Meet my ‘Pops’ on the left with my late grandfather in Somerville, Massachusetts (1973) in front of my grandfather’s Angelina’s Sub Shop on Holland St. The deli was run by my grandfather who loved food and people which was his recipe for running a successful establishment along with his great work ethic.

My Pops worked in the shop for several years learning the craft of sandwich making from my grandfather. He started at food prep where he would slice the vegetable toppings and steak for the cheesesteaks. Then he moved on to the topping station, and eventually to the grill where he would find that he had a niche for cooking.

Sooner or later it was time for Pops to blaze his own trail leaving Angelina’s for other opportunities. My grandfather sold the business in the late 80s and moved back to the place he was born.

Fast forward to 2009, my brothers and I hearing our Pops talk about how the sandwich shops, ‘are not like they used to be,’ prompted us to ask Pops if he was ready at one last run at the restaurant business this late in his life. To our good fortune, he reluctantly agreed resulting in us opening the doors to Pop’s Deli on Shelby Dr. in Memphis, Tennessee.

My grandfather’s recipe for success still works today, but a blessing in disguise was the gap from the 70s to 2009 that my dad did not work in the restaurant business. He wanted the same ingredients he was familiar with in the 70s. Real food prepped by the establishment’s employees themselves is how it should be done. Processed refined meats were unthinkable and scoffed at when pushed by food sales personnel.

Today at Pop’s Deli we slice our own steak for the Philly cheesesteaks, pat our own hamburger patties from ground beef, cook our own chicken for the chicken Philly, and slice our own vegetables. Our Hoagies are fresh baked from La Baguette in Midtown. We use Boar’s Head Brand Deli meats that contain no preventives, cereals, or fillers. Everything is made to order and hot off the grill.

Please come give us a try if you haven’t already and if you have, come see us again. We are on Shelby Dr. in the Capleville neighborhood that exemplifies the city mantra of Grit & Grind. We make food to satisfy the appetite of the hard working public, and plan on doing so for years to come.