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