EatingOUT: 

The first obvious question I had to ask owners Tom McDermott and Irene Baker was, "So, what does S.O.B. stand for?" It should have been apparent, but wasn’t—"Sandwiches On the Beach," they laughed, and Tom chimed in, "Or that’s me on a really bad day!" Hopefully, those bad days will be few and far between, not because Tom could get grouchy, but because it’s really a fine place to eat.

Tom and Irene had been around the Rehoboth scene in different professional capacities for a number of years when Tom called up Irene and asked her, on the spur of the moment if she’d like to open a deli with him. Operating on the "jump and a safety net will appear" theory, they opened S.O.B’.s in April last year. If you recall, the beginning of last summer brought rain weekend after weekend. I wanted to know if that had dampened their enthusiasm for the venture, but in true entrepreneur fashion Tom said they were so new to the business that they didn’t recognize it was bad and just kept plugging away. Lucky for us.

S.O.B.’s proclaims it’s "A Deli for the People By the People," and lives up to that by offering a great service for the People, that is, You. Get on your cell phone and call them at 226-2226, and you can have your order delivered to the beach. Tom will hop on his trusty scooter and drive your order to the entrance of the beach, from North Beach to Chesapeake Street and anywhere in between. A godsend on those lazy, hot days when you don’t want to stir from the beach or are too busy checking out the eye candy.

Tom and Irene pay great homage to the Earl of Sandwich, and, I suppose, the Earl of Hoagie. Either way you want it, the offerings are super. There’s quite a variety, listing all of your favorite cold deli sandwiches from ham, turkey, tuna salad to NY Pastrami with more in between. Then there are the Specialty Hoagies. These are served on a ten-inch baguette. They’re huge because, Tom says, size really does count! You’ve surely seen some of them advertised in Letters—Tom and Irene have asked various people around town to select a sandwich to be named after them, and then put their picture in the middle of the life preserver that serves as S.O.B.’s logo. So you have such combos as The Paulie: turkey, ham, muenster, lettuce, tomatoes and mayo; Justine’s Veggie: spinach, roasted red bell peppers, sautéed mushrooms, provolone and garlic mayo, and The Slob (insert whoever you want into this picture!): roast beef, turkey, muenster, lettuce, tomatoes and 1000 island dressing. Yes, you can get wraps as well, and if you want to remain faithful to Dr. Atkins or Dr. South Beach, ask for the low-carb wrap.

S.O.B.’s has many, many salads to choose from. Irene says she tries to fill up the deli case with fresh, local produce and products, then spices it up with her own special seasonings. That special attention to details shows in the crispness and freshness of the offerings. There are varieties of salads that feature fresh greens, and classics such as chicken and tuna salad. To give you a chance to taste a wide range of these, you can choose the three-salad sampler, which allows you to select your choice of the day’s salad offerings.

Always, always ask about the specials of the day. Each day brings a new list. When Susan and I dropped in there were stuffed grape leaves, eggplant Parmesan, and black bean soup served with sour cream and salsa.

Susan opted for the three-salad sampler, and selected the green beans with pine nuts and feta cheese, cauliflower salad, and the Palm Beach curried chicken breast salad. Tom says the Palm Beach is their number one seller, and it’s easy to see why. It’s truly a delicious concoction that beats out the standard chicken salad, in my opinion, by a country mile. I sort of cringed at the idea of cauliflower salad but was pleasantly surprised by this one. It’s crisp and tasty, all dolled up with one of Irene’s special sauces.

I went right to the hoagie side of the menu, and (how could I resist?), ordered the Fat Bastard (my thought: can you say Donald Rumsfeld?), hot corned beef and pastrami with Swiss cheese and mustard. My, oh my. Mounds of meat topped with melted cheese—my idea of the perfect sandwich.

End your feast with Irene’s 2003 Chocolate Festival award winning Bittersweet Brownies? Or have a coconut macaroon or giant chocolate chip cookie. You’ll be happy with any of them, and very happy you tried S.O.B.’s Deli.