When brothers-in-law George Stepanovich and Sam Tripodis in 2024 opened a delicatessen spinoff of their Great Neck bagel shop, The Bagel Baker, at Loehmann’s Plaza, they sensibly called it The Bagel Baker Delicatessen.
By Marisa Marsey
But no matter how diligently they distinguished the two, folks ordering online were forever confusing them and would wind up at the wrong location. Hence, the delicatessen is now George & Sam’s Deli & Diner, a clear-cut rebrand with a slew of new offerings.
“We had a handle on true deli classics, but you can’t eat pastrami every day, so we pulled from our heritage,” said Stepanovich, referencing their Greek diner-DNA.
You can still get said pastrami (peppered and mouthwatering), briny corned beef and hand-rubbed, slow-cooked-to-rare Certified Angus Beef roast beef heaped into sandwiches (considerately sliced to order in 1/3 lb., 1/2 lb. or 3/4 lb.) or in a jaw-droppingly beautiful Deli Carving Board Feast rounded out with red-skin potato salad, coleslaw, sauerkraut and more, chopped chicken liver and lacy-edged latkes, hefty with shredded and grated potatoes and juicy onions. But the menu (voluminous per diner fashion) also proposes breakfast platters, prodigious wraps and garden salads, open-faced hot platters, smashburgers, and melts, served anytime.
“I love seeing four people at a table; one has a Reuben, one has an omelet, another a club sandwich, and another pancakes,” Tripodis said. “We can make everybody happy.”
Those pancakes, a high-rise stack as fluffy as a cloud and boasting sweet cream, are scratch-made, like so much here, from satiny Russian dressing to rich New York cheesecake, a slice sure to evoke “New Yawker” nostalgia, as do the vintage black-and-white photos lining the walls.(“Is that the actual Market Diner?” asked a customer, choking up. “I used to deliver milk and eggs there.”)
If something isn’t made in-house, “We get the best product,” Stepanovich said, citing Acme Smoked Fish’s lox (which also graces NYC’s iconic Barney Greengrass and Zabar’s) and seeded rye bread from a bakery in Bellmawr, New Jersey.
Bagels, naturally, come from their bakery, kettle-boiled and stone-baked just miles away. Those dense rounds, seeded top and bottom, epitomize the partners’ inexhaustible attention to detail. So, too, the sandwich wrappers: high-end, wax-lined butcher paper that doesn’t leak. Loyalists relish such seemingly small touches as if they were half-sour pickles.
“There’s an ethos here,” said one, glancing around the spick-and-span eatery, its golden oldies playlist set at a volume to accommodate conversation.
The new name has a folksy ring to it, suitable for an easy-on-the-wallet place where you’ll always see an owner and relationships rule, whether it’s regulars requesting a favorite server or that server’s kid doing homework in the back booth. Delectable soup specials from Stepanovich’s mom’s recipe box—Tuscan noodle, stuffed pepper, lemon chicken orzo—augment ever-present matzo ball or Tripodis’ dad’s take on (a retired taverner from Cleveland) a slightly sweet, super crunchy cole slaw. Sometimes Stepanovich’s 10-year-old daughter runs the cash register. And the family is still growing. Sibling Bagel Baker just expanded into pizza.
George & Sam’s Deli & Diner
Where: 4000 Virginia Beach Blvd., Suite 156, Virginia Beach
When:Sunday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Website: georgeandsams.com
Marisa Marsey
Marisa Marsey is a food, beverage and travel writer whose awards include 1st place Food Writing from the Virginia Press Association. A Johnson & Wales University representative, she has sipped Château d'Yquem '75 with Jean-Louis Palladin, sherpa-ed for Edna Lewis and savored interviews with Wolfgang Puck and Patrick O’Connell.
