Last week my good friend, Susan, and I decided to have lunch at the Yellow Deli located at 737 McCallie Avenue. With all the talk about this place, we didn’t know what to expect, only that her son and his friends were “regulars” at the deli and rave about the food.

It is really a very interesting place and the decor is perfect for conveying a nice, warm and cozy feel. We had to wait a short time because it seems this is a very popular place! We were seated upstairs and noticed a nice area for studying and/or conversations with comfortable sofas and chairs. We also noted outdoor seating areas on both levels.

Susan and I found everyone to be friendly and welcoming. Even while we were waiting, one lady kept coming around to make sure we knew we weren’t forgotten, advising that it wouldn’t be too long.

I couldn’t decide what to get because everything sounded so good, I wanted to try everything! I wish they had a special where you order half a sandwich with soup, since with soup, I can only eat half a sandwich (and I wanted to try the homemade soup-of-the-day). A lot of restaurants offer that type of special.

You can create your own sandwich (meat only $5.75; meat and cheese $6.25; cheese only $4.75) from the meat choices (roast beef, corned beef, turkey, chicken breast, and pastrami); cheeses (cheddar, provolone, hot pepper and swiss); and fresh-baked breads (whole wheat roll, pumpernickel, light rye, egg roll, onion roll, and kaiser roll). There are also several special sandwiches such as the Reuben, Deli Rose and Lamb (all priced at $6.75).

Yellow Deli also has several salads (tossed, chef and fruit) priced from $5.25 to $6.50). For the “health nut”, as the menu calls it, there is a Yellow Submarine sandwich for $6.75 featuring “sprouts and other healthy items”, as well as a Cranberry Cashew Salad ($4.75).

Susan decided to order the chili featuring Joy’s special cheese, accompanied by Jalapeno Cornbread ($5.75). I ordered pastrami on pumpernickel with swiss cheese and a cup of Jacob’s Stew (soup-of-the-day - $3.50; bowl is $5.75), which on this day was Creamy Cheesy Potato, served with sour dough seed bread.

While waiting for our lunch, Susan had an Iced Peach Mate ($2), and I enjoyed a cup of hot apple cider ($2). Both were delicious. Drinks from the “Juice Bar” include Carrot ($3), Papaya Mate’ ($2) and Banana Milk ($2.50). They also offer a selection of fruit Smoothies for $4. I am told they have the best coffee in town by a “coffee-holic”, but since I didn’t have any, I can’t tell you from experience.

The chili was quite good, and I loved the Jalapeno Cornbread (I could definitely go for another slice), which Susan shared with me! She said she really enjoyed the chili and would definitely order it again. I also liked the potato soup – creamy with plenty of potato chunks and melty cheese throughout. The sourdough seed bread is something that I wouldn’t mind having a whole loaf of – I really liked it. I could actually get addicted to this place!

My sandwich was more than I could eat so, as expected, I ended up taking half of it home. Yellow Deli does a good job with bread -my pumpernickel was enjoyable and the texture was sufficient to hold up, not allowing my sandwich to fall apart.

We did not try dessert (Carrot Cake, Cream Cheese Pie, Sweet Potato Pound Cake, Banana Bread, and Honey Bun), priced from $2 to $3.50 – we were just too full!

For breakfast Yellow Deli offers homemade Granola Cereal ($3.50) and a deli waffle with maple syrup ($3.75).

Hours for the Yellow Deli are 24 hours from 5 p.m. Sunday until 5 p.m. Friday.

We appreciate all the E-mails we’ve received asking that we re-establish our restaurant directory. Not only have we done that, but we now have a forum where you can put in your own comments on restaurants. Follow this link to the forum and start giving us your restaurant comments. At the top of the main forum page you will find a link to the restaurant directory. Chattanooga Dine Out

cdojanet@chattanoogadineout.com