Prima Deli celebrates 23 years of tradition in Redwood City

Quality ingredients and friendly, community-oriented service is what makes Prima Deli a Redwood City staple and its owner plans on sticking to the recipe.

From the high counter tops, the deviled eggs and potato salad in the deli case, and the playing cards used as order numbers, not much has changed about the quaint neighborhood deli at 2115 Roosevelt Ave. since David Ren Lazzareschi bought it in 2000. After David Ren Lazzareschi retired in 2012, his son, Jonathan Ren Lazzareschi, took over. The younger Ren Lazzareschi has worked there since he was 15 years old and said he doesn’t plan on changing much. Instead, he wants to remain focused on what his dad taught him.

“Keep things fresh,” Jonathan Ren Lazzareschi said about his plans for the shop.

A few of the dozens of customers who walked in on a recent Tuesday said it was their favorite deli.

One of those customers, William Smith, grew up in the neighborhood and said he’s been a customer for 45 years. Now, he lives in San Jose, but he tries to come in whenever he is in the area.

“Fresh bread and the meat is fantastic,” Smith said. “After I graduated from college I moved to Los Angeles for 10 years and I never found a deli nearly as good as this one.”

Similarly, Nancy Brown has lived in the Roosevelt neighborhood for 23 years and she said she’s been a customer the entire time.

“The food is wonderful, they make it fresh and they are friendly,” Brown said.

The menu features around 20 specialty cold or toasted sandwiches and offers five hot-pressed paninis. Jonathan Ren Lazzareschi said the most popular item is the Nor Cal, which comes with grilled chicken breast, white cheddar cheese, avocado and pesto sauce on a Dutch crunch roll. Jonathan Ren Lazzareschi said it’s all about the Dutch crunch, especially because it’s a Bay Area favorite.

Another favorite sandwich is Dave’s special, which was created by David Ren Lazzareschi. It comes with coleslaw, turkey and pastrami with melted jack and Swiss cheese. When the older Lazzareschi first bought the business he began making fresh coleslaw and potato salad in-house daily, Jonathan Ren Lazzareschi said, noting that tradition hasn’t changed. Jonathan Ren Lazzareschi’s mother also made deviled eggs that became so popular they had to keep it on the menu.

The deli offers primarily Boar’s Head meat and cheese. They also offer San Francisco’s Molinari and Sons salumi, such as prosciutto, Toscano salami, coppa, finocchiona salami and pancetta. And one of the most important ingredients of any sandwich is the bread. David Ren Lazareschi said the deli’s vendor Pacific Coast Baking Company, of South San Francisco, offers some of the best. Coming from a family of butchers, it was important the deli offered high-quality ingredients, he said.

Jonathan Ren Lazzareschi said he comes from a family of butchers. His grandfather, a World War II veteran, left Italy in the 1930s and became a butcher in San Francisco after the war. David Ren Lazzareschi was also a butcher and sold deli meat to Prima Deli’s original owner Pam Williams, who started the business in the 1970s.

“We were customers before we owned it,” Jonathan Ren Lazzareschi said, who noted their family lived in the area.

But the Ren Lazzareschis aren’t the only family tied to the business. For the last 23 years, Natasha Lutu has been an employee of the deli where her daughter, Alanna Lutu, has also worked for the past six years.

“I was pregnant with my daughter when I first started working here,” said Natasha Lutu as she prepared sandwiches next to her daughter Tuesday. “She’s a Prima baby.”

The deli has also been involved in the community, sponsoring school events, citywide sports teams and more than that the deli is in the middle of the Roosevelt neighborhood.

“I want to keep it really traditional, honestly. There are not too many deli sandwich places around like this anymore. I feel like they need to stick around,” Jonathan Ren Lazzareschi said. “We will cut you coppa and prosciutto and all that stuff really nice and you can’t get that at a lot of places anymore.”

Visit Prima Deli is located at 2115 Roosevelt Ave. at the Roosevelt Plaza. For more information call (650) 367-8553 and ask about its catering menu.