get shitty pastrami and slice it thick?
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).
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.