viCARIous: Delis of Riverside Avondale

[Metro Jacksonville]

viCARIous:  Delis of Riverside Avondale



Yesterday, for lunch, I had a tabbouleh rider and a cherry limeade at a deli down the street.  Phil had a steak-in-a-sack. If you live in Jacksonville, you know what I'm talking about. But if you've never been to northeast Florida, you?re probably reading this with a blank stare.  What's a "rider"?  Steak-in-a-sack?

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-oct-vicarious-delis-of-riverside-avondale

[simms3]

I practically grew up with the Salems (Whiteway's).  If you grew up in Ortega or Avondale, you were a regular there (and we have a charge account, as in "oh my mom will pick it up next time she comes in" hehe).  I know just about everyone from which the menu is named.  The Ann Beard special is probably one of the most if not the most popular item and she was my kindergarten teacher   Love how it ties into the community so well.

Goal Post, also pretty good, and same with Pinegrove (only been once there), and the infamous Shiek!  Never even heard of the other places with the exception of my namesake (won't say which one ha), but thanks for sharing!!

Yea Jax has a lot of Arabs who are ironically now mostly Catholic or even Episcopalian.  Toney Sleiman and his huge family can be counted in, the Salems, the Batehs, the Farahs, and the list goes on.  Love how much they have influenced Jax culture.  I swear we have more Arab delis and hookah restaurants per capita than anywhere I've ever been.  Have the Filipinos or Croats influenced Jax as much? (2 other ethnic groups that have much higher than average concentrations here)

[Overstreet]

I used to work across the street from Richard's. Can't remember how many camel riders and tuna riders I had there.

[Dog Walker]

Michael's, Gina's, Hovan, Goal Post, the list goes on just among the sandwich shops.

Simms, most of the Arab families are not "ironically now mostly Catholics", they were ALWAYS Christian, probably descended directly from the FIRST Christians.  It started in that part of the world you know.  There are actually very few Muslim families among the Syrian/Lebanese/Palestinian families in Jacksonville and they are recent immigrants.

And how much poorer Jacksonville would be without the culture, cuisine and entrepreneurial energy these families have brought here.

[Jumpinjack]

We've eaten at all these places and, Cari, you are right - they are serving local, fresh, uniquely tasty food. Their customers know it too. Come early or come late otherwise plan to wait.

Gina's and Michael's also serve a three-way or four-way salad which is a choice of their freshly prepared salads (pasta, tabouli, chicken or tuna, fruit, Greek,etc). They really believe in feeding their customers well so plan on sharing and maybe having left-overs.

[MusicMan]

What about Hovan in Five Points?

[stjr]

Another pair of sandwich shops in this genre are Andy's Sandwich Shop (on Lane Avenue north of I-10) and Andy's Farmers Market Grill (in the Jacksonville Farmers Market on Beaver Street).  Both owned by another Middle Eastern descent owner, Andy Akel.

There are other Sheiks around town. Not sure if all the same owner, family, or other.

Is the Lubi family Middle Eastern?  Their menu is similar to these stores as well.

[simms3]

Simms, most of the Arab families are not "ironically now mostly Catholics", they were ALWAYS Christian, probably descended directly from the FIRST Christians.  It started in that part of the world you know.  There are actually very few Muslim families among the Syrian/Lebanese/Palestinian families in Jacksonville and they are recent immigrants.

Yea I got that (most of the Arabs in Detroit are practicing Muslims, btw), but it is actually ironic that most (like 90%) of Arab families here are Christian and not Muslim (and actually many of the grandparents and beyond were Muslim, having been told that from a classmate of mine).  All of the kids of these families went to BK, EHS, or Bolles, lol, and they all go to St. Matthews, St. Mark's, St. Joseph's, or St. Paul's.

Also, Sheik's is a local [Arab] chain, Hovan is a national [Greek] chain.  I have seen Hovans in almost every city I have been in, whether it's the airport or the mall.  The employees of Hovan are schoolgirls, so it doesn't count, and besides, it's more Greek than Middle Eastern, though the similarities abound.

[deathstar]

Gina sure has changed the 'ole 5 Points Deli up quite a bit! The room all the way to the back has a stairwell that goes upto a room with roof access. There are also doors leading to the shops along Park Street. My Uncle kept a few food coolers back there, and the other shops kept mannequins, magazines and random clothing from time to time.

The Deli I remember had seating down a narrow hallway, it's nice to see Gina really opened it all up. Thanks for the pictures, I'll have to stop by soon and say hello!

[ChriswUfGator]

Simms, most of the Arab families are not "ironically now mostly Catholics", they were ALWAYS Christian, probably descended directly from the FIRST Christians.  It started in that part of the world you know.  There are actually very few Muslim families among the Syrian/Lebanese/Palestinian families in Jacksonville and they are recent immigrants.

Yea I got that (most of the Arabs in Detroit are practicing Muslims, btw), but it is actually ironic that most (like 90%) of Arab families here are Christian and not Muslim (and actually many of the grandparents and beyond were Muslim, having been told that from a classmate of mine).  All of the kids of these families went to BK, EHS, or Bolles, lol, and they all go to St. Matthews, St. Mark's, St. Joseph's, or St. Paul's.

Also, Sheik's is a local [Arab] chain, Hovan is a national [Greek] chain.  I have seen Hovans in almost every city I have been in, whether it's the airport or the mall.  The employees of Hovan are schoolgirls, so it doesn't count, and besides, it's more Greek than Middle Eastern, though the similarities abound.

Hovan only has a few locations here in central/north florida and in Atlanta, it's not a national chain. It's homegrown.

Maybe it's a common name.

[simms3]

Really?  I'm mistaken then.  I have eaten at one here in Atlanta (there's one in Lenox).

Edit: Zoe's Kitchen is expanding and that's Greek influenced.  Named for a girl named Zoe ********'s grandmother, Zoe, at least that's what I'm told.  Zoe ******** grew up in Ortega, but her family is from Alabama (her mother is the Greek side and father is the AL side), and her dad owns Underwood Jewelers.  Side note: Mr. ******** who owns Underwood is in a way the head or related to the head of the oldest continuously operated business in the U.S., or something along those lines.  Indirectly, I guess, Underwood, through its merger with the AL business, became the oldest operating business in the U.S.

[ChriswUfGator]

Didn't know that, neat that it's a local place. I like Zoe's a lot, simple and good.

[thekillingwax]

Michael's is awesome. I used to work the 12-9pm shift at St. V's and my lunch came right around 4pm, when they were getting ready to close up. I'd go and order a sandwich or a salad plate and the older lady manning the counter would always give me two huge takeout boxes filled with all the salads and stuff that they didn't want to keep overnight, sometime entire packs of pita bread as well.

[RainDoggie]

I worked in Riverside for several years and would regularly walk to Gina's for lunch.  I haven't been there in awhile but now my mouth is watering.  I'll have to find an excuse to drive over to 5-Points for lunch at Gina's sometime soon.

[David]

Very cool article. I tried the Cuban out from Pinegrove deli (which I never knew existed until reading this) and they weren't lying about the portions. One half is all you need. What's even better about pinegrove is they're actually open until 7:30 on the weeknights, rare hours for a deli in Riverside. I look forward to hitting up the other joints later.