The Scoop: Blues City Deli to purchase current building

{Blues City Deli's Aporkalypse Pretzelwich}

Good news for longtime Blues City Deli fans: the popular sandwich shop in St. Louis won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Valenza announced today he will officially take ownership of the building that houses Blues City Deli at 2438 McNair Ave., beginning Dec. 1. Valenza said he briefly toyed with the idea of looking at other spaces, but the current location offers ideal accessibility to the downtown area and his customer base. "Why would I want to move?” he said. "It's a beautiful setting [in a] great neighborhood. … It's been such a positive situation over the last nine years. Let's put the anchor down and be here forever." Ownership means Valenza can tackle new projects, starting with in-house smoked meats. He estimates that by spring 2014, Blues City Deli will be able to smoke its pulled pork and chicken on site. Spring is also when he hopes to begin construction on a "New Orleans-style patio," which will seat approximately 30. Valenza’s even thinking long term, with plans for an in-house artisan baking program in order to add specialty Neapolitan-style pizzas to Blues City Deli's menu in a few years.