East Coast Deli- The Connection

We share meals with our family members, good friends and even sometimes our coworkers. The people we end up spending most of our lives with are in fact our coworkers. So what is so special about a team lunch? The connection... ultimately the bond that is created between people through sharing a meal. Food is a common tie between every person on this Earth; we need it to survive and the meal has created a venue in which people can get to know each other.

Therefore, when a team luncheon was discussed I was the first one to sign up to participate. I enjoy good company as much as I enjoy a good meal and fortunately for me, that day I had both. We decided to get our order to go since there was horrible weather outside and more importantly having visited East Coast Deli at lunch it has notoriously slow service.  But please don't let their slow service turn you off of trying the food.

I love East Coast Deli’s hot sandwiches and my favorite is the Tampa Bay. The Tampa Bay is the hot turkey sandwich with warm melted Swiss cheese, thick slices of avocado and mayo stacked perfectly on butter grilled sourdough bread.  There is always a ton of meat and the only complaint I have is that it is too difficult to look ladylike while eating this mouthwatering sandwich.

Now, you have to get the potato salad for your side. I love love love their potato salad. Why do you ask? Because it is simple and it is back to the basics; potato, onion, thinly sliced pieces of carrot and mayo. I am extremely picky about my potato salad...I dislike the over powering egg, olives and mustard used in others' potato salad.



My coworkers ended up sampling a variety of different items which were scrumptious:

There was another sandwich that was ordered that day which sincerely made me question my choice for lunch. It was the Southside Special which consists of a thick hot layer of roast beef, yummy melted jack cheese, green chilies to kick up the heat and tomato and mayo on again delectable butter grilled sourdough bread.



The cobb salad is an explosion of colors, like a confetti of food, with greens, reds and yellows. The cobb salad has slices of grilled chicken, fresh pico de gallo, crunchy pieces of bacon, cheddar cheese, red onions and chopped egg.  Again it was a hearty salad that could be shared by two or three people.

One of my coworkers ordered the Chef salad now when I think salad I think of small not filling light meal. But, this Chef salad blew my concept of salads right out of the water. It had these massive rolls of turkey, roast beef, ham, American and Swiss cheese.  They honestly can be described as meat pinwheels of color. The salad was topped off with the usual suspects; hard boil egg, tomatoes, cucumbers and artichoke hearts.