The Hagy family, owners of La Famiglia, opened a deli with the same flavors and recipes as its other restaurant, but with a lunch-orientated menu.
The deli has seven subs to choose from, and soup and salads are also available. Everything is made fresh before they open; the same freshness and attention to detail that diners expect from La Famiglia.
“I make all the bread at eight in the morning before we open,” manager Jason Hagy said. “We grind our own meat, and almost all of our meats and cheeses are from New York and Italy.”
The original vision of their first restaurant, La Famiglia, was to mostly serve lunch, but the Hagy family saw the need to be closer to their customers that work downtown, so they decided to open the deli on Fourth Avenue.
“We wanted to come to our customers that work downtown,” Hagy said. “La Famiglia is more of a sit down style restaurant and we wanted to create something that is faster and closer to our customers that work downtown.”
The average price for a sub at the deli is under $7, and it offers combos that include half a sub with a soup or salad for $7.25.
Employees said there is already a regular crowd, and people from all over have stopped in to try the subs.
“We have had people from Charleston and other nearby areas drive here to try our food,” Hagy said. “We also have people stop in that are traveling through town, and we have had people from New York and Chicago say the food takes them home.”
The deli also sells its meats and cheeses by the pound for customers to take home. Hagy said they plan on being open some evenings when special events are going on downtown and will have import beer and appetizers for sale.
“We have already opened at night for a few events downtown, and we plan on doing it for more in the future,” Hagy said. “We had about 20 people eating and drinking before the Philip Philips concert, and I’m sure we’ll open up whenever there are events going on at the Keith Albee.”
The Mulberry Street Meatball Co. and Deli is located on Fourth Avenue next to The Galleria. It is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Bryan Bozeman can be contacted at [email protected].