A few weeks ago, a new Italian deli opened and has been gaining friends and customers since. The Palermo Deli & Italian Specialties is like a little taste of Brooklyn in Lakeside.
The Palermo Deli is located inside the Blue Water Market at 7254 U.S. Highway 93 S. in Lakeside (it’s inside the new gas station and convenience store near the Homestead Cafe).
Just go into the Blue Water Market and you’ll find a haven of Italian foods and traditions – open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., every day of the week.
The menu has all the sandwiches and dishes typically found at any corner Italian deli in Brooklyn. Of course, they have meatball and chicken parmigiana subs (“sandwiches”).
You’ll also find deli items, including the regulars (ham, roast beef, and turkey) and some hard-to-find delicacies such as cappicola and soppressata – and fresh-made mozzarella cheese.
Another good thing about the deli, it starts serving breakfast at 6 a.m. And if you’re in the morning rush, you can order ahead: (406) 844-0615.
So early risers along the west shore now have another great option for a good, early breakfast. There are the “classics,” such as bacon, egg and cheese on a roll, breakfast burritos, peppers and egg breakfast sandwiches, and breakfast plates made to order.
The lunch and dinner menu would literally take this whole article to describe. But let’s just put it this way: they have all kinds of pasta, including homemade lasagna, ravioli, manicotti, baked ziti, fettucine Alfredo, and much more.
And they have several Italian specialties so you can have your veal, chicken, or seafood entrées a la francese, parmigiana, etc. And they also have other hard-to-find specialties like chicken scarpariello, veal parlermo, and calamari marinara.
If you don’t have time to stop and eat, you can also buy their homemade meatballs and tomato sauce to go, so you can have a delicious foundation for any Italian meal you want to make at home. But the meatballs don’t seem to stay around very long, as they are often sold as soon as they are made. Which is actually a good thing since sometimes, you may get truly fresh, homemade meatballs that were just made to order seconds ago.
The Palermo Deli also keeps many of the Italian traditions that you’d find in Brooklyn. For example, many items on the menu are named after famous Italians (“paisans”), such as the “Dean Martin,” the “Tony Danza,” and the “Pavarotti” sandwiches.
If you think names don’t matter when it comes to Italian foods and menus, just look up how many “Ray’s Pizza” shops are in New York City, or how many Italian joints offer a “Frank-Sinatra-something” or a “Yogi Berra” appetizer of some kind.
And as the name implies (Palermo is a city in Sicily), the “Palermo Deli” has many Sicilian items – most notably the Sicilian-style pizza that you can buy “by the slice” (just like in Brooklyn).
So if you’ve been looking for quality, delicious Italian delicacies and favorites, look no further than the Parlermo Deli. It’s like a little part of Brooklyn right here in Lakeside. I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’…