Cherry Deli & Catering
834 Cherry Street SEI know it’s a surprise, but sometimes I just don’t feel like a burger. As I was sitting at work contemplating my choices, deli sandwiches kept popping into my head. I know there are a couple deli’s near my place of employment. I just had to find one that’s open when it’s time for my lunch.
One of the Saturday night options is Cherry Deli & Catering. As the name implies, it’s located on Cherry Street just east of Eastern Avenue in Grand Rapids’ East Hills neighborhood. The building really blends in to the surroundings. It sort of looks like an old house with an “open” sign flashing in one of the side windows. It’s a building that is a great fit for the neighborhood. You know it’s a business, but it doesn’t assault you with ugly signs or a sterile facade.
It wasn’t a very busy time for them so parking was pretty easy. There are no lots in the area. Just street parking.
The deli is set up with an order counter on one end and seating in the remaining space. The menu is so large it doesn’t fit on just one chalkboard. There are several chalkboards hung around the space with all 55 of their sandwiches, 15 of which are vegetarian selections, as well as salads and soups. Fun fact, all the sandwiches have neighborhood themed names.
For some reason I was in the mood for pastrami. I checked the menu out on-line before making it to the store so I wasn’t as overwhelmed as I would have been had I just dropped in off the street.
Now, I like pastrami, but I don’t really like the tradition way of serving it with slaw and Russian dressing. That was one of the pastrami options, but I went with #46 which is called the Blodgett (named after the hospital down the road). The sandwich is a pressed creation with pastrami, capicola, fresh mozzarella, and marinated tomatoes. I left the tomatoes off.
You have the option of a whole or a half, but the prices don’t really reflect that. A half sandwich is not half price. In this case, it would have only been less than $2 cheaper, so I went with the whole. I passed on drinks and chips. The sandwich alone set me back a little over nine bucks.
As soon as my order was in, the two employees behind the counter went to work on putting it together. I sat at one of the tables in the dining area and picked up a wi-fi signal from somewhere to catch up on my Twitter and e-mail. I didn’t have much time though because by the time I got logged in, my sandwich was being wrapped up and ready for me to take back to work to eat.
I was a little put off by the price of the sandwich, but I felt better after I opened it up. The sandwich was a pretty good size. It wasn’t one of those NY style deli sandwiches, but there was a pretty good chunk of meat between the two nicely toasted pieces of bread. The fresh mozzarella in the sandwich was amazing. It wasn’t a sandwich slice. It was fresh balls that had been sliced thinly.
In the end, I was pretty happy with my choice to forgo the burger and get something a little lighter. Cherry Deli did a fantastic job of filling my anything not greasy craving. It’s not often that I would chose a deli over a burger joint, but when I do, I know there’s a place right down the street that satisfy that craving.
#44 The Blodgett
SW Michigan Dining 