I wasn’t prepared for Main Street Deli. All I knew was that when I mentioned lunch to some people, they instantly replied, “Well, you have to go to Main Street Deli.” A place that had such universal appeal had to be tried.

When I walked up to the door, I instantly found myself giggling. There was a sign posted that said, “No crabs allowed, so be nice.” I kind of love this philosophy and even found a similar sign inside. Now, the real test would be whether the staff lived up to this.

I walked up to the counter and instantly froze. The chalkboard behind it is massive and filled with so many choices that I didn’t even know where to begin. The guy taking the orders saw my dilemma. He slid me a paper menu slyly and said, “This should be easier.” Okay, so first guy passes the nice test. I didn’t even have to say I had a problem and the problem was solved. Now onto more pressing issues like which of these amazing sandwiches was I going to try. I settled on The Skye. Let’s be honest… It had the words “melted provolone” in the description. There was no contest.

I placed my order and then took a seat, which is when I really took in the decor. I was surrounded by pictures and artifacts from Findlay’s history. As I was trying to take in every single piece I could without climbing over other patrons, my eyes flicked up for a just a second. That was enough to realize where I should really be looking was the ceiling tiles. Each one is beautifully painted with different scenes and could be considered pieces of art themselves.

As I was staring open-mouthed at the beauty that was above me, I heard my name called. Snapping out of my stupor, I said, “Yes?” Just a question on my order. This happened a couple of times. It became like I was an old friend and they wanted to make sure their friend got the perfect sandwich that they were dreaming about.

Finally, my name was called and I was able to retrieve my order. I hunkered down in my booth, ready to do some damage to this sandwich and the chips surrounding it. The Skye definitely lived up to my hopes and dreams and the staff of Main Street Deli lived up to the nice test.

In the end, I feel like Main Street Deli is almost a mini-version of Findlay. We’re a little different here. But if you give us a bit of your time, we’ll give you great food, great art and make you feel like home. And can you really ask for more?