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N 7 North Market

Mahel is the owner of N 7 Market at 183 Bedford Ave, and this is the story of how he lived an unpredictable and passionate life in NYC.

Mahel is originally from Palestine. He was only 23 when he moved to New York back in 1998 with the hopes to find more freedom, better future, and to be able to help out his family overseas.

He worked at a grocery from the start and because of his determination, in 2010, Mahel was able to take over the grocery store and make it in to his deli. He changed the name to N 7 Market and renovated the store to start fresh.

Back in Palestine, Mahel was a fireman. Although he was passionate about his job, he had to make the choice to move to New York and start a new life. Originally, he prepared to stay in New York for not too long. He was going to work hard and save money to go back home and help his family. Things didn’t go as planned because it wasn’t easy for him to make a stable income for himself and for his family overseas. His plans had to change once more and he decided to settle down in New York, get married and support his children.

He loves the energy he gets from being around different people every day. He still enjoys coming to the store even though the hours may be long and hectic. He is very familiar with the neighborhood and knows many of the other locals who have been around the area for a while, but says that it has changed a lot since he first started working.

Bedford and The Godfather are the most popular sandwiches.

Mahel still plans on going back home to Palestine. Although he had to adapt and change his plans, his future goals are to go back to his home town and open a bigger business. At the moment, he is happy in New York and to be able to be there for his children.

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EEM Deli & Grocery

Alberto is the owner of EEM Deli & Grocery at 231 Malcolm X Blvd Brooklyn, New York, and this is the story of how he became closer to fulfilling his childhood dream.

Alberto first came to the states at the age of thirty-five from Dominican Republic. He arrived alone with the dream of having better opportunities and settling down.

He started off in NYC as a construction worker and truck driver. He then moved to Chicago where he worked in the gas business for 8 years. In 2010, Alberto moved back to New York to start a deli business. The EEM deli spot was originally a grocery store and Alberto bought it to create his own deli.

Alberto is determined every day not only because he has to support his children and pay his loans, but also because he enjoys giving friendly service. Alberto’s dedication and hard work of coming to the store from Queens every day, 7AM to 10PM, for the past 6 years is the main reason why he has many regulars who come back for his company and service.

Aside from his passion for the store, he is also very passionate about baseball. 

The life in NYC is too busy and stressful, which motivated him to build a home back in Dominican Republic where he can move back with his wife once his three children are all able to support themselves. His dream as a child was to actually build his own home in the mountains and live in quiet and peace.

As Alberto gets closer to his future goals to move back to his calm and undisturbed home in Dominican Republic, he will continue to strive as the owner of his small business and as the father and husband of his loving family.

Albert and his book.

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Desi Deli

Kamal is the owner of Desi Deli and this is the story of his love for Desi Deli.

Kamal first came to New York from India back in 1995. He worked with his brother at his brother’s grocery store in Long Island until 2002. That was when Kamal felt ready to open Desi Deli.

He never felt that there were any specific difficulties or hardships as he slowly worked his way up to build his own store. He and his brother enjoyed working together and kept each other company.

When Desi Deli first opened, the majority of the customers were Punjabi cab drivers in the neighborhood, coming by for home made Indian food. Unfortunately, the second store that he opened in 2009 on 14th street had to close down and Kamal lost a lot of his time and money. Luckily, the current Desi Deli continued to prosper.

Words spread and more locals and people outside the neighborhood started coming to Desi Deli. Not only for Desi Deli’s home made Indian food but also for Kamal and his welcoming deli team.

Kamal is very satisfied about where he is now but even more excited about his next steps to open another Desi Deli in order to start making this a franchise.

A few recommendations for first timers are chicken vindaloo, chicken tandoori, chana masala, garlic nan. And bubble tea.

Kamal showing us desideli.com

Kamal says the most enjoyable part about Desi Deli is that it feels like home, not work. Talking to customers and seeing them enjoy the food is what motivates Kamal to get up every morning and open the store.

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DELIcious 24

Dimitri is the owner of Delicious 24, located on 28-05 24th Ave Queens, NY, and this is the story of how he became his own boss.

Coming from a Greek family, Dimitri was born and raised in the U.S. and Greece. He moved to New York from New Jersey in 2007 for college. Computer science was his major, restaurant management was his profession, and working for himself was his goal. And so, about 3 years ago, after researching and talking to people for advice, he came to a conclusion that opening a deli would be a good place to begin.

He put in a lot of hard work and ideas behind this store. He researched to see what makes a good deli, came up with a concept, cuisine, how things would be decorated. It is a work in progress and he is very confident and motivated to make the best deli experience for his customers. He wants to differentiate Delicious 24 with other traditional delis with friendly customer service and clean, modern environment that makes people want to come back.

