Village Deli and Grill

I had the turkey & brie croissant sandwich. It was really good. They have lots of options for sandwiches, soups, and salads. The location is really convenient for me and I liked the atmosphere. The staff are very friendly.

Fresh, hot, and lots of choices! Folks are nice, place is clean, prices right. Lots of choices in WF, VD&G should be in your rotation.

While the food here is decent (not great, but not horrible either), it is just too expensive to eat here very often. You can’t get out of here without spending $ 12-​$ 15 on one lunch (sandwich, side, drink). They do have a really good veggie burger and the turkey with brie, apple butter, and walnuts is delicious also. If they offered lunch specials that were more reasonably priced, I’d come here more often.

I totally agree with Victoria. The chicken salad sandwich using ciabatta bread with potato salad was excellent! The employees were nice and I really like that they aren’t lazy as evidenced by how clean they kept the place. i’m really tired of sandwich places that look like pigpens with workers behind the counter BS’ing. So happy that this place is not like that, and obviously a tribute to management and employees. Please keep up the great work! By the way, the iced tea was pretty dang good as well. I look forward to going back and trying some other items on the very diverse menu.

Great location and good atmosphere. Love the menu options. I tried turkey avocado panini. It is tasty, but not the bread I asked for and I think it could have been grilled longer. The service was quick but the cashier was clearly annoyed I was a first time visiter. I added on a bottled ginger ale and home made ranch at the last minute. Well worth it. Very yummy.

Philly steak sandwich had zero flavor. The onions and peppers were bland, no flavor. The steak meat was tough and grissley.
Another in our party had the chicken salad sandwich and it was very plain. Nothing special to come back for
The staff was nice and prompt.
Not on my return list.

Village deli is clean and attractive, but assuming that our visit was representative, the menu offerings could best be described as small, overpriced portions of terrible quality food.
The missus and I stopped in at 4:00 on a Friday. The place was mostly empty, but that’s a weird time to eat, so no red flags there. We noticed that the Village Deli features local art (mostly watercolor landscapes) in a bright, open space that’s shaped like the interior of a barn. It’s bright, spacious, and welcoming.
The menu indicated above-​average prices for the area (think $ 11-​$ 12 for a sandwich and a cup of soup). I took that to mean that we would get large portions of above-​average food, as is conventional for nicer delis. In fact, the menu promises «all-​natural, organic and local products in order to ensure that you are being served the finest and freshest meal. You have to eat, so why not eat fresh wholesome foods prepared daily.» In assenting to this profoundly fictive narrative, I could not have been more misled.
We each ordered a sandwich and upgraded from chips (a pretty stingy default side, anyway) to one of the daily soups. All of these decisions were regrettable: the turkey reuben was small for the price, featuring old, previously sliced meat. The salmon burger claimed «grilled, wild-​caught Atlantic salmon» and «homemade dill aioli,» apparently euphemisms for frozen and defrosted fish and dill mixed with Miracle Whip. It featured cheap iceberg lettuce and commercial tomatoes, exactly as a fast food sandwich might have for one third the price.
Problematically, then, I will note that the sandwiches were far from the worst part of the meal. The lentil soup featured a few lentils and a lot of canned tomatoes and little else. It was bad, and I only ate half of it before quitting in disgust, but the chicken and broccoli was far worse: a half-​filled «bowl» of boiled frozen broccoli served in the water in which it was boiled. Although the broth showed no evidence of any use of chicken stock, it also took several seconds of fishing around to find evidence of any actual chicken. It was insultingly bad.
It may tell you something that the dill spears and water were the most appreciated part of the meal. After throwing away half of this terrible food, we stopped again at My Place down the street and paid for lunch a second time. (At least the second one was good.)
So, in the end, we parted with $ 27 for two sandwiches, no sides or drinks, and a cup and bowl of soup, neither of which we had any remote interest in finishing. Just on the initial appearance of the food, I should have immediately brought the tray back up and asked for a refund, but didn’t wish to embarrass the employees, who had been nice. But this was one one of the two or three worst meals that I’ve paid for in the last several years. I left feeling that my money had been stolen.
Also, a direct email to the location’s manager (there was none, either at the web of Facebook page) to address these issues might be a good way to ward off particularly unhappy Unilocal reviews.

