Benji's Deli has been a kosher-style cuisine staple in the North Shore for more than 50 years
It’s been 55 years since corned beef, matzo ball soup, huge dill pickles and so much more started coming over the counter at Benji’s Deli, now in Shorewood and Fox Point.
The business owes its name to its original owner, Werner Benjamin.
“Back in the day, it was actually called Benjamin’s, but then when he sold it in, I believe ’95, he had the guys that bought it from him shorten the name to just Benji’s. Everybody called him Benji,” explained current owner Mike Price.
Price came on board at Benji’s while in college in 1991.
“I started out washing dishes, and I waited tables. I ended up doing just about everything here,” Price said. “I’m the owner now, but I’ll still run back and wash dishes.”
In 2003, the then-owners asked Price to serve as general manager for both locations. The company added a second location in Fox Point in the mid-90s.
“I basically ran both locations for about three years and then, in 2006, one of the partners had dropped out, and the other two were kind of hemming and hawing about staying in it, so I just offered to buy it from them,” Price said.
Price now serves as co-owner of Benji’s alongside his brother, Chris.
The deli’s menu hasn’t changed much over the years, and the Prices remain proud to serve their kosher-style menu, which includes potato pancakes, brisket, Reubens and matzo ball soup.
“We still have a lot of the traditional dishes. A lot of people get us confused because I get a lot of phone calls where people think that we’re kosher. We are not kosher; we have always been kosher-style, meaning we serve Jewish and eastern-European dishes,” Price said.
In recent years, Benji’s has added some more modern dishes, such as an entire menu section devoted to eggs Benedict available on weekends. Other signature items on the menu include the Benji’s Deli Salad; the Hear-o Israel sandwich, made with corned beef, pastrami, salami, pepper beef, Swiss cheese, coleslaw and Thousand Island dressing; and the Hoppel Poppel, a scramble-type dish made with eggs, potatoes and fried salami. A Super Hoppel Poppel is also available with green peppers, onions, mushrooms and cheese.
“I don’t think anybody is like us as far as delis go. You can find an Italian deli, but as far as kosher-style delis, that’s kind of a dying breed,” Price said. “Doing the hand-sliced corned beef, that’s a skill set that you don’t see pretty much anywhere else in town. We try to stay in the present while also holding on to the traditions of Benji’s.”
The Price brothers have explored the idea of opening a third Benji’s location in the past and are still on the hunt for the right spot. A proposal for a Wauwatosa location was abandoned in 2016.
“The building that we were looking at needed a lot of upgrading, and the cost had just ballooned into something that we couldn’t do,” Price said.
Still, that setback hasn’t made the Prices shy away from the idea at all.
“We’re always looking and we’re just waiting for that right place. We’re still looking in Wauwatosa; we’ve eyed up Oak Creek and Elm Grove, too,” Price said. “We’re scouting. We’re kind of wanting to move our way west.”
Benji’s Deli
ADDRESS: 4156 N. Oakland Ave., Shorewood, and 8683 N. Port Washington Road, Fox Point
PHONE NUMBER: 414-332-7777 for Shorewood; 414-228-5130 for Fox Point
WEBSITE: www.BenjisDeliAndRestaurant.com
PRICE RANGE: From $6.99 for a hot dog or $7.99 for a cheese omelette up to $14.99 for the Hear-o Israel sandwich or $15.79 for a lox plate
HOURS: Shorewood location: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mnday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; Fox Point location: 8 a.m to 8 p.m. daily
