Lee Street Deli reopens this weekend. Here's what to know about the menu, hours

A Columbia east campus neighborhood staple is back and ready for its reopening.

Lee Street Deli opens at 11 a.m. Saturday. First day celebrations will go until 7 p.m. Once the celebration is finished, students and Columbia residents alike can expect the nearly 100-year-old Columbia fixture to be open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

"We will have pulled pork and hot dogs and hope people can come out and check out the new space and grab a drink as we introduce ourselves to the students and Columbia community," owners wrote in a message to the Tribune about Saturday's grand opening celebration.

The pulled pork and hot dogs are in addition to the market's everyday hot menu. Guest also can expect cornhole boards and other games outside.

New owners are Katie Neely and Trinity Rainey, who connected with Leanne Geiss and Josiah Williams, of Eclipse Catering and Events, who also operate the Bite and After Bite restaurant on Trimble Road. Neely and Rainey had the vision and Geiss and Williams are helping to execute it.

"We are so excited for the grand opening date. This project means so much to all of us and we can't wait to invite everyone out to see what we have done with the place," Rainey wrote in a follow-up message Wednesday to the Tribune.

The new look of the market is inspired by the University of Missouri and has lot of black and gold accents.

"We wanted to make it kind of Oxford Collegiate, if you will. We wanted to bring it up to today and make it feel like somewhere people wanted to be today. We kept the little awning that is original and the little sign that is original," Neely said last month when renovations still were underway.

The quartet also is really proud about the covered patio space, Rainey wrote this week.

New and classic items are available on the Lee Street Deli menu, and items will be added as operations ramp up. Guests may even see some Bite and After Bite staples.

Lee Street Deli will start more as place get grab-n-go sandwiches and other Eclipse Catering items as the classic Lee Street Deli menu gets folded into operations, Geiss said last month. The market's website does note market staples of the juicy burger, BLT, AB A** Burner, Chicken Bacon Ranch, hot dog and Richard's Rise, also will be available.

"We also hope to have weekly lunch specials, where a specific hot lunch is provided each day. Those menus will hit our socials and websites the Sunday before we run it so people know what to expect," Rainey wrote.

Because of the hours, it also means breakfast-type items eventually will be incorporated into what is available.

"Breakfast burritos, biscuits, breakfast bowls, donut holes," Williams mentioned last month. "(We want to) provide good quality, made from scratch and made local. Food will be, unless we sell out, you'll be able to get a burrito all day. It's pretty much just getting what the community wants."

Owners are welcoming any community feedback and have met with community members in the lead up to opening day, based on social media posts.

More: Columbia's Lee Street Deli is making a comeback. Here's when it's expected to reopen

"We really want to feel the beat of the street and vibrations of the neighborhood. We want to talk to people and be involved. We want to engage with our community," Neely said last month, sharing the story of a man who had dropped by and reminisced that when he was a youngster his mom worked at the deli in the mid-1950s to early 1960s. "His mom taught him how to count change."

The interior will remain much like a market with nods to its origins as Lee Street Shop, including eventual alcohol sales.

Rainey hopes for a good turn out Saturday, that people have a good time and see the direction the group is heading with Lee Street Deli.

"We love this part of town, we love how excited the students are on that part of campus and hope that the students come get a sandwich and purchase some of the merch we have as well," she wrote.

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia's Lee Street Deli reopens this weekend with new look, menu