Hoping to save Brandywine's Deli

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Sandy Phillips started meeting at Brandywine’s Deli in Winter Park with friends from Rollins College in 1987.

For 25 years, it’s been a weekly Friday afternoon hangout, where the Oviedo resident and her friends and former colleagues gather to share laughs and stories over beer, wine and snacks at the end of the workweek.

But with the announced closing of Brandywine’s Deli, she has found herself searching for answers as to why it has to close, and is taking her case straight to the deli’s landlord.

Phillips has mailed a petition signed by 325 individuals to landlord Wayne Roberts of Roberts Brothers Development Company. It asks him to explain his decision to increase the rent for the business beyond what the owners say they can afford.

She said she was optimistic when she began her endeavor, but her spirits are fading with just more than two weeks until the restaurant is scheduled to close its doors on April 28.

“When I first got the idea to do it, it was because I thought there was still a chance that the negotiations would work,” she said. “And just to make sure that [Roberts] knows how people feel.”

Brandywine’s has been on Park Avenue for 40 years, started by the parents of co-owner Johnny Frankenberger. He said Roberts is asking for a rent amount that would not allow for him to make a reasonable living running his business.

Roberts did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Frankenberger said he does not have any plans to open a restaurant in another location at this time.

Customers have had a strong reaction to the closing of the deli.

“People are very emotional,” he said. “It means a lot to them.”

Phillips remembers the time her group threw a baby shower for Terri Smith, one of Brandywine’s’ employees. If a staffer had a new girlfriend, Phillips and friends would vet them personally.

It’s a connection that’s spanned decades. Phillips and her group originally met through a Rollins College connection, as many in the group work or used to work at Rollins. The group has been meeting here to catch up with one another for 25 years.

“We’re kind of like ‘Seinfeld,’” she said. “We talk about everything and nothing.”

Her group is well known by the staff. Donata Nutter, a member of the group, noted that in years past, Frankenberger has brought out free hors d’oeuvres to them just before Christmas as a way to thank them for their patronage.

Phillips and her group are not the only ones that will be missing Brandywine’s Deli. Bill MacLean, a resident of Edina, Minn., has known about this establishment since his days at Rollins College. He graduated from Rollins in 1976 and moved to Minnesota, but has come back regularly to visit friends, as well as a daughter who lives in Winter Park. He said his children have long been fans of this restaurant.

“I brought my kids here. My son lives in Colorado, I have a daughter in New York, and they all love it,” he said. “When we come to Winter Park, they all want to go to Brandywine’s at least once.”

He also finds the environment the restaurant provides to be one of a kind.

“I love the ambiance. The food is great,” he said. “It’s not trendy, it’s just good comfort food.”

Donna and Marlon Salalila, a married couple who have lived in Kissimmee for eight years, found out about the closing of Brandywine’s Deli when they read the news online. They decided to make a trip to the store immediately to try to the place for themselves. This would also be their first time discovering Park Avenue. Marlon said he enjoyed Brandywine’s Reuben sandwich, made with hot corned beef, pastrami and Swiss cheese, then topped with Thousand Island dressing and coleslaw and served on Rye.

He said they were looking forward to visiting the other shops on the Avenue and seeing what bargains they could find.

As for Phillips and her Friday afternoon meet-up group, Nutter said they were still considering options of what to do when Brandywine’s shuts its doors for good.

“We’ve talked about that,” she said. “If another restaurant or deli or some place that sells beer and wine opens [in Brandywine’s place] with outdoor seating, we may try it.

“Otherwise we’re going to find another place with outdoor seating where we can come and hang out on Friday just like we always do.”

But a generation of memories may not be there to greet them. On Friday employee Cindy Salinski walked out with tears in her eyes to give the group one final warm embrace. She didn’t know if this would be their last Friday together.

It’s like a family, Phillips said. “We’ve become involved in their lives.”