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You may have commuted on Route 70 for decades and never had a hint of Chick's Deli. The deli is hidden behind a strip plaza on 70, on Township Lane between Georgia and Virginia avenues. It opened 66 years ago.

Not everyone in South Jersey thinks about cheesesteaks and other sandwiches nonstop during a workday that stretches from 5 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. But then again, not everyone in South Jersey is Ken Landis.

Landis told 70and73.com that there is always something to keep him busy, whether prepping the rolls or meats for that day’s orders, making a breakfast or lunch sandwich, taking a customer's order, wiping down the chairs in the eatery’s dining room, restocking inventory, filling the ketchup and mustard bottles and … well, you get the idea.

Such is life at Chick’s Deli, nestled on a short commercial street behind a Route 70 westbound strip plaza in the Erlton neighborhood of Cherry Hill.

This eatery, which opened its doors in 1957, once beat out nearly two dozen Philadelphia-regional institutions, such as Pat's King of Steaks and Geno's Steaks across the Delaware River in Philadelphia, to win the Philadelphia Magazine Best Cheesesteak Award, according to Landis.

Our FIXTURES feature on Chick's Deli was based on a tip from a reader from Cherry Hill. Do you want to read about a long-standing business or other institution that has become a FIXTURE in your life? Tell us. If we use your suggestion, we will send you a 70and73 hat. Send email to contactus@70and73.com. Below, see the list of FIXTURES that already have been featured. — Editor

The award came in 2003, the same year Landis — who described himself as "always being geared for culinary school" — went from being a customer of Chick's Deli to an employee.

Fourteen years later, he became a business co-partner, sharing those responsibilities with another Cherry Hill area resident, Joe Danfield, who has been with Chick’s Deli since 1976.

Danfield bought the deli from its original owner, the late Frank "Chick" DeGregorio, who died in 2009 at 86 years old. His obituary noted that he retired in 1976, the year Danfield bought the store.

"I remember Joe being in here when I was a child," Landis said of Danfield.

"I used to come here even times when I shouldn't have. One of the campus police officers wrote in my high school yearbook, 'I'll see you at Chick's,' " Landis, a Cherry Hill West graduate, added with a laugh.   

In the 20 years that Landis has been with Chick's, the prices of the ingredients to make Chick’s Deli sandwiches have gone up, and menu prices have followed. A cheesesteak now costs $13.20, compared with $5 two decades ago, according to Landis.  

"This isn't an establishment where we are going to put out a coupon that allows you to buy a sandwich for $8.99," he added. "But, at the same time, we believe we have to give you what you pay for."

To that end, the location of Chick’s Deli has never changed, and neither has its commitment to quality and consistency, he added. The deli opened when Cherry Hill was not Cherry Hill — it was Delaware Township. Voters in 1961 changed the name to Cherry Hill.

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Ken Landis has been with Chick’s Deli since 2003, when he went from being a customer to an employee. 

"It's about buying a quality product," Landis said when asked about the secret to being one of the oldest businesses in Cherry Hill.  "We use higher-quality meat, even with our cheesesteaks. We also train any new staff to meet our standard, even down to the thickness of the cheese slices we use or the way we chop lettuce."

Chick's Deli also has what Landis described as a very good relationship with its vendors. Salespeople from other vendors call the restaurant weekly, trying to get Ken and Joe to switch to their products. Those offers are consistently declined, Landis said.

His customers, some of whom have been coming to Chick's for generations, are also loyal, Landis said. And perhaps one way to judge that loyalty came during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Landis noted that when the state mandated that eateries close their dining rooms and require customers to stand six feet apart, Chick's Deli sometimes had 20 or more customers line up down the road from its Township Road location to wait for their orders.

Customers also left larger tips than average during those days, he said. One person donated $100 at the pandemic's peak without buying a single food item, although Landis said he and Danfield insisted the customer take the donation back.  

Chick's has added a few menu items through the years, Landis said. The broccoli rabe, pulled pork sandwich, buffalo cheesesteak and Tuscan chicken sandwiches, when introduced, really took off, he said. Landis said his favorite Chick’s Deli sandwich is the pepperoni cheesesteak.

Then there is the potato salad, which had been provided to Chick’s by an outside vendor for years.

"It was very good to the point where we felt as though 'Hey, look, there's no point in spending time and energy to make this,' " Landis explained.

Then that company went out of business, and, after experimenting with a few different recipes, Chick's Deli found one that worked and it is the one served today. 

Business now is back to what it was before the pandemic, Landis said.

The number of customers increases when Philadelphia sports teams are playing well, Landis said. For example, the day the Philadelphia Eagles played the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, Chick’s Deli sold several hundred cheesesteaks, which is many, many more than usual, he said.      

Looking to the future, Landis said he sees very little about Chick’s Deli changing, except maybe adding a new item to the menu now and then.

"If it isn't broken, why fix it?" he asked.

IF YOU GO:

Chick’s Deli is at 906 Township Lane in Cherry Hill. The eatery is open from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays, and its location on the web is facebook.com/theofficialchicksdeli.  

Fixtures is a regular feature of 70and73.com, celebrating the aspects of our suburban life that have become fixtures in our world. Often, they can be businesses. But not always. If you have a nominee, send it to contactus@70and73.com.

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