Comfort. Food.

As I was delivering food to a family's table the other day at W. D. Deli, I was stopped by the mom at the table.  "I've been bringing my daughters here since they were little," she said, gesturing toward her two beautiful daughters, each in their early adulthood. "And now this one's starting her master's program in English, and this one is starting the nursing program at SAC." She was beaming with pride for both of the girls. "And this one," she said, indicating the nursing student, just told me that she plans to be proposed to by her future husband at W. D. Deli, and she plans to have her bridal shower at W. D. Deli. That's the kind of thing that we love to hear.

Henry's been a good and loyal customer pretty much since infancy.

We don't really offer what I'd call comfort food - there's no chicken fried steak on the menu. We don't have mashed potatoes and gravy. But we do have tasty, freshly made stuff like great sandwiches and salads and soups - and delicious from-scratch desserts. And though it's not what you might consider comfort food, there must be something comforting about dining at W. D.  We continue to enjoy having friends and family come visit us at the deli.

It's especially rewarding when people tell us that they think of W. D. as a special place for them.  A gay couple, both in the military, confided one day that they wanted us to know how they felt about W. D. Deli. They'd been coming to the deli since the 1990s, bringing their daughter sometimes, and always feeling at home.  Other families have shared that the deli is a special place - sometimes to celebrate (a graduation, a birthday, an "A" on a project) and sometimes to regroup after an especially stressful day ("Let's go get cake!").

Other customers who have become friends and friends who are customers have expressed this "comfort" feeling in other ways. More than once, we have been the first job for someone's son or daughter. And in some of those cases we were chosen as that "first job" because the parents felt that being at W. D. Deli would be a good experience for their child. They felt that the son or daughter would be safe. For us those experiences have been really special, and we always look forward to those young people coming back to visit whenever they're home for the holidays and/or summer from college, or back visiting from wherever they live now.

If you've GOT to plan a wedding, you might as well do it over iced tea and caesar salad.

I jokingly tell customers that "Everyday is like throwing a party. You never know who's going to show up." We've hosted everything from weddings to wakes - and everything in between - here on Broadway.  Graduation parties. Rehearsal dinners. Christmas parties. So the nursing student's bridal shower deal will fit in just fine... But first, maybe we should work on that proposal.