Thayer Bros. Deli Manager: 'I Miss Talking To People'
JOLIET, IL — One of Joliet's favorite neighborhood restaurants continues dishing up a half dozen daily specials for hungry customers six days a week amid the coronavirus outbreak. Thayer Bros. Deli was established in 1993. It's near Joliet's Six Corners intersection, at 753 Ruby St.
With Good Friday here, Thayer's Friday specials will focus on fish. You can order a fried or grilled cod dinner or sandwich option. There's also grilled salmon or grilled whitefish, and during Lent, Thayer's is serving up seafood chowder too.
"It's delicious," proclaimed Kymn Donnelly, a manager at Thayer's deli.
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After every customer visits, Donnelly told Patch Thursday, she wipes down all the door handles, the counter and cash register with cleaning solutions.
All the tables have been removed from the dining room, and a few chairs are spread out to make sure any guests waiting for their takeout orders are practicing safe social distancing.
Part of the joy of eating at Thayer's is the camaraderie. People laugh. They smile. They share stories of growing up in Will County and memories of their high school days.
For the time being, because of the health crisis, that sense of fellowship can't be shared inside the dining room over a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup — Thayer's homemade soups are some of the best in Joliet.
"It's been very scary," Donnelly said, "but we have a lot of people who know our food is homemade and comfort food. A lot of customers are still coming in and carrying out and supporting us, so we're doing pretty good."
Joliet Patch asked her about the challenges of keeping a small, local restaurant going at a time when dine-in restaurants can't serve or seat patrons inside.
"I miss talking to people," she said. "I'm such a people person. We miss our customers immensely."
As for Good Friday, Donnelly hopes it will be good for business at 753 Ruby St.
"Last Friday's fish fry, we were slammed," she said. "It was awesome."
Thayer's is known for its daily specials.
Every morning, by 11 a.m., the staff posts the daily specials on the Thayer Brothers Deli Facebook page. Thayer's continues to serve up a half dozen different daily specials.
Thursday's specials included stuffed peppers, spare ribs, grilled cajun salmon dinner and grilled white fish dinner, among other entrees.
Every sandwich or entree comes with a free cup of soup.
Thayer's is also featuring several homemade desserts: banana cream, coconut cream and chocolate cream pies, plain cheesecake and turtle cheesecake.
You can also purchase cans of pop.
And, for the first time in the history of Thayer Brothers Deli, "We just added a credit card machine," Donnelly told Patch.
During Thursday's interview, owner Rick Thayer, just happened to call into the restaurant. He and his brother, Tom, were two of Joliet Catholic High School's standout athletes during the late 1970s. Tom Thayer, as most Jolietans know, helped the 1985 Chicago Bears win the Super Bowl trophy. He's one of the team's game day radio announcers.
Rick Thayer told Patch that he hopes a lot people patronize Thayer's Deli on Good Friday.
"Fridays have been busy," he said.
"We're going to get through this one way or the other. There's nothing we can do except roll with the punches."
Thayer Brothers Deli is staying open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday. It's closed Sunday. To place a carryout order, call 815-726-8990.
Last June, Joliet Patch's Editor wrote a food column on the Ruby Street restaurant:"Thayer Brothers Deli: A Joliet Treasure."
During the past week, Thayer's was one of the small businesses to fill out Joliet Patch's simple online survey to let everyone know whether they are open and current hours of operations during the coronavirus outbreak.
More than 100 Joliet businesses have been added to Patch's list so far.
If you want to add your small local business to Joliet Patch's list of open and closed businesses, you can do so here.
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This article originally appeared on the Joliet Patch
