Nashville Food Friday: Mitchell Deli

One of the reasons I like my neighborhood so much is the proliferation of cool businesses nearby. When I first got my house, I loved its proximity to Mitchell Deli in Riverside Village. Since I moved over to the east side 4 years ago I've been a frequent customer and consistent cheerleader. I tell everyone that visits to get some sandwiches there. When my parents come to town they get breakfast there almost every day and sandwiches at least twice. I was excited when I heard that my favorite local deli was moving to a bigger and nicer location only a block from the old place! They just finished construction and opened up the new space this week, so we had to check it out.

The new space is HUGE! There appears to be at least three times the amount of seating available. The walls are floor-to-ceiling windows that I'm sure would bring in lovely natural light during the daytime (we went for dinner, so no sunshine for me). The counter space is long with a revamped order/pick up area. The salad bar is adjacent to the food line, thoughtfully placed rather than awkwardly taking up half the room. The best part is that the new space retains the overall feel of the old one.

One new addition is that they now have Sprecher Soda on tap. The soda taps are cute and I love that they have a good variety of flavors. I went for the cream soda and Steve had the root beer. I had a slightly difficult time working the soda tap- I had to pull really hard on the lever and the soda just trickled out. Maybe it's me or the fact that it's new and they haven't tweaked the system yet. I loved the cream soda and even though I am not a fan of root beer- I still tried it. Verdict: I still dislike it.

When I saw the Asian flank steak on the menu I was stoked. If my memory serves me well, this sandwich used to be a special that was only available one day a week. It appears to be on the menu all the time now which is a bonus for stomachs everywhere. I couldn't have been happier with my choice. It had tender steak cooked perfectly and surrounded with mayo, cheese and pickled vegetables on a hoagie roll. I couldn't get over how crispy and flavorful the veggies were and how perfectly it all worked with the smooth mayo. If you have never been to Mitchell- this or the Turkey Avocado Bacon is a good place to start. 

Steve went for the New York deli mainstay: Pastrami and Swiss. It was served on rye with spicy mustard, picked red onion, lettuce and tomato. The one bite that Steve let me have was really good- the bread was toasted just right and it had a healthy serving of meat. It's no wonder that my Dad orders this sandwich on the regular.

OH! They also have a Jukebox coming soon! I'm so happy for the staff of Mitchell and their new space! Everyone who works there is super friendly and the food is reliably awesome. I can't wait to come back and see how the new space handles the busy weekday lunch rush or the weekend morning brunch rush. I feel a breakfast burrito in my near future.