GOLD’S DELICATESSEN - a pandemic hero

PANDEMIC GOLD STAR AWARD WINNER

A true NY style deli that opened in the Compo Shopping Center in 1958 seems to have a cult following. Owners Nancy and Jim Eckl hard at work fulfilling curbside pick-up orders.

On most mornings, you’ll see a steady flow of customers breezing in and out of this Westport culinary staple. Most patrons are long-time customers, having relied on Gold’s Deli for their Jewish deli sandwiches, lox and whitefish, matzah ball soups, yummy fresh bagels (even H&H), and so many other goodies for as long as they can remember.

But as businesses and schools started to close in mid-March 2020, Gold’s Delicatessen had to close their doors to all those loyal customers. They imagined what the next few weeks would look like: calls flooding the phone lines with orders and many, many busy signals.

Without hesitation, Gold’s put in place their online order form system on their website. Now, patrons could order anything on the menu, pay for it online (no exchanging of germ-ridden credit cards, and schedule a pick-up during the next available time slot (or later, if so desired). They put up a table outside - a barrier to protect their employees - and people were asked to remain in their cars until their orders were ready.

The orders started coming in, and coming in…..

Owner Nancy Eckl, who always delivered our food outside with a huge smile, said this was their “‘wall of orders’ to fill! This is how we started each morning!”

Owner Jim Eckl filling orders

This new set-up was organized and efficient and allowed us to continue having a steady fix of incredible warm and bubbly bagels, world-class smoked salmon and of course, all the delicious deli meat you could ever image.

Did somebody say Challah?

They even set up shop to sell Passover goodies for the Jewish community in town, regaining just a bit of normalcy for those celebrating their first (of many) pandemic holiday. 

After the summer storm knocked out power to our town for so long, Gold’s brought their store outside. They set up everything in front of the store and continued serving customers who didn’t have the ability to cook or even keep fresh food at home.

A truckload of Passover orders

My dad, Andrew Felner, happily picking up his Passover matzah (and other nameless goodies he tried to hide from us)!

There’s one last thing to mention from owners Nancy and Jim Eckl. We mentioned that Gold’s has a loyal customer base. Well, Nancy told us some pretty incredible stories of how their customers actually chipped in to help Gold’s during the pandemic. Some delivered orders, answered phones and were there to lend a hand. Now that says something about the relationship Gold’s has with their customers!

Congratulations Gold’s … and THANK YOU!