New owners of a long-time restaurant can be a dicey matter, but at the Lemon Grove Deli & Grill, Tom and Lynne Roberto are making everyone’s favorite place even better. The Robertos have made food their business for more than 45 years.
“So it’s only fitting that we buy a restaurant about the same age,” joked Lynne Roberto.
New owners of a long-time restaurant can be a dicey matter, but at the Lemon Grove Deli & Grill, Tom and Lynne Roberto are making everyone’s favorite place even better. The Robertos have made food their business for more than 45 years.
“So it’s only fitting that we buy a restaurant about the same age,” joked Lynne Roberto.
The Robertos are both in their mid-sixties, not the age one would think to venture into the frenzied world of operating a restaurant, they admit. But it has always been Tom Roberto’s dream to own his own restaurant ever since he worked with Dave Castaneda at the Love’s Wood Pit Barbecue in Mission Valley during their college years.
“It’s all about being in a big Italian family,” he said.
The Lemon Grove Deli has become part of the family for the Robertos.
“We have a pretty big clientele, with over 500 comments about us on Yelp,” he said.
That number is likely to jump even higher with the addition of brand-new air conditioning, come Aug. 12.
“It will be a nice 70 degrees in here,” he said.
Tom Roberto has a good head about restaurant business partly because he spent many years as a young man working for his family’s private home catering business located in Hancock Park, Los Angeles. Lynne Roberto started catering for them when she was 19.
“We spent the next 15 years working nights and weekends serving some of Hollywood’s most illustrious, and some of the wealthiest people in the Los Angeles area.”
After they married in August 1975, Tom Roberto started in wholesale food sales. He worked for several companies until he landed in the meat industry. For 40 years, he sold meat and meat products across the country, for such names as Hoffy, Armour, John Morrell, Zacky, Foster Farms and even our own local San Diego Tarantino Meat Co.
In the meantime, Lynne Roberto did all the cooking for their four children, their various friends, Scouts, sporting groups and quite a bit of charity work.
“In each group, I was always cooking, sometimes for as many as 200 by myself. Everything in our lives it seems has revolved around food and we really love to entertain,” she said.
When last year Tom Roberto started looking for a good restaurant to run, their friend from El Pollo Grill down the street told them about the Lemon Grove Deli.
The Robertos saw the area of Lemon Grove as very appealing, reminding them of the Larchmont area where they had the catering shop in Los Angeles.
The deli itself was dingy and they knew it was going to require a lot of work but it had “good bones,” as Lynne Roberto described it.
Besides, there was a wonderful longtime staff, all of whom the Roberts have come to love.
Tom Roberto decided he wanted to run the deli with their daughter Elena. The three of them now work together making all the changes and modifications as a family.
So as not to scare off the regular customers, the Robertos started out with small changes. They kept on the menu all the great sandwiches and the huge servings. They did add much better quality of meats and breads. New on the menu are a few sandwiches and for the old standbys some tasty add-ons such as Sriracha Mayo, Garlic Aioli, Jalapeno Mayo and Creamy Pesto.
Tom Roberto said the breakfasts at the deli are also hugely popular.
“Bring somebody along to help you to eat breakfast here because the servings are big,” he said with a smile.
The Robertos have already spent quite a bit of money in getting the restaurant to the next level. “We have to bring the deli up to the 21st century,” he said.
The patio is a great place to eat, offering a pleasant street view of the townspeople walking by. Two ceiling fans keep the breezes going.
It’s cozier inside, too, with new lighting, wood siding, San Diego area photos and a new easier-to-read menu. There is also now Direct TV and free WIFI.
Future plans for Lemon Grove Deli include expanding the catering side of the business. The Robertos’ first big catering job at the deli was the Seniors Graduation Breakfast at Mt Helix High School for 500 students and teachers.
Tom Roberto said that he plans in the future to soon offer deli meats and cheeses for purchases.
“Like a true New York-style deli,” he said.
Lemon Grove Deli is located at 7860 Broadway in Lemon Grove.