We used to love coming to Village Deli… with that being said, we simply don’t go anymore. Food quality has gone downhill and frankly, paying $ 21 for two people to eat two egg plates with a side of bacon each is a rip off. Large menu but completely skewed prices.
Also, the manager has become more and more surly over the years. She actually chided me for saying something that I said to my husband. Very inappropriate!
Overall, if you need a mediocre sandwich/​meal and want to overspend, this is your place! Sad to see the place decline.

I’m a fan of Village Deli, although the food here isn’t as consistently good as I would like it to be. Sometimes it’s really great, and other times I haven’t been so satisfied. Also, some menu items seem to have a pattern of being better than others. My go-​to is the turkey and brie croissant with apple butter and walnuts… it’s slightly toasted so the cheese gets nice and melty. As for sides… I usually get the sweet potato fries, but I recently tried their pasta salad and I was impressed. I don’t even like pasta salad that much, but theirs is good! Another good menu item is the Reuben, and a former co-​worker used to swear by the black and bleu burger.
And they serve Boylan sodas!

Great food made fresh at great price. I love the potato salad. And BBQ chicken Philly. Staff is always friendly.

Large quantities of food so take note. Will have leftovers

Sandwiches where expensive for what we got. The staff was unfriendly and had the attitude that we where interrupting their conversation behind the counter. The décor was pleasant and clean.

My wife and I moved to the Wake Forest area over a year ago and this quickly became our go-​to place place for lunch and the occasional breakfast. Food is made to order, fresh, and there are great specials, sandwiches, salads and soups. We’re almost always satisfied. In fact, after living in DC and before that California and enjoying some great cafes in those areas, we’d put this at the top of the list for all three places.

I would have given the place 3 stars, if it weren’t for the snarky manager on duty. She needs to go. I’ve been here a number of times, and she is quick to take someone’s head off. She is a hindrance and holding the business back. This explains the low staff morale here as noted by other patrons.
Another pet peeve is they stopped using the wonderful fresh bread from Neomonde. Sandwiches here just aren’t exciting. I was there on March 31^st just before noon.

I was pleasantly surprised by their vegetarian menu. A number of tempeh sandwiches as well as some veggie wraps, pitas, and burgers. I had the tempeh press which was very good, the only thing I would have changed was the amount of roasted red pepper on the sandwich. The fries were frozen but cooked well, very crispy. I would go here again to try another of the tempeh sandwiches.

Always delicious! I always get the turkey club! Burgers are amazing also!:)

Prior to moving to the Wakefield/​Bedford/​Almost-​Wake-​Forest area this past May, we lived in an apartment complex off Glenwood, not far from Cameron Village. We frequented that Village Deli location with some regularity: it became one of our go-​to lunch spots to bring visiting friends and family to. So, I was pleased to learn there was another outpost of The VD (Ooh, wait, that abbreviation is HORRIBLE. Village Deli it is. No abbrevs.) in Wake Forest.
Amongst my numerous and remarkable list of talents and positive traits (including modesty, clearly) I consider myself a chicken salad connoisseur. My favorite sandwich in the history of ever is the #5 at the Stagedoor Deli in NYC which is a sandwich on rye bread containing a good old traditional chicken salad, AND, to gild the proverbial lily, several slices of magnificently crispy bacon. Yeah, it’s totally treif, but I have a really hard time grasping the idea that a just and loving God does not love bacon. I mean, would He/​She have made it so delicious if He/​She also thought it was something that should never cross our lips? That just seems unnecessarily cruel.
We are oddly lacking in good sandwich options in the Wakefield area, so I would estimate we patronize The Village Deli at least once a month, if not more. In addition to my chicken salad fixation, my husband is a sandwichaholic, truly. I honestly think he could eat a sandwich of some sort for every meal for the rest of his life. It’s gotten to the point where if we are grabbing lunch on a weekend, I don’t even have to ask him what he wants: I know he wants a sandwich. While he loves him a sub from The Teets, because they are awesome and enormous and they practically give them away for free, his first choice in sandwiching is Village Deli.
I’m sure at this point you’re wondering why I only gave them four stars despite being such a fan. There a few points on which I think they could improve. One being I find their sandwiches a little on the pricey side, especially since most of them do not come with chips or a side of any sort. Some of their menu items do, some don’t, which kinda makes no sense to me: either you include a side in your pricing or you don’t. Most of their menu items clock in around $ 7.50 or $ 8.00, so not totally exorbitant, but once you add on a buck fifty for chips, because DUH, everyone wants chips, and two bucks for a soda, you’re over the $ 10 mark before tax is added, which is generally my cut-​off point for how much I’d like to spend on a sandwich. The quality of their food is clearly leaps and bounds above cheapo sandwich joints like Subpar and their various competitors, so I pay the higher price, but I don’t understand their «some items come with chips, some don’t» policy.
My other complaint is the way the line to order and the ordering process is set up. When you walk in the door, there’s a bunch of menus right there, which causes a bottleneck trying to get into the place, and also means you can get stuck behind someone who treats their lunch decision like it’s Sophie’s choice. They should either have a menu board up on the wall behind the register, or put the menus somewhere NOT right inside the door, and not in the one line to order. I would venture to guess that most of their customers know what they want, or at least have a few options they rotate through, and the line would move MUCH faster if those folks, myself included, didn’t get stuck behind people who need to read the entirety of their somewhat large menu, pontificate for 15 minutes, consult their horoscope, see which way the wind is blowing, and shake their magic 8 ball to decide whether they want a ham sandwich or a turkey wrap. This problem is compounded during busy times: weekday lunch and Sunday lunch in particular.
Once you order, you then grab a table and wait for your name to be called a la Panera. The issue with this is that they have no amplification for ye olde towne sandwich crier, so if you’re anywhere except about a foot in front of the pickup window, you can’t hear your name called. *ETA: It seems like they DO have a PA, they used it today but haven’t always used it in the past.*
So, food is very good, but there are some minor logistical and pricing issues which leaves me hesitant to give them 5 stars. They are also kind of the only game in town in the sandwich category, so I’m willing to overlook these missteps. I’m a teacher so I tend to think of everything in terms of grades: I’d say they are a solid B+ or A-.

