Local delis seeing uptick in customers with holiday shopping surge in full swing

High-quality meat is in high demand this holiday season.

“We’ve been catering every day for Christmas already,” says Mike Castro, owner of Roosevelt’s Deli.

Castro said popular menu items include chicken francese, penne vodka, meatballs and sausage with peppers.

He says this year, customers are on a tight budget.

“People are a little more price conscious, they’re not freely spending. Just making sure they don’t over order, and they get exactly what they need,” he says.

Castro says he noticed more holiday shoppers going to their local deli’s instead of grocery store deli’s.

“It’s definitely a spike in our numbers and production, so it helps a lot. Especially, this year alone has been a little bit hard I think for everybody,” he says.

Castro says holiday hosts even started securing Christmas pre-orders weeks ahead of Thanksgiving to prepare for family meals, small get-togethers and this year’s most popular: office parties.

“Everybody wants to celebrate; I mean it’s a holiday. Everybody wants to eat good food and enjoy company,” says Castrol.

Roosevelt’s Deli will cater parties with up to 50 people with a 24-hour notice. For parties with more, they ask for at least 48 hours to prepare. The staff can handle a catering order for up to 750 people.