Ralph’s Italian Deli in Ishpeming back in business

ISHPEMING, Mich. (WLUC) - Since 1986, Ralph’s Italian Deli in Ishpeming has been selling homemade Italian dishes to the U.P. community.

Last March the store closed after announcing that it would condense and share the space on Palms Avenue with a new Fire Station Cannabis Co. location. Ralph’s Italian Deli Owner Bruno Gervasi expressed that the eatery spent the time remodeling to adjust for the smaller space.

“So, we renovated and remodeled everything back here, and made a new entrance on the other side of the building,” said Gervasi.

Gervasi said the biggest change is the elimination of space where they used to store groceries for purchase, but the food is just as customers will remember.

“We cut that way down into a grab-and-go place but our menu is still the same,” said Gervasi. “We still have all our same sandwiches and pizzas and everything and we still have all our homemade stuffed bread sauces, Cudighi, and frozen pizzas.”

Long-time Ralph’s Italian Deli Employee Jessica Hastings stated that she has worked there for 18 years because she loves working for the Gervasi family.

“They are a great family to work for, someone is always there to help you out and I really enjoy it,” said Hasting. ”It’s like I’m part of the family at this point and that’s why I’ve been here for 18 years.”

Hastings is not the only one who is fond of the family and its business. Gervasi said he was surprised at how many people truly missed the deli while it was gone.

“I just couldn’t believe how popular we were until we closed,” said Gervasi. “We didn’t expect to get as busy as we were so fast without advertisement since we tried to open the Deli slowly, but it got around Facebook and everything.”

Gervasi said this time around, Ralph’s Italian Deli is here to stay, and they will not be closing anytime soon.

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