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Business & Tech

Bergstein's Brings New York Deli to Chicago Heights: Business Spotlight

Homewood couple celebrate third year running a New York-style deli in the Heights. Patch dug in and talked with the two men who run the business.

This month, celebrates its third year in business in Chicago Heights.

It has not always been easy, and it was especially difficult summer when the Dixie Highway bridge was closed.

”Last year, when they were doing construction on Dixie, our business just died,” said Bergstein’s owner, Harris Davis. “I questioned if we’d be in business at the end of the year.”

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That was until Harris' son Bill thought of putting the business on Groupon.

"It was huge for us," Harris said. "It was the biggest day we had in our history. After that, things just took off and haven’t stopped since. It’s all Bill. I’m really proud of what he’s done.”

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The sandwiches at Bergstein's are much like what one might find at a New York deli—corned beef, pastrami, turkey and some vegetarian items. To wash everything down, Bergstein’s serves Dr. Brown's soda in flavors that include black cherry, cream and even celery. 

“The celery soda is a New York item,” Harris Davis said. "They say it helps digest corned beef.”

Bill Davis, who runs the business these days, invited Patch to see what's new at Bergstein’s. He started with the kitchen on wheels, a new type of food truck. Built in Houston, it’s the first of its kind in Chicago, according to Bill.

“It’s the first Sprinter van that the company converted into a kitchen”, complete with a fridge, warmer, sink, steam table and fryer,” Harris Davis said. “You could tailgate at a Bears game with this van and not come home for weeks.“

The van draws a crowd, Harris said, because it also has a Nintendo connected to a flat-screen TV.

"So people hear the games and music, which draws a crowd. Not to mention the smell of good food,” Harris said.

Social media has been hugely helpful in drawing attention to the food truck, according to Bill.

"I will tweet when I leave the store, then tweet the location I’m at in Chicago," Bill said. "Monday through Saturday this truck is in Chicago. We post our schedule on Facebook and our website. We have some regular stops, such as the Willis Tower and the Chase Tower. The truck is somewhere different each day. If I see a potential lunch crowd I will stop.”

Back in the deli, the kitchen is incredibly clean, and a sampler plate is on display, featuring fresh whitefish, salmon, tuna, chicken and egg salads. All of the seafood is flown in from New York. 

Patch asked Harris and Bill Davis about their unique deli.

Patch: How long have you been in business?  

Harris: It will be three years, Sept. 15.

What made you want to start a local business?

Harris: I graduated from H-F (High School) in 1971. I only went there my senior year and moved back to New York. I came back to Homewood 23 years ago.

There used to be delis in the South Suburbs such as Al’s Deli and Fresser’s, which closed down. We really missed having a deli nearby so we were driving to Skokie for our deli fix. 

We always talked about having a restaurant because everyone in the family is into cooking. One of my daughters just graduated from Kendall Culinary School. She will be working with us to re-work the menu. Billy, who runs the business, went to grad school at DePaul with an undergrad in economics and pre-med, his master’s is in business information technology and he worked at JP Morgan. I sold the data processing business. We decided to say goodbye to the corporate world and give this a shot.

We have no competition here, and everyone loves corned beef, everyone loves good lox and bagels.

What are your specialties?  

Bill: Pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, our fresh fish salads, such as the baked salmon salad, which is a New York thing. Items that are hard to find in this area—it sets us apart from other delis. We have the triple-decker sandwiches, which feature 14 ounces of meat, two ounces of cheese, then we add a potato pancake.

We offer five homemade soups daily. The most popular are sweet-and-sour cabbage, along with matzo ball. For Thanksgiving we make a turkey sandwich with stuffing and cranberry sauce. 

Our catering is going well. We have a couple of set items such as a fish tray, sandwich tray, meat tray and deli tray. We’ve done custom trays with mini-sandwiches. Some people want only lox and cream cheese. We’ve even done Italian beef. 

Harris: We did a dinner for the National Council of Jewish Women featuring a whole Mediterranean menu. We will work with what the customer wants, and we work with any budget. We did work for Toi Hutchinson for about five weekends. We made smaller versions of our sandwiches to fit the budget.  

Bill: We try to make the trays a work of art. No two trays are the same. We pay a lot for our product. What we don’t make in-house, we bring in top of the line. We keep it high-end. We’re not a Subway or Quizno’s. I don’t consider them competition. 

We also have the black-and-white cookies made famous in a Seinfeld episode.

What makes a good deli? 

Harris: I think there are certain items that I look for in a deli. To me it’s all about corned beef and pastrami. If they’ve got good corned beef and pastrami, it’s going to be a good deli. You know when it’s got good flavor. Look for fresh fish (lox) and fresh bagels.

There (aren’t) a lot of delis in the Chicago area. We’re trying to bring more of the New York tradition to Chicago. A standard drink in a Chicago deli is the chocolate phosphate. In New York they don’t have that, they have egg cream, which is basically the same thing except the New York version we put milk in it. Then it has to be a certain chocolate syrup. The best syrup is Fox's. 

We also have a version of the SOHO sandwich—SOHO is corned beef and chopped liver. SOHO means south of Hosten, New York—that’s where it got its name. We offer a sandwich called SOVO. We call it south of Vollmer (Road).

Any specials?  

Harris: We have a $5 menu, which includes a sandwich, pickle and chips. We know how the economy is, so we wanted to provide options for people.

Any recommendations to those wanting to start their own business?

Harris:  If you want to do something, don’t worry about the economic conditions. If you have the resources to do it, just do it. You don’t know how things will turn out.

Who are your most notable customers?

Harris: Jesse Jackson Jr., (Park Forest Mayor) John Ostenburg and recently Rosie O’Donnell stopped by our van while we were in front of Harpo Studios. We sent some sandwiches in.

What's a memorable moment in running Bergstein's?

Harris: We have a huge loyal customer base. Some customers I see multiple times a day. I told one customer, I see him more than I see my wife. He said to me, 'Do you want to see how much I’m here?' He pulls out his Visa bill, puts it on the table and says, 'Look at this.'

It read: 'Bergstein’s, Bergstein’s, Bergstein’s.' We were 90 percent of his charges. So we named his favorite sandwich after him—it’s called Lou’s Second City. I figure he deserved it. 

When we go on vacation we tell ourselves no delis. Of course, every time we see a deli, we stop and eat. We’ve had people from New York come here and eat. They tell us it tastes just as good as the best delis in New York. After hearing that, I feel like we can match up to anybody.

Where are your favorite local places to eat? 

I love . I hit all the local spots in Homewood such as , and . There are some pretty good restaurants in Homewood.

Bergstein’s NY Delicatessen, 200 Dixie Hwy., unit F,  features open mic night and every other Thursday from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., with the next one being Sept. 22. Appetizers and drink specials are featured.

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