Sam Suchoff has been an important part of the Cedar Falls Courtyard shopping center by East for the past 10 years. He owns The Neighborhood Bar, barbeque restaurant The Pig, and now Deli Edison.
In early November, I went into The Neighborhood Bar to talk to Suchoff about his new restaurant, Deli Edison.
The Neighborhood Bar, which sits behind The Pig, felt relaxing and comforting when I walked into the small popup bagel shop that Suchoff was hosting to promote Deli Edison. The counter at the bar held fresh bagels with a toaster, various schmears and toppings from tomatoes to meats. The bartender greeted me with a smile, set down the glass he was holding and went to find Suchoff in the kitchen that connects to The Pig, and when Suchoff came out, we went outside to the shared seats in between the shopping center to talk about Deli Edison.
Deli Edison is Suchoff’s latest project with business partners Pete Wagner and Dan Obusan. It will be located in the building that used to house Bagel Bar, which used to be a popular bagel place. Deli
Edison will take the food selection a step farther, offering bagels and schmears but also offering baked goods, sandwiches, pizza and, my favorite, soft serve ice cream.
“We’re going to be like a semi- traditional deli…. We’ll have some baked goods like muffins and coffee cake and rugelach and cookies, and then we’ll have bagels and schmears and then sandwiches during lunch,” Suchoff said. “So, you know, very quick grab a sandwich, eat it out here, and you can hang out with your friends. You don’t have to worry if, you know, seven people brought their own lunch and one person wants to go out to eat, we’ve got picnic tables out here.” Deli Edison is set to open toward the beginning of December. Currently, the plan is to be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and, over time, the hours will eventually extend to 7 to 7, where breakfast, lunch and dinner will be available, at a price point that Suchoff believes “will be a little bit more friendly toward [being a lunch spot] for high school” compared to The Pig.
While I am excited about Deli Edison and the prospect of soft serve ice cream, others students had different opinions. Some, like senior Owen Pynn, are “willing to try it.” Others, like senior Sasha Nicole, are more skeptical.
“I also grew up going to Bagel Bar every weekend, and I don’t know how I’d feel, not even if it sounds like a better alternative,” Nicole said. “[Bagel Bar] is still a Chapel Hill classic, and that’s going to hurt…I’m going to be really sad if I don’t like it, because I really grew up going to [Bagel Bar].”
Suchoff opened The Pig around 10 years ago after the owners of the original BBQ joint there decided to sell. Seizing the opportunity, The Pig was started using sustainably raised pigs from the North Carolina Hog GrowersAssociation. A similar thing happened prior to Suchoff starting Deli Edison.
“Pete and I have been working on revamping the bar and we’d be sitting out here talking and kind of peeking in over there and noticed, like all the great stuff, and all the not so great stuff, like a huge potential, but just not the best follow through,” Suchoff said. “We could see that they were slowly winding down and sure enough, they put it up for sale, and we got our other buddy Dan to come take a look, and between the three of us, we thought, ‘Yeah, we can run that.’”
As I was talking to Suchoff, glancing over at the sleek subway tiles that now line Deli Edison, waiting to go back into the warm bar so I could eat a really good bagel, it seemed evident that Suchoff wants to make Deli Edison an inclusive place.
“I mean, what we’re trying to do is kind of add to the community,” Suchoff said. “The high school is part of the community, so we want it to be a place where high school students and people who live next door and folks who are painting houses down the road can all kind of be together.”
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