Myer’s Delicatessen celebrates 65th anniversary South end business a beloved part of Winnipeg By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 6:00 AM CDT Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023

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This article was published 01/11/2023 (1072 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A jovial welcome broke out as Bernie Tapper entered the deli.

“Hey Bernie, how are ya?” owner Harrison Steek said after exchanged hellos between his staff and the customer.

Tapper rolled his walker in — typical behaviour for a Tuesday morning. He’s been ordering from Myer’s Delicatessen on Tuesdays and Fridays for years. How many years, he’s not sure.

Long enough to see its founding and three rounds of ownership.

“They’ll get you what you want,” Tapper said, answering why he’s stuck around.

A sign on the door advertises Myer’s Delicatessen’s 65th anniversary.

“It’s kind of like being in an episode of Seinfeld constantly,” said Steek, 39.

There are the regular customers with jokes and usual orders of meats and sandwiches. The deli space is small — 10 people inside makes the place feel packed, Harrison noted.

He’s owned the longtime business at 1842 Grant Ave. for the past 13 years.

It was handed down from Danny Weinberg and, before him, Myer Ludwig. Ludwig started the south end deli in 1958. He’d previously worked at Oscar’s Deli on Main Street with his three brothers and believed there were too many people to make a fair profit.

Both Ludwig and Weinberg sold Jewish treats. Chopped liver, chicken soup with matzo balls and kasha varnishkes were on the menu 14 years ago.

But when Steek bought the business, the site was bare aside from some Coca-Cola cans in a fridge — the previous owner was in poor health, Steek said.

“We saw a lot of potential,” the former restaurant worker exclaimed. “We just thought, ‘You know what, this is something we can work with,’ and we went for it.”

His family became his first co-workers.

They didn’t know much about the industry, noted Garth Steek, Harrison’s father and a former River Heights-Fort Garry city councillor. His son travelled to delis in New York, Montreal and Minneapolis for inspiration.

The junior Steek recalled Montreal’s smoked meat being a huge deal.

He inked a contract for smoked meat with Lester’s Deli, which touts itself as the “best Montreal smoked meat sandwich spot.”

“There’s certain things you leave to the people who have been doing it for 100 years,” Steek said. “They clearly know what they’re doing.”

Still, Myer’s Delicatessen acts as the “antithesis” of the traditional Montreal smoked meat sandwich — paper-thin slices here, not the thick cuts found east, Garth stated.

The family brought in counters and stools, family pictures, Coca-Cola signs, framed retro photos. They began selling sandwiches, they started catering.

“The first few years, we may have questioned ourselves, but once we kind of got our feet on the ground, (we) never regretted a second,” said Steek. “We’ve had so much fun.”

Now, a handful of staff shuffle behind the deli counter, slicing meat and bagging Gunn’s Bakery cookies.

They use the deli’s original coleslaw recipe, something so secret that both Ludwig and Weinberg would pre-make it before leaving for vacation instead of telling staff its ingredients, Steek said.

Employees now know the recipe.

They’re also bringing their own dishes to the table. Alisa El Atrash’s borscht may be up for sale soon.

The Ukrainian came looking for a job roughly four months ago — Myer’s Delicatessen keeps a Ukrainian flag in its window.

El Atrash regularly brings in baking and borscht for staff, Steek raved.

“I come in special time, in time when I need,” El Atrash said Tuesday, in the midst of making sandwiches. “They are very, very good people. They give me, I think, new chance to build my life again.”

The small eatery is always busy, noted David Das, owner of neighbour business Das Repair Centre.

“Good people always bring out good feelings,” he said. “It’s good that the place (has been) around as long as that.”

Customers have gifted old bottles, celebrity photos and an antique cash register to Myer’s Delicatessen. The business sometimes gives the vintage books it displays away; bread loaf ends are bagged and free for taking.

“The emphasis is on family… in whatever way you see it,” Garth said. “I think that’s what distinguishes us.”

The company has a second location, Myers Dockside, in Kenora. The hut opens in May and closes in September; it fits two staff members inside to service a customer line outdoors. Other than that, Steek has no plans for more delis.

“I think one thing COVID taught us is bigger isn’t necessarily better,” he said.

He hopes to expand Myer’s Delicatessen’s catering side. Staff create upwards of 400 sandwiches daily.

They’ll keep taking orders on their rotary dial phone, greeting customers by name and slicing meat for years to come, Steek expects.

“We hope to be here for another 65,” he said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com