Deli clerk at City Market

1722 Bellevue Ave, 323-1715.

How long have you worked here and what's the deli's best-selling food item?

Three and a half years, and fried chicken.

How much fried chicken do you move in a week?

About 9 or 10 40-pound boxes, so that's 400 pounds of chicken a week!

Holy F! That is almost 5,000 pounds a year; maybe that's why the KFC on the Hill called it quits. All fried, too?

All fried right here in the deli; everything is done here.

Does this job support any future plans or hobbies, or is this it?

This is the "school job" while you're in school. I'm starting at Seattle Central soon for poetry and writing, stuff like that.

City Market is famous for its hand-drawn signs announcing sale items and mocking tabloid news. Do you help with the sign work, being a writer and all?

No, that would be the manager, but he does take suggestions from customers. I really like the sign up right now. It has Mayor Nickels saying, "I may have sold the Sonics, but City Market is here to stay."

What about all these neighboring delis popping up trying to get a piece of what City Market has been doing for so long? Any worries?

We have no fear. Besides the chicken, we've got the best sandwiches in town and everybody knows it.

Interview by Brayden Olson