Tony's Original Deli and Bottle Shop is an archetypal counter style service deli of very high quality. The meats are particularly fine, and are cut fresh per order. Noteworthy sandwiches include the Reuben and any of the dual-meat specialty sandwiches such as the Sheepherder, Werner, or Virginian.

Tony's Deli has had four owners. The Fink family originally founded Tony's in 1958 and built the current location in 1972. The Fink family featured a full high quality deli menu and established personable service.

There was a second owner briefly in the early 1980s.

The Altovilla family became the third owner in the late 1980s The Altovilla family was temperamentally unsuited to restaurant ownership. The Altovillas were impatient, surly, and abrasive. For example, customers were expected to bus their own dishes and would receive loud invective from one of the owners if they failed to do so. However, the food quality remained high.

Around 2013, the fourth owner became William Franklyn in a partnership with his brother. William completed a major structural renovation. The character and atmosphere has returned to the laid back and friendly environment established by the first owners. The food quality remains high. William Franklyn died in late 2022. .

Facebook notice July 14, 2023:

With a heavy heart and due to no fault of our own, Original Tony's Deli announces as of today, Friday, July 14th, we will be closing. The building upgrades, we have been waiting on since April, still have not been completed. Our roof is not complete, so the air conditioner cannot be re-installed, which now has become a major problem. The conditions inside our restaurant are not comfortable for our guests or employees. As many of you know, Tony's Deli has made its home at this same location since 1972. Though, Tony's has changed family hands, three times, all owners have kept true to its history: fresh sandwiches, good atmosphere, and our locals. We would like to thank our employees and customers who have stuck by us over the past 10 years. I'm sure we all have great memories of the staff, food (especially our Friday, secret family recipe cookies) and of course Billy's stories. Tony's is looking for some other options to relocate in the same vicinity and will keep everyone posted on social media about our upcoming status. Sincerely Tony's Deli

Facebook notice September 1, 2023:

Our final update. As of 8/31/23 we are saddened to say we have permanently closed our doors. It has been a pleasure to serve you over the years and thank you for the business you provided for Billy. We are truly grateful. After many discussions about how to reopen Tony's, we could not reach an agreement in the necessary repairs Tony's needed to thrive. We tried everything possible to stay open, but unfortunately we could not reach a solution with the building owners. We would like to thank the City Of Anaheim and Sergio in the business department for all of the help exploring our options to remain open and keep us here. There is potential for Tony's to make a return. The buyer who purchased Tony's' name is still hoping to find a new location in the city and reopen with the same great food and atmosphere. We would be overjoyed if this can happen! For the mean time, thank you all for your business and continued support. The many phone calls, texts and social media comments of appreciation and kind words. As this is not the way we wanted things to end, and we all know what Billy would be saying..... we will forever be grateful to each one of you. We also hope you can find a deli that stacks their meat as high as our customers deserve. Thank you, Tony's Staff and Jack.

The 1972 building at 613 S Anaheim Blvd was purpose-built by the Finks for deli operations. It is a masterpiece of industrial design. The front half contained the tables, bar, deli display case, meat slicer, and final assembly area. The back half included ovens, roasting equipment, kitchen, dish washing, storage, and rest rooms. With infrastructure perfection comes corresponding ongoing maintenance. The floor had been replaced at least four times. The original owners had installed the original floor followed by overlaying a second floor. Billy had installed the most recent floor within the last few years, using a standard engineered wood in the front room and a peculiar spongy material in the back room. It is not clear if the back room layer was intended as the final top layer or if funding ran out. A large maintenance. liability was revealed to be the air conditioner on the roof and the roof itself. With 50 years of operation, the air conditioner exceeded its design life span. In the course of replacing the air conditioner, hidden damage to the roof likely was discovered. Now a costly roof repair is added to a costly air conditioner replacement. Also, hired contractor expertise may not have matched the expanded repair scope.

The fault [...] is not in our stars, but in ourselves -- Cassius in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Tony's Original Deli and Bottle Shop has won the coveted silver cup award for food establishments of high culinary quality and road food concept.

References

www.facebook.com /TonysOriginal DeliAnaheim

Visit the Tony's Deli menu at Z-menu.

Luna, Nancy. "Landmark Anaheim Deli to Reopen." Orange County Register, 24 Apr. 2013, www.ocregister.com /2013/04/24 /landmark-anaheim-deli-to-reopen/.