TULSA, Okla. — A new restaurant is opening up along Route 66, and it's not a cuisine you see often around town.
Tulsa will now have a traditional Jewish deli it's known as Gambill's Jewish Deli.
The owner Hunter Stone Gambill said he is opening the restaurant to fill a need he felt wasn't being met in the community.
"My family is Jewish, and I grew up in Oklahoma, and I spent some time on the east coast. You know, as a kid having a Jewish deli experience in Oklahoma really wasn't a thing," Gambill said.
The restaurant is off 11th Street, also known as Route 66 and Lewis.
He told 2 News he's excited to be bringing his family recipes to Tulsa.
“There’s a sense of pride to be able to bring something new to town. Something that some people may have never experienced,” Gambill said.
He also owes Gambill's Pastaria. That's where they will be preparing the food as the new restaurant doesn't have a kitchen. They will then bring the food over and make the sandwiches to order on site.
Gambill's Jewish Deli will have a limited menu to start. It will be centered around traditional dry-cured pastrami and oven-baked brisket.
The owner said a person can find pastrami and brisket around town, but it's not prepared like Jewish-style meat is.
“Not only do we dry cure it, we smoke it, and we steam it. Most places all they do is smoke it and wrap it. So it’s a little different process," Gambill explains. "I’m not saying anyone else's isn’t good. It’s just different. Same thing with the oven-baked brisket, it's very different than a smoked brisket.”
They are also making their own bread, sauces, and half-sour pickles.
As they get comfortable with the new restaurant, they plan to slowly expand their offerings, but Gambill said people excited about the Jewish deli are already wanting more, and the doors haven't even opened.
"A lot of people are reaching out saying, 'Will we do this? Will we do that?'. Its just at this point in time with how small this space is and how we are doing our prep, it's hard to say everything that we will end up doing. So we are definitely listening, but we want to kind of keep it small at the start," he said.
Either way, he said people seem to be very excited about the new restaurant.
"The reaction has been incredible. Like I said, I know in the Jewish community this is something we've longed for, but people who haven't experienced Jewish delis they are excited to try it too," Gambill said.
Their soft opening is Friday July 7, Saturday, July 8, and July 11-16. During those dates, they will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
After that, they will expand their hours to be open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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