Restaurant news: New deli in Port Orange serves Boar's Head cold cuts, homemade soups
Port Orange recently welcomed a brand-new deli, serving Boar's Head meats and cheeses.
The Port Orange Deli, also referred to as the POD, opened shop at the start of December in the city’s Commonwealth Plaza, where the hidden gem has since served as locals’ go-to for homemade sandwiches, soups and sweets. Co-owners and friends Barry Gallaher, from south Florida, and Andreas Mike Schill, from Germany, tell me the eatery was a humble dream — an opportunity to serve quality food at unbeatable prices to a community they know well.
According to Gallaher, who previously owned a sports bar in Jacksonville for half a decade, the duo entertained the idea of opening a local eatery for several years but couldn’t seem to find a space that felt authentic to their vision.
When the two Port Orange residents came across the quaint space formerly known as Better Jerk Jamaican Restaurant, it was a natural winner. With only a three-month turnover, the eatery was renovated, repainted and remodeled, opening its doors right before the new year.
“This seemed like a pretty good to place to open, so we decided to give it a shot,” Gallaher said. “The vision was to be small — like sandwiches, hot dogs, ice cream, you know? That’s all we wanted, so that way, worst case scenario, it could be me or (Schill) working here and not have a problem, but little by little the menu has expanded into all kinds of stuff.”
What’s on the POD’s menu
The eatery’s expansive menu is a unique blend of German and American classics, offering made-to-order sandwiches, homemade soups, salads, baked goods, ice cream and more.
POD offers breakfast selections like the homemade quiche of the day, Down South Biscuits and Gravy and German breakfast — hard boiled egg, ham, cheese, bread and butter — as well as “brats and dogs” — German bratwurst (sausage) or classic hot dogs served with chips and a pickle or grape salad, and kraut or chili toppings for an extra charge.
Additionally, the eatery offers a build-your-own sandwich menu in half or whole sizes, with meat selections ranging from roast beef and pastrami to salami, meatball, ham, turkey and bologna. The customizable bites are served on a fresh sub roll and come with cheese, pickle and a choice of chips or grape salad.
The deli also offers a range of specialty sandwiches, including the Cuban, chicken tender and Reuben, with a plethora of cheeses, “free fixin's” and dough selections to choose from. Toppings and bread options range from tomatoes, banana peppers, pickles and onions to marble rye, sourdough, sliders and multi-grain.
“All of our sandwiches — the bread is fresh. It comes from Billy Bread's bread company. We use Boar’s Head for all the meats and cheeses, so the sandwiches are all fresh made right in front of you. And we have (chef Moe Paulson) who comes in and she makes all the homemade soups,” Gallaher said.
“She makes homemade quiches, homemade chili. Everything we sell is homemade and she takes care of — homemade chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad, potato salad … and we have a baker that comes in and she bakes everything — brownies, bread pudding, stuff like that.”
The eatery’s “Moe’s Soup for You” menu offers customers a cup or bowl selection of Chef Paulson’s unique culinary creation of the day — an ever-changing menu of made-from-scratch soups that the spirited chef tells me have earned her a loyal following over her many years in the kitchen.
“I’ve cooked all my life … and I don’t have recipes; I make it by heart … once in a while maybe I’ll look at a recipe to kind of get an idea of ingredients, but then from there I just kind of do some of this and that and I taste it, and then I have somebody else taste it,” Paulson said.
“They don’t really turn out the same every time, because sometimes I’ll come in, like if they bought too many green peppers, and I’ll make stuffed green peppers, you know? So, I’ll use ingredients that are here, just like I would at home.”
Great food, alongside great company
For Gallaher, Schill and Paulson, the POD is known for its environment — a comfortable, casual space that welcomes a lively blend of personalities to dine, laugh and root for their favorite teams together.
“When you’re here it’s like family I think — everybody knows everybody,” Schill said. “Everybody sits at our tables and communicates, watches sporting events together. We have a lot of people that are regulars here ... We want to keep up the good quality and keep the people happy.”
Looking ahead at the POD
Currently, the POD is in the process of acquiring its beer and wine license and hopes to soon offer delivery through Grubhub and Uber Eats. According to Gallaher, the menu will continue to grow with new daily specials, additional authentic German offerings and more.
“(Our menu) is about 70% standard with all the sandwiches, brats, hot dogs, and then the other 30%, we change it out,” Gallaher said. “We try to mix it up; we try to do a little bit of everything.”
The POD is located at 5251 S. Nova Road in Port Orange and is open 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For information, call 386-275-1551 or visit portorangedeli.com.
Helena Perray is the restaurant and dining writer for The Daytona Beach News-Journal. A New Jersey native and passionate storyteller, she can be contacted at hperray@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook. Support local journalism by subscribing
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: The Port Orange Deli serves homemade sandwiches, soups, ice cream, more
