THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996 TAG: 9605210449
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MELISSA GUNDEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 72 lines
Erica Ausch has been in the deli business since she was 7 years old. But at 60, she will close the restaurant that has carried her family for more than half a century.
Reisner's Delicatessen, known for corn beef cooked in the deli's kitchen and grilled pastrami sandwiches, will close Saturday at Janaf Shopping Center in Norfolk.
``I'm going to be very sad and very glad. We've been at it long enough. We're ready to give it up,'' she said. ``But I'm very proud of the fact that three generations have been able to keep this business going for 53 years. There are not that many restaurants or any business that can boast that fact.''
The Auschs handed the business to their two daughters, Jodie Woodward and Linda Ausch, four years ago. The couple has come in only during the lunch hour to help out. But the family has decided to close the restaurant now because the Auschs want to retire.
Jodie Woodward wants to move on and leave the business. Linda Ausch says she may continue the family tradition by opening another Reisner's in Virginia Beach sometime this summer.
Erica and her husband, Eddie, who also worked in the deli, credits the success to the family.
``Being a family business, you don't have to depend on the prima donna chefs that come to your business and leave,'' he said. ``There's always a member of the family who can step in and cook, wash dishes and bus or wait a table,'' he said.
When Reisner's opened at the Janaf location in 1964, it was about the only eating establishment in the area. The shopping center was new in a hot new area.
``The first day was mobbed. We were not prepared. It was a week before Christmas. Customers needed an eating place and they were waiting in line,'' Erica said.
The business, however, met some competitors when Military Circle Mall was built in 1970 and other eating establishments started to sprout up in Janaf. But they were still the only deli around.
The two daughters became fully active in the business in 1981, and the deli was remodeled a year later. The restaurant became one of the area's hottest nightspots for weekend entertainment. Now, the restaurant caters to a busy lunch crowd.
In the early '70s, Reisner's was not only known for it's delicatessen, it was a leading wine merchant.
At one time, the deli carried more than 450 varieties of wine from 15 countries. Eddie was dubbed the wine maven of Tidewater.
The deli has been in operation since 1943, when Austrian immigrants Allen and Blanche Reisner bought the Newport Delicatessen on 35th Street in Norfolk. Back then it was more of a grocery store featuring gourmet items and worldwide delicacies such as chocolate-covered grasshoppers. In 1948, they built a new store and changed the name to Reisner's.
Reisner's has had a following since their 35th Street location.
Page Goffigon, president of Cavalier Shipping Co. in Norfolk, visited the old location and visits the Janaf location at least three times a week if he can.
Goffigon likes it because it's a family place.
``You see the same people in there every day. With the business closing, it's really going to put a hole in the area,'' he said.
Goffigon will miss the sandwiches, especially the Page's Pleasure, a specialty sandwich named after him: a grilled cheese sandwich with Smithfield ham that's not on the menu. But he will miss Eddie, Erica and their daughters the most.
``You can always buy meat and make a sandwich, but the atmosphere of the place just feels like home,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot
Eddie and Erica Ausch on Saturday will close their deli in the Janaf
Shopping Center in Norfolk. by CNB