Coffee and a Book Chick

A Walk About Town is a weekly feature hosted here at Coffee and a Book Chick. Anyone can participate! Write about a spot in your town, include the button for A Walk About Town, and add your link in the Linky below so that we can all visit your post. You don't need to include a picture to participate and although I will post on Thursdays, you can post yours any day of that week. Just make sure to add your link to the most recent week's post here at Coffee and a Book Chick, and if you're on Twitter, use the hashtag #AWalkAboutTown.

This is my dream. For either Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives or Adam Richman from Man vs. Food to come visit Route 58 in Virginia Beach, Virginia and give this deli/café/restaurant the proper attention they deserve.

*Warning ~ there will be a lot of CAPITAL LETTERS in this post.*
People, LISTEN. If you are in Virginia Beach, you must head to The Route 58 Delicatessen to EAT.

And, oh, I do mean eat. A LOT.

When we first walked in, the hustle and bustle of this cozy joint was perfect. With a retro feel and wicked awesome 1950s-style signs, I knew this was going to be *the* spot that would quickly become a regular hang out for us.

Talk about character!

Not only are the menus (pictured below) made to look like magazine advertisements, but even the owner Jeff Goldberg's REPORT CARD when he was a kid, is laminated and tacked to the wall. It was hilarious, setting just the right kick-back-and-relax atmosphere.

And. The. FOOD. Fellow lovers of food, I am not kidding. If you are in Virginia Beach ever, and I MEAN EVER, stopping at the Route 58 Deli is now my requirement for you. Let's just say that when one of the slogans on a server's t-shirt reads, "If you finish, we made a mistake," then you know you're in for the type of food that makes your eyes bug out when the server brings it to your table. And when other diners then peek over your shoulder to ask what you got, that's another good sign.

I'll start out with the coffee. I drink mine black with one sugar in it, and my husband has his with cream and sugar. We both ended up asking for to go cups when we neared the end of the meal, it was THAT GOOD.

And for the food? Ahhhh. I had a Potato Knish, which was some magical creation of hot, flaky, soft bread wrapped around mashed potato and more magic. I'm still dreaming about it. My husband ordered something called "The Almost Famous" omelet with PASTRAMI and CORNED BEEF HASH and a gazillion other tasty things in it, but it also had MORE corned beef hash on top of that, and then it was finished off with two potato latkes balanced on top, almost like an exclamation point at the end of it all. It was in your face eating pleasure. (Guy? Adam? Did you wanna visit yet?). To do this plate true justice, I would suggest you just visit Route 58 now and order it. Suffice it to say that my husband eats everything on his plate every time, but this time? He could only eat half of "The Almost Famous."

The place is inviting, the decor is retro-amazing, the food is to drool over and pack your bellies with, and the service is TOP NOTCH. The owner, Jeff Goldberg (still just a kid from Jersey, per his site), and his super-fantastic staff (thanks, to our server Rachael, who happens to be a blog writer herself at The Witty Hippie), have a rock solid deli that would make New York, Chicago, and Boston drool and dream.

"Go, you must," said the ever-wise Yoda to the awesome blog reader. "Tonight. And then, with a belly content, you sleep."

The owner's report card! Ha! Below grade level, my a#$

LOOK AT THIS!! Eat this Potato Knish in one sitting. Dare ya.

Join me this week! Have you walked about your town and want to share something fun, educational, or intriguing that represents where you live? Write up a post, add the button to your blog, and enter your blog link to the Linky below.