Classic Sub is like an «Italian» (in other places) and it was Good, NOT very good, just good as in three stars, or just a little better than a Solid Three!
Value! Compared to the Chains, (except one, «Penn») and at least one Non-​Chain the Classic Sub here wins for Price, Quality and Flavor! Compared to another Deli close by, this Sub Loses by Two stars and compared to the best Subs I have eaten this Sub gets beaten by even more!
Classic Sub at Village Deli: :
Bread — Nice and Big, Soft, Nice Flavor, could have been warmed a little…
Meats — Perfect Volume, Perfect Variety and Tasted Good Quality for the money!
Onions — Nice Flavor, White, Could have been sliced thinner though they were pretty good as they were! Tomatoes were fine! Lettuce is an Option.
Dressing for this sandwich was good, better than many, still needs a lot of work for me to be a fan!
Walk-​up and order at the counter then they will call your name when your order is ready… Good thing this is NOT a Waiter Service type place! If they had a friendly person working here, they had the day off! Seems like the Staff did not want to be there!
All of the Parking available was 45 minute «Towing Strictly Enforced», my friend said he thought that could be a determining factor for people deciding to eat elsewhere… We ate fast and had 6 minutes left! My Friend set a timer on his iphone.
Interior looks designed to look as if it belonged to «The Factory», it looks BETTER than the Factory!

Nice décor, including works of art for sale by a local artist.
The restaurant is self-​serve. Menus are available as you enter, you order & pay at the counter and pick up your meal at another counter.
Large variety of sandwich choices, including burgers, chicken, subs, and seafood. I ordered the chicken cordon bleu sandwich, and the others in my party ordered the Carolina Burger & the Chicken Salad Sub.
Portions are large, and were ready with not too much of a wait (menu states a 10 minute wait).
Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich — the lettuce and tomato overpowered the flavor of the chicken and ham.
Beverages — self serve — the tea canisters were not well marked so I poured unsweet tea instead of the preferred sweet tea.
Price — I though it was a little high priced for self serve. Ample portions on all items, but an average of $ 11/​person for our party seemed a little high for a self serve meal.

Village Deli was recommended by the studio engineer where we were recording at over the weekend. I have to say, it’s okay for the price and for the food, but it wasn’t a «wow» experience. For the type of food I was having, JJ’s would have been a much better choice for me. The food wasn’t bad or overpriced (in my mind) as another review here would suggest, but it was just… «eh. okay» I can’t really find a word to describe it. They did pile the sub high with meats/​lettuce etc… The whole wheat sub roll seemed kind of stale and tasteless.
Cleanliness is an issue here. I noticed chicken bones on the floor in the dining room next to our table. That was a bit of a turn off for me.
While this place is okay, it doesn’t really do it for me.