Deli 88 offers a subculture of food worthy of the trip

Deli 88 is already steeped in history, even though the restaurant opened only a few weeks ago.

Owners Beth and Wendell Heid say there are only so many variations on grill and café, and Deli 88 just made sense.

“It’s hard to come up with a name,” said Wendell.

“It’s like naming a child,” said Beth.

“We were trying to get back to our initial love of the beach. We met in 1988 when we were both working at Funland in Rehoboth,” said Beth.

Both had spent summers in the Cape Region for years. Beth is originally from Newark; Wendell is originally from the Chevy Chase, Md. area.

“This also happens to be 18388 Coastal Highway,” said Wendell.

The Heids say they might be contrarians as entrepreneurs opening a restaurant in today’s economic climate, but sometimes that’s precisely what leads to success.

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” said Wendell, who constructed most of the restaurant’s interior.

The Heids said they talked about opening a business for years but life happened – jobs found, jobs lost, a family started, a house purchase and so on.

“We have three children now. Wendell’s job as a pilot [airline] was a very good job to have when we were considering opening a business because his schedule was kind of flexible,” said Beth.

But when he was furloughed from two jobs back-to-back and Beth had stopped working in public relations, the couple had a decision to make.

“We thought if not now, when? We had a couple of options,” Beth said.

A move? Not a good time to sell a house. New jobs? Choices were few and the job market really tight.

“We thought this might be a good time to go into business. There’s a lot of commercial space available, and we looked around at a few places, but this one jumped out at us,” Beth said.

Among the Heid’s priorities at Deli 88: keeping food quality high and keeping prices low.

“This is now where we eat, and we’re picky eaters. We want things to be really fresh and of really good quality,” said Beth.

Breakfast can be as simple as two eggs, toast, hash browns and bacon, sausage, scrapple or ham and lunch as simple as a tuna sub.

The Heids say Deli 88 is optimally located – on the corner of a shopping center anchored by two long-established businesses Atlantic Cellular and Bill’s Sport Shop.

“The center’s locally owned, so were not dealing with a management company out of Philadelphia or New York. They understand the local economy,” said Wendell.

Deli 88 opens at 6 a.m., which makes it a worthwhile stop for anglers in search of a bite on the run and something for later as well.

“Another asset of this shopping center is you can pull a boat in with your truck and loop around without having to do a 50-point turn,” Beth said. She said freshness and quality are two reasons they selected Boar’s Head brand deli meats and cheeses.

“Boar’s Head is considered one of the highest-quality deli meats – not a lot of filler, few if any allergens, it’s gluten free, and it’s not pumped full of tons of water,” she said.

At least a couple of menu items pay tribute to friends, such as Gorassi’s meatball sub, named after one of Wendell’s pilot colleagues and the Big D sandwich – turkey, Swiss cheese, local jalapeno peppers (in season), lettuce, pickles, tomato and mayo on a sub roll – named after a friend whose truck helped move restaurant equipment.

Deli 88’s breakfast, served at until least 11 a.m., offers pretty much whatever you want served however patrons like it.

Breakfast sandwiches start at $1.99 for an egg only to $3.25 for a sandwich with an egg, breakfast meat and cheese.

The breakfast special, two eggs the way customers like them, toast or English muffin, bacon, sausage, scrapple or ham, hashed browns and coffee or tea is $4.88.

Three pancakes are $3.99, and one can pick and choose from an a la carte menu of items including eggs, meats, hashed browns and toast for $1.50 a serving.

If it’s a cup of coffee with a scone, muffin, cupcake or cookie desired, that’s not a problem. All are available as are yogurt, granola, cereal, applesauce and a fresh fruit cup.

The deli’s lunch sandwiches can be as eclectic as the pop music hit titles from which the restaurant borrows.

First there’s the Automatic for the People feature – all subs include provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, oregano, oil and vinegar and, if customers like, onions, hot or sweet peppers, mustard or mayo.

Sub prices are straightforward: Most 8-inch subs start at $6.95 or so and most 16-inch subs start around $10.95. An exception: the Italian with prosciutto at $11.45. Among Deli 88’s specialty sandwiches are Hungry Like the Wolf – roast beef, brie, lettuce, tomato and creamy horseradish, warmed on a Kaiser roll, $6.75; West End – roast beef, cheddar cheese, spinach and bacon, warmed on a baguette, $6.75; and Raspberry Beret – turkey, cheddar cheese, lettuce and raspberry vinaigrette on a baguette, $6.25.

There are also sandwiches named Sledgehammer, Marco Pollo – it’s chicken, Going Back to Cali, and Culture Club. Do these sandwich names strike a memory chord or what?

For the do-it-yourselfer there are cold cuts by the pound. The restaurant also has a sense of nostalgia for the beach area, complete with a long board stick and signage – legally acquired.

“Our breakfast is diner-esque. It’s not an enormous breakfast menu, but it’s kind of like on the streets of New York where customers can get an egg on a roll for breakfast.

“We can do an omelet on a sub roll and we do pancakes. Few places do pancakes, and we like pancakes,” said Beth.

Deli 88 hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The restaurant is closed on Sunday.

To phone in an order and for additional information, call Deli 88 at 302-645-0488 or go to deli88.net