It’s 3:30 p.m. Monday and WAFB Channel 9 is at volume 20 in Express Deli on Highland Road. The owner directed me to the TV perched in the corner of the restaurant.
“Look, look!” said Roul Saymeh.
Saymed is on the news showing Pat Simon how he makes his celebrated philly cheesesteak poboy. Saymeh picked up the telephone and called his wife.
“Have you got the television on?”
He turned to me and boasted about his appearance.
“Channel 9 approached me and ask me to be on the news. You see, my store on Airline [Roul’s Deli] was voted having the best hamburger and philly cheesesteak in town,” he said.
And the best philly steak had a long way to come to reach Baton Rouge. Saymeh is originally from Jerusalem and moved to the US in 1990.
“Before the success of my stores, my friends, Mr. Bob and Dan helped me get started when I first came here. I owe them a lot,” he said.
Since his arrival here he has worked in Casino Rouge, the Baton Rouge Country Club and in the Hyatt in Richmond, Va. as head cook.
“After the success of my other restaurant, customers pressured me to open a location closer to campus,” Saymeh said.
He opened Express Deli II (named so before Express Deli I was changed to Roul’s Deli) three months ago after a successful three years at the old location.
“Since it opened, business has been pretty good, thank God.” he said. “It is because the food feels like home.”
Every half pound burger and side of seasoned fries is made to order. All the condiments are fresh and generously dress over five different kinds of poboys.
“I come here every chance I get,” said Toi Armstead, 19, electrical engineering sophomore. “The burger is just delicious. You get a better-tasting meal for the same price as a McDonalds value meal.”
Saymeh knows his food is better and prides himself on the homemade element of his restaurant.
“We marinate the meat overnight and make it the way the customer wants it. There is less fat in our burgers because of the way we cook them and none of the meat is frozen,” Saymeh said.
All the care he puts into making his food leaves an impression on his customers. A large part of his patrons are college students with a low budget but a big appetite.
“You can tell it is homemade. I come here two to three times a month on my way home” said April Billodous, 23, an English senior. “The people are nice and the food is good.”
Express Deli not only caters to students’ desire for fresh and fast food but also provides a welcoming environment. The shop is decorated with a vibrant mural of Bourbon Street that faces several red vinyl and silver chairs and tables. There is also a small wooden porch customers can eat from and people-watch.
Hospitable food, service and atmosphere is making Express Deli a hot spot for students even next to Seranno’s and Raising Cane’s.
“People feel like they are at home here,” Saymeh said.