Owner Julie Palmer shows off favorites from Cheese ’n Stuff: The Italian special with Mortadella, ham, hard salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato and Italian dressing, right; and the Tyler, with turkey, Munster cheese, pepperoncini, avocado, lettuce, tomato and mustard (photo by Darryl Webb for North Central News).
Some things simply are too good to let go.
For a group of longtime customers, that included Cheese ’n Stuff from Everywhere, a neighborhood institution at Central Avenue just north of Camelback. Since 1949, when owner Robert Allen opened the shop, it’s been a magnet, drawing generations of customers for its fat, squelchy sandwiches stuffed with cheeses and deli meats.
Bill and Jane Dombroski bought the place in 1953, and it later was purchased by Emil Zawatski. His son Stan and granddaughter Crystal continued the family’s legacy until last April, when they announced they were closing the business so Stan could retire and Crystal could pursue a career in nursing.
Over the decades, the shop had become more than just a deli – it morphed into one of those places that knit together neighborhoods, where members of the community come for more than a meal.
The doors closed in June, and locals were devastated – and hungry. And some of them were determined not to lose what they felt was a treasure.
“It started out with five couples, including my husband, Tom, and I,” Julie Palmer said. “Growing up, in high school, we came here after school. My husband’s family came, including his grandma, who came after church. When we heard last April that the Zawatskis were going to retire, Tom immediately called up and said, ‘We want to buy it.’
The Italian special with Mortadella, ham, hard salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato and Italian dressing (photo by Darryl Webb for North Central News).
“We had talked about it and we said, ‘We can’t let this go, there’s too much history here and too much good food. It’s sad to see things like this fade away.’”
Coincidentally, the Mastro family, including classmates of Tom and Julie Palmer, who went to Brophy and Xavier, caught the same preservation fever and bought Durant’s around the same time as Cheese ’n Stuff changed hands. “I hope it’s a trend, to preserve these places,” Palmer said.
Eventually, the complications of five couples owning the one small business caused a change, and Tom and Julie Palmer bought the others out. Today, Julie Palmer is the designated “Cheese Whiz,” managing the day-to-day operations.
“We tried to keep and preserve culture and the history. That’s very important to us,” she said.
First up was a renovation inside and out, including restoration of the original sign – a neighborhood landmark. They contacted Christy Signs, another long-time Phoenix company, which had built the original sign.
“We asked if they could help us restore the sign, and they said, ‘My gosh, we will do that in a heartbeat.’ We had sort of an old-timey lighting ceremony in September.”
The new owners worked all last summer to bring things up to speed. “We wanted to clean it up, refresh and modernize but keep the old nostalgia,” Palmer said. “When we were working, people would come by and poke their heads in and say, ‘I came here when I was in high school’ or ‘I came here with my dad.’”
The original walls behind the counter had been festooned with hand-written menu items, and Palmer kept many. One long wall that had been plastered over and covered with wood paneling was stripped down to reveal the beautiful old bricks. Old newspaper articles, photos, awards, ads and other memorabilia were discovered in a filing cabinet in the back office, and some of those found their way into the new décor.
The Tyler, with turkey, Munster cheese, pepperoncini, avocado, lettuce, tomato and mustard (photo by Darryl Webb for North Central News).
Original linoleum-covered floors were stripped down to bare concrete.
One new addition is the dog-friendly back patio, expanding seating space from the original two tables in the interior. Even the countertops are vintage.
“It was a beautiful wood-paneled walk-in,” Palmer said. “Wood doesn’t pass health codes anymore, so we decided to keep the shelves and use them to make shelves inside and out.”
The owners worked hard to preserve more than the décor.
“It’s all the same menu, same recipes, and the same suppliers and bakery,” Palmer said. “The Boar’s Head distributor started up in Phoenix right around the same time in the ’70s as the Zawatski family, so they knew each other. The old connections are still there.”
Boar’s Head doesn’t supply liverwurst, another customer favorite, so they bring it in from Schreiner’s Fine Sausage, another North Central Phoenix institution.
The Doughboy may be the most favored combo on the menu, with turkey, avocado and bacon on sourdough and heated, Palmer said, and it comes with history as well. “
The Doughboy used to be across the street at Markgraf’s Pharmacy, and when they went out of business in the ‘80s, Stan asked them if he could take over the doughboy.”
Other favorites include the Italian special, with Mortadella, ham, hard salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato and Italian dressing; and the Tyler, with turkey, Munster cheese, pepperoncini, avocado, lettuce, tomato and mustard.
“We have a great kitchen manager, and he started out buying potato salad and pasta salad and the like, and he said, ‘We can make this, and we can do it better.’” Palmer said. “We found a pasta salad recipe Stan used to make and that’s our pasta salad now.”
“We make a great potato salad, and we make all of our baked goods, so we’re settling into it.”
And there are those killer brownies – it wouldn’t be Cheese ’n Stuff without them – along with lemon bars, cheesecake and Rice Krispie treats.
Oddly enough, while cheese was a mainstay of the original, it takes a backseat to the deli counter – for now. Palmer said she’s boning up on her cheese knowledge so she can expand the offerings. “I would love to get more into special cheeses and charcuterie,” she said.
These days, Stan and Crystal come by now and then. “He’ll comment if he sees a new special on our Instagram posts and he’ll comment, “I really think you should have used Swiss cheese instead of provolone on that sandwich,” Palmer said. “I feel him over my shoulder.”
Cheese ’n Stuff from Everywhere, 5042 N. Central Ave., is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday. For information, call 602-266-3636 or visit www.cheesenstuffdeli.com. The store will be closed for the month of July.