He knows what his grandparents have been through in order for him to grow up in a better environment, finish his studies, and be able to start his own business to fulfill his goals. Dimitri is very thankful that he was able to grow up in both the states and Greece. It helped him see the world with different eyes.

His love for business and hospitality came from working as restaurant manager, and growing up seeing his family members being in charge of their own small businesses in order to support family. Although he wanted to stick to his childhood dreams of becoming an architect, plans always change as you live your life. He needed to help out his parents and architecture school didn’t seem the right fit for him at the time, so he decided to take a different route.

Dimitri has a strong passion and drive to make the best out of his first solo business. He hopes to teach a little bit about being a self starter if he ever has children in the future. He plans on keep going with his dream. The next step is to expand the store in order to provide more hot food.

Dimitri is truly a motivated young man at heart who will always go forward to the place he wants to reach.

Dimitri’s father was helping out at the store and received the books for him.

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Market Deli

Mahmood, Mohammad, and Jimmy are the owners of Market Deli, located on 1388 1st Ave New York, NY, and this is the story of how they worked together for over 25 years.

When we first visited Market Deli, Mahmood and Mohammad were very approachable and told us about how they have been running the store with their partner Jimmy since 1990. Mahmood and Mohammad are brothers from Palestine and Jimmy is from Egypt. They met in 1990 at a deli where they were all working together and decided to open deli of their own. Working as partners for 25 years is not an easy thing to do. The biggest reason why they were able to continue business together for so long is because of the trust and remembering to keep their relationship as business partners.

Market Deli's special coffee.

Mahmood and Mohammad moved to New Jersey in 1975 and 1982. They worked at different places like diners, bakeries, and other delis around NYC. Their dream was to have a stable job, have families, and to have their kids to go to college for better futures.

Mahmood has a family of 6 children and Mohammad has 9 children whom they supported through the deli business. Mahmood and Mohammad continue to commute from NJ to open the store every morning in order to continue the history of Market Deli without having to worry about supporting their families now that they are all grown up.

Jimmy came from Egypt to study engineering at a grad school in the states. He studied hard and had a goal to finish school and have a well paying job related to his studies. NYC got more and more expensive and he had to face reality of his surroundings. He decided to rethink his future and give up school so that he can start finding a job right away to support himself and his family.

Instead of having lingering feelings about his studies, he gave his all to the deli. He worked very hard every day for many years and worked even harder after he got married and had children.

Living in NYC can be tough. There is no time to enjoy life. Jimmy says he has the greatest time whenever he visits his friends and family in Egypt, but if he had to go back to live there, he wouldn’t want to. NYC became his second home, where he learned to become a stronger, independent person.

The Deli Deli books created for Mahmood, Mohammad, and Jimmy.

Now, the three partners’ goal is to stay happy by continuing to do their best for the store, spend more time with family, and enjoy life.

Jimmy reading the book.

Happy to receive their books!

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Highline Deli 2

Niff is the owner of Highline Deli 2 at 83 Canal Street, and this is the story about him and how he began his journey in New York.

The first thing we noticed about this deli is that it is the only one around Chinatown. We definitely wanted to find out the story behind this deli so we went inside and spoke with Niff.

Niff came to New York by himself from Yemen in 1992 when he was in the sixth grade. Coming to a big city all alone at a young age, Niff had to grow up faster than the other kids as he stayed with his relatives and started working at a deli on 57th street and 9th Ave for almost 10 years. After a long run at that deli, Niff worked at a different deli for about 6 years as a cook.

Only a few years ago did he start running this deli in Chinatown. The store existed for about 30 years but in 2012, Niff was offered to take over the business. After working at other delicatessens for 15 years and learning a lot about what it takes to run a small business, he took the opportunity right away.

This deli is the only one in Chinatown. The neighborhood is interesting to Niff because he sees different types of people day and night. During the day, there are neighborhood locals or tourists stopping by but at night, there are many young people stopping by after a long fun night at the bar.

When Niff was a kid, he wanted to become a fire fighter or a doctor. “Sometimes, you plan something and it doesn’t happen, but you end up with somethingg else.”

Niff has come a long way from a young boy from Yemen to the owner of Highline Deli 2 and to a father of two children who he loves very much. One day, he hopes to start another business and just keep on going with his journey.

Niff reading his story.

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D&F Italian Deli

This is Gary, the owner of D & F Italian Deli, located in Astoria, NY.

When we first arrived at the store, it was very busy with customers waiting to receive the food they ordered. We were able to speak with Gary who kindly let us talk more in detail at the back kitchen of D & F, where the history goes back all the way to the 1950's.

