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Virginia’s R.T. Smith’s Deli joins 7th annual Deli Month to save jewels of Jewish life.

Bagel sandwiches and other delectable options await on the menu at R.T. Smith's Deli.

If there was ever a time to explore the world of New York-style delicatessens or just nosh over memories of them, August is it when the 7th annual, nationwide National Deli Month returns to communities across the country.

Representing the Virginia is Roanoke’s famed R.T. Smith’s Deli & Chop House in Downtown Roanoke. The deli, which has become well known for its commitment to serving the highest quality deli products as well as its community first responders.  

First begun in August 2016 through a collaboration of Houston’s Kenny & Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen & Restaurant owner Ziggy Gruber and Jay Parker, owner of Ben’s Best Deli in Rego Park, New York, National Deli Month celebrates the great American heritage of Jewish delicatessens, plus raises money for charitable organizations in all their communities. The number of participating delis represent communities from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale to Houston to Chicago to Cambridge and Phoenix and includes the states of New York, Arizona, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, California, Ohio, Virginia and Florida. For a full list of locations and delis, visit www.delimonth.com.

Located at 10 Campbell Ave SE in Roanoke, R.T. Smith’s may be as well known for serving two of the largest Reubens in Roanoke. That claim can be tested during National Deli Month when the deli will be donating 17% of the sales of its Ladder 1 Double Stack Reuben and its Tower 1 Triple Stack Reuben directly to Roanoke Fire/EMS for them to include in the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb funding effort.

In 2016, a national documentary film, “Deli Man,” raised the alarm on how delicatessens, an integral part of every Jewish community in the first half of the 20th Century, are rapidly disappearing. Since then, more have closed, including the 67-year-old Time Deli in San Jose, Calif., the famed Carnegie Deli, open since 1937 in New York, the 51-year-old Jack’s Deli in Philadelphia and the Lenny’s Deli on Baltimore’s Corned Beef Row. In 2018, one month before National Deli Month began and more than 45 years after it opened, co-founder Ben’s Best closed its doors.

Both the importance and challenges of this great cultural institution is the focus of a new national exhibit,“I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli. Open in Los Angeles, the deli exhibit will be traveling to other locations in the country, including Houston and New York.

But delimavens everywhere have united to bring renewed attention to their unique and truly American businesses by celebrating National Deli Month for the month of August.

Participating delis across the country will be offering specials, from signature dishes to multi-course prix fixe menus that not only provide a chance to try a number of outstanding traditional deli dishes, but also give a portion of each meal sold to a charity in that community.

National Deli Month runs Aug. 1-31. For locations, menus and charities, visit www.delimonth.com. Learn more about R.T. Smith's Deli at rtsmithsdeli.square.site.

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