"High Street Deli" - 7/2001: New Times, San Luis Obispo weekly An excerpt. Perched on the corner of High and Leff, its facade painted in crisp white and emblazoned in green paint, is the High Street Deli. You wont find a parking lot or a big, plastic illuminated sign, just a big mural advertising yummy Eskimo Pies to be enjoyed within. The painting, building owner Alex Gough says, is “one of the few local remaining works of advertisement folk art done across the country during the first half of the century,” according to a 1996 Tribune article. Inside, you’ll find more tributes to America’s advertising past. The walls are dotted with antique aluminum signs, the bathroom houses the deli’s earlier days, and there’s a blue antique mixer prominently displayed by the door. The blender is none other than the one featured in the movie, “Fast Times At Ridgemont High.” This might explain the unlikely presence of loud rock music, throngs of teenagers, and its owners, siblings Mia and Doobie Coates. . . . In fact, so much better that the ‘it’ chefs chomp on the sandwiches crafted by these two, “All the chefs in town eat here,” says Mia. And ladies, the lips of Brad Pitt have closed around a Cal Turkey. You can bet that when any equally sweet lookers enter, the deli will be on full alert. “We get hot guys or girls that come in here and we all call out, like, ‘Twix!’ ‘Mounds!’ ‘You gotta stock the candy bars’ is our key word for ‘check out the hotties,’” says Mia. Whatever you do, remember to apply it correctly, “Nutrageous is for guys, Mounds is for girls,” Doobie clarifies. College guys, if you decide to look into whether you are candy, beware. One of the high school age employees will be ready, she likes to pretend that she goes to college, “She even knows teachers’ names and the names of classes,” says Doobie. “Yeah, she has a whole schedule of classes that she supposedly does at Cuesta for when she meats older dudes at Cuesta that she thinks are hot,” adds Mia. Employee Courtney Willing says, “Everybody should be here. It’s the best place in San Luis.” How much do the employees take home at the end of the day? “We tell everyone that we pay fifteen bucks an hour. It’s almost like that because it’s so much fun, huh?” Mia says, looking at Courtney, “And the sandwiches that you get are worth it.” They must be, according to Doobie, “There’s a lady that’s been getting delivery for forty years from here . . . she orders a loaf of bread, and then says ‘just pick me out a treat of your choice’ from the deli, so I bring up some Mother’s cookies or something.” High Street Deli has been around a lot longer than that. Originally founded in 1926, the deli is one of the two places in San Luis (the other being the Del Monte deli on Santa Barbara street) that has remained continuously in operation since its original opening. All that history can be a burden to bear. “It’s been falling apart every day. Every day something in here breaks,” says Doobie. And today? He grimaces and looks at the meats under the refrigerated glass, “The deli case.”

Kristin Tara McNamara 805.748.1478 maculated@gmail.com

Copyright Kristin Tara McNamara 2006