In January 2015, Szmidt’s Old World Deli closed the doors of its Greenfield location to launch a deli Downtown—and to the delight of Greenfield residents, Smzidt’s is coming home again in mid-July.
“It was always my plan to come back,” says Darren Smith, the owner.
He opened Szmidt’s in 2011 but had outgrown the kitchen of the small Greenfield location. “I kept blowing main breaker switches,” he says, so he moved to a large space on Liberty Ave.
Smith did most of the buildout work himself. “I did it the old-fashioned way—with sweat, blood and tears—but I couldn’t divide myself in two.”
Now that his downtown store is humming, it’s time to make good on his promise to reopen his flagship location. “People are going crazy,” he says. “They didn’t believe I’d come back.”
Smith will make everything from scratch downtown and will supply Greenfield with the goods daily.
“We bake the bread, make some of the cheese, make all the salad dressings, mayos and condiments,” he said in an earlier interview with NEXT. They brine, slow roast and cure the meat, pickle their pickles, shred their slaw and hand roll their pierogies.
Smith has to be “blown away” to put any offering on his menu, and that drive is what makes Szmidt’s a standout.
Check their menu to see the choices of corned beef, pastrami, roast beef and turkey sandwiches, like the grilled pastrami on homemade rye with razor-sliced caramelized onions, double provolone and Szmidt’s mustard. They prepare old-school pierogies—potato and cheese—and new-world pierogi offerings, like cheesesteak with horseradish sour cream. Their Facebook page shows the sandwich of the day, like the Southern Smoker, pictured below. There are also burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches and salads.
His plan going forward? “I’d like to have three small neighborhood delis” with the downtown store as the primary location for prepping foods.
To taste for yourself:
Downtown: 957 Liberty Ave., 412-281-1128. Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. BYOB.
Greenfield: 509 Greenfield Ave. Hours likely will be: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. BYOB. Check the Facebook page for the opening date and new phone number.
