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.
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!
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
