Longstreet’s Delicatessen

302 N Sycamore St
Petersburg, VA 23803

 This last Saturday Amanda and I were in downtown Petersburg at the Festival of Grapes and Hops. The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce did a very good job with this event. There were a lot of different wineries from around the state offering tastings.  Virginia truly has some awesome wineries. The only critique I could give is to have a few more breweries and food vendors next year. After a very good time and many, many “tastes” of delicious wines and beers we decided that we needed to get something to eat to help us sober up a little.  There are numerous delicious places to eat in downtown Petersburg but we felt that Longstreet’s would do the best at sobering us up.

Longstreet’s Deli is a very rare eatery; it is as good of a bar as it is a restaurant.  I can go to Longstreet’s for either lunch or dinner or for drinks and have just as good of a time either way.  They have a pretty good selection of beers on tap including some of my favorites, Woodchuck cider, Blue Moon and Shock top. During lunch it is more of a deli than a restaurant. You have to go to the back and order from a smaller menu than there is for dinner. No matter what time it is a waitress still waits on you bringing your food or refilling your drinks.  Both the lunch and dinner menus have a very good selection of sandwiches, Paninis, burgers and salads. In addition to the lunch items, the dinner menu also offers pizzas, pastas, and entrees.  No matter what your taste is Longstreet’s will have something you will enjoy.

Because it was not quite dinner time, Amanda and I ordered off of the lunch menu. Amanda got her usual, the salad plate. As lame as it sounds, the salad plate is actually a very good deal and is quite tasty.  It comes with salad, chicken or tuna salad, pasta or potato salad, fruit and a dessert for about $7.00. Amanda loves it and almost never orders anything else.  I decided to go with the Italian Panini but asked for it without olives and with Italian dressing instead of pesto. They were more than happy to accommodate me.  I chose from a wide variety of sides to accompany my Panini, everything from pasta or potato salad to onion rings and homemade chips. I went with the frips, very thin French fries.

            It was not long before we received our meals, just long enough for us to know that our meals were freshly prepared. As always, Amanda was extremely pleased with her selection even though they were out of chicken salad and she had to eat tuna salad. She said that the tuna salad was actually better than the chicken salad. My Italian Panini $7.97, was also very delicious and made exactly how I ordered it without olives and Italian dressing instead of pesto. It was nice and crispy on the outside but the meat, cheese, and peppers inside were still juicy and moist. What I was most impressed with the ideal amount of Italian dressing they used. It is very easy to under or over use Italian dressing but they managed to do so expertly.  The frips were also cooked perfectly. Thin and crispy but not burnt. Amanda is a French fry diva. They have to be the perfect crispiness for her to eat them.  This time they must have been cooked to her liking because she almost ate all of my” frips.

            Longstreet’s Delicatessen is always a fun, enjoyable, and delicious time.  It has great food, a very fun vibe and reasonable prices. The only flaw that the restaurant has is the picture of President Obama on the wall.  If it was just the President staring at me it might be enough to keep me from frequenting this delightful establishment. Luckily it is of President Obama with the owners inside of the restaurant. I can’t blame them; I don’t care what your political leanings are, if  any president came into your restaurant to eat you would put their picture up on the wall too.  With that being its only major fault, I highly recommend Longstreet’s Deli to anyone. Go for dinner and stay for a few drinks and socializing.