New owners take over one of the Las Vegas Valley’s oldest delis

The matzoh balls will continue to cohabit in the chicken noodle soup. The Reuben will arrive as it always has, piled with corned beef or pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing. The Ceily’s Stack — latkes stuffed with brisket, then swaddled in melted cheese and brown sauce — isn’t going anywhere.

In short: The menu at Weiss Deli — soon to be Fisher’s Deli — won’t change, the new owners said. And concerns about that change have been offered in person and (sometimes forcefully) across social media since word emerged in late January that Weiss Deli in Henderson had new owners after almost 20 years.

“That’s the first question we always get asked: ‘Are you changing the food?’ We’re not touching the food. The food works,” said Tony Fisher, who purchased the deli with his wife, Andrea Eppolito. The couple took possession of the restaurant on New Year’s Day.

“The goal wasn’t to come in and buy this and change everything,” Eppolito added. “One of the things we loved about this is it’s an iconic community staple and it had been here so long and everyone loves it and there’s a heart and soul.”

Life before pastrami

There has been a delicatessen in the space at 2744 N. Green Valley Parkway since the early ’90s — first as Samueli’s, then as Samuel’s, then as Weiss Deli under Mike and Aysegul Weiss, who sold the place to the new owners.

Fisher is a longtime Las Vegas hospitality executive whose CV includes gigs at the MGM Grand, the Palazzo, Sushi Roku in the Forum Shops at Caesars, the old Comme Ça at The Cosmopolitan, and Boa Steakhouse when it was in the Forum Shops. Fisher met his wife about 20 years ago when he was a manager at Boa.

Eppolito, a Long Island native, went to hospitality school at UNLV, and her resume includes hospitality stints at Lake Las Vegas, the Forum Shops, Bellagio, The Venetian and the former Bertolini’s trattoria on West Sahara Avenue. For the past 14 years, she has owned a high-end wedding and event planning service.

Community connection

The couple had considered opening or purchasing a restaurant for several years. They came across the sale listing for Weiss Deli, without the name disclosed, on a brokerage site. They came down to the deli, where both had been customers for years, and “the atmosphere felt like home, the food felt like home,” Eppolito said.

“We wanted to be off the Strip, and we wanted to be in a community, with people that cared. There are a lot of restaurant vanity projects — we really wanted a place where people had a relationship to the restaurant.”

Weiss Deli, Fisher added, “checked all the boxes.”

In April, the couple began the process of purchasing what would become Fisher’s Deli.

Changes beyond food

Although the food remains uncharged since its days as Weiss Deli — and chef Julian Romero and baker Eutiquio Lopez still lead the kitchen crew — there are changes ahead at the restaurant.

Menus will soon reflect the new name of the deli. A new website, significant social media and an app are in the works — Weiss famously had almost no online presences.

Physical improvements to the restaurant are also planned: a Fisher’s Deli sign (awaiting city approval), new kitchen equipment and tiles, a refresh for the tables and chairs, repainting the walls to hang new art.

“We’d also like to open up the space a little bit,” Eppolito said. “The footprint is what it is, so architecturally, what can we do without closing for an extended period of time? What’s feasible, what’s allowed, what creates the least impact on your customers? We have some sketches, textures and colors, things we’d like to do.”

All these updates and changes, Eppolito emphasized, are being rolled out in stages. “Once people know us, trust us, get comfortable with us,” a menu change might be in order, she said.

“Maybe a new cookie.”

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.