Gary is originally from rural Italy and came to New York with his family as a child back in the early 70's. When he first arrived, the D & F Deli was actually called Santino's and everybody knew of Santino's. Gary started helping out at the store after school for a couple of hours. He enjoyed coming to the store and didn't feel like it was work but more like a way of getting closer to becoming an independent adult. He said he always worked hard and was a go-getter.

As the years went by, the store changed, people changed, and the neighborhood changed. Gary became an adult, there were new owners who changed the store name to D & F, the old regulars moved away because of a new job or family, and new regulars were always being formed. Eventually, the owners of D & F passed on the store to Gary who knew well of the business ever since he was a boy who swept the floors and slowly moved his way up.

What makes D & F special is its longevity. Even after more than half a century, customers still come by for the salami, cheese, prosciuttos, and Gary’s home-made tomato sauce.

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS? “Probably work a few more years and hand the store over to somebody else. I’ll worry about what I’ll do next when it happens. Like they say, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”

Gary told us that it takes a lot of time, effort, and passion to run the store. The long hours can be very exhausting. “If you don’t have passion for what you do, it’s very difficult.”

Gary with his books and stickers!

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Zaragoza Mexican Grocery and Deli

This is Pompeyo Martinez and he is the owner of Zaragoza Mexican Grocery and Deli, located on 13th street and Avenue A.

When we first entered Zaragoza, we were intrigued by the small decorations on the interior and exterior of the store. We also noticed all the Mexican sodas, canned food, and home made salsa which we normally wouldn’t see at a deli. We spoke to Pompeyo while he was chopping cabbages and preparing the food for the customers to ask him about his store.

We also met his son, Ruben, and wife, Maria. They told us that the family has been running the store for 15 years now and were excited to tell us more about their story. Maria and Ruben sat us down at the tables, gave us delicious tacos to eat, and we listened to their interesting family history. Ruben kindly translated for us since Maria was more comfortable with speaking in Spanish.

Pompeyo and Maria had met before they came to New York in the 70′s. In 1979, Maria followed her sister to Oregon to start a better life and worked at a hotel as a house keeper. Pompeyo came in 1980 for more opportunities as well where he met Maria again. They decided to go back home together to get married in 1982, then came to New York to start a brand new life together.

Pompeyo started his way up to opening Zaragoza Deli by working at restaurants and grocery store for ten years where he built relationships with people in the business and with people who have been around the neighborhood for many years. It was an adventure for him when he decided to finally open his own store in 2000.

In the beginning, there were no tables, no mural on the wall, and there were more grocery products sold, such as paper towels. The Martinez family decided to change it up and stay away from being a traditional grocery because there was a large one right around the corner. Pompeyo decided to stick with where he came from by focusing on more Mexican products, bringing in a digital jukebox, and setting up tables for people to sit and enjoy the food.

The best thing about working with your family members is that everybody helps each other out. Maria’s main role might be cooking but that doesn’t mean that Pompeyo or Ruben doesn’t cook or prepare the food. At the end of the day, family always comes first.

What is your motivation? I like people and I like when they tell me that the food is delicious.

Do you have any future goals? To open a Mexican restaurant eventually.

Group picture with the customers!

And lastly, Zoro.

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Spice Corner Deli

This is Jamal Uddin and he is the owner of Spice Corner Deli which is located on 27th and Lexington Ave in NYC.

Jamal was very kind and welcoming to us when we entered the store one night and asked him about his story of how he came to be a store owner in NYC.

He told us that he had opened this store as New York Deli Inc. 17 years ago after working as a chef at a small Indian restaurant nearby and later on changed the name to Spice Corner Deli. He is originally from Bangladesh and had a business there where he sold fish, shrimp, many different seafood.

One day in 1989, Jamal won the Visa lottery to the states. He felt that it was a great opportunity for him and his wife and daughters so he chose to fly over to New York.

Like many other people who leave their home to a different country, Jamal had a difficult time adjusting to the new life. He worked very hard by working as a chef at an Indian restaurant as mentioned before and slowly was able to also open a deli.

He said he worked very hard because there is a lot of competition. We could tell that the reason why Spice Corner Deli was around for this many years through all the competition down the block is Jamal’s sincerity to his workers and his customers. As we were speaking with Jamal about his life, he and his customers kept conversing on the side like an old neighborhood friend even if the customer only stops by for a coffee once a day.

When we lastly asked him what his future goals were, he said he is very happy and thankful for what he has today. He couldn’t be more thankful that his family is able to be with him in the states and also be able to go on vacations and see his grandchildren.

Jamal said we reminded him of his grandchildren and gave us snacks and coffee.

Zine about Spice Corner Deli and Jamal created just for him.

Jamal and Jamal