Why I started Jersey Girl
I was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1966, I lived in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties, I was a Gipsy, and so I lived in a lot of different towns. I graduated from Haddon Heights High School in 1984. I mostly worked in the hospitality industry. I became a Foodie long ago. I moved to Florida in 1997. Since I have been in Florida, I had different food down here that claim to be authentic, “real Philly cheese steaks”, blah, blah, blah. I have tried them, I tried the so called Ruebens, I tried the so called Hoagies, and the more I tried them, the more disappointed I became. I used to think, “Why can’t anyone do this right, it’s not that hard” In 2003, I started my own catering company, which did very well, but I still longed for the taste of my home. So in 2008, I tried to get a cheese steak at a local, well known pizza place. It was so bad, I couldn’t eat it. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. That very night I said “that’s it, I’m opening up my own place and I’m calling it Jersey Girl Deli.” The very next week I met my boyfriend , Roger. Roger was from North Jersey, Monmouth County, and was a chef. He too was tired of not having good food from home. So it wasn’t long after, that Roger and I opened Jersey Girl Deli alongside my catering business in Melbourne, but it was not a very good location for a deli, so I went looking for another location, that’s what brought us to Cocoa Beach.
Our Roll
I wanted to serve all my favorite Jersey foods that I missed and craved so much, Cheese Steaks, Hoagies, Ruebens, etc. The first thing I need to figured out was what roll I was going to use. I had contacted purveyor, based in New Jersey. They told me I could get Amoroso Rolls. I thought, great, I grew up on those rolls. The purveyor told me who uses them, so I went and got a cheese steak, just to make sure they were good. I found out that they are not the same rolls I knew. They have what they call a par baked that they freeze and ship. It was, in my opinion, just like every other wimpy roll in Florida. I was not going to open up a place called Jersey Girl and not have a great roll. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I call all over the place to try to find a great roll. I tried a few, but none that I would be proud to serve. So I went to the library, went on line, read a lot of books and recipes for rolls, and started practicing. I knew what kind of roll I wanted, something that was thick and hearty, not a bun. Something that will hold the oil and vinegar that we use on the hoagies. Something that would accent our cheese steaks. I have developed my own recipe. The roll I started with has changed from today’s roll. Today’s roll is tastier than our original. Everyone seems to love the roll. People come walking in the door saying “I’ve heard about your rolls”, so people are talking about our roll, and that is one of the main reasons why we are doing so well.
Our Foundation
Good Food, Good Price, Good Service. If any restaurant has those three things, they will succeed!!!
Now I will admit that that our delivery service could be better. This is the first time in my career that I had to start a delivery service, so there are a lot of things that I have learned over the last year, and we are trying to work out the delivery kinks. Finding the right person for the job has been one of the biggest obstacles.
