Koch's deli is still Koch's

If you're waiting in line at Koch's Take Out Shop, somebody will probably offer you a free pickle. You'll at least be able to snatch up a slice of cheese or deli meat while you're waiting to order.

These gestures may seem small, but the deli's employees say they define the lasting legacy of Bob Koch, who died last year after owning and managing the business for more than 30 years.

Business is going strong in his absence, employees say, but "Koch's Deli" - as regulars call it - still really belongs to Koch.

The walls of the shop at 43rd and Locust streets are covered with photographs of the legendary owner, as well as letters from the former Penn students who loved him.

"Coming here is like going into the past," said Rami Shabbat as he read over an old letter from former Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Frank Rizzo, a fan of the deli's. Shabbat and his partner Ezra Haim took over management of the deli after Koch's death in August 2005.

The Koch family, who started the business in 1966 and still own it today, asked Shabbat and Haim to cater Bob's funeral. The pair previously worked together at a deli on City Line Avenue.

Soon after that, they took over as the deli's new managers.

"We have big shoes to fill," Shabbat said. But "we are continuing with tradition, the same thing, the same food - nothing changes."

Indeed, the prices of the sandwiches have not increased since Koch passed away, and the portions - about eight or nine ounces of meat per sandwich - are still the same.

And longtime clients are thankful that the new managers have held on to important traditions.

"I've been coming here since I was a little girl," West Philadelphia native Nichole Boyd said as she waited with friends in the restaurant yesterday.

"We loved Koch's because they always fed you, even when you stood in line," she said, referring to the free pickles and cheese slices.

Near the front door, a letter from a former local student is displayed on the wall.

"I miss more than the food. I miss waiting in line with my girlfriend, my father or pledges from my old fraternity, passing cheese slices [and] pickles," reads the letter, from Adam Litvin.

Koch remembered customers' names, Boyd said, and was beloved by his entire clientele.

He was familiar with his customers' preferences, so when Boyd called up and complained that tomatoes had mistakenly been put on her sandwich, Koch apologized and offered her two free sandwiches - one for that day, and one for the next time she returned to the deli.

"Bob was a special man," Shabbat said. "He was very popular."

But it seems that Fran Koch, Bob's mother who started the deli with her husband, was the one who really controlled the business during Bob's ownership.

Fran invented the deli's sandwiches, and "nobody got hired until [she approved their first sandwich] and made sure it was built right," Shabbat said.

Still, the new managers are slowly making a few changes.

Koch's now accepts credit cards and is open for business seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Under the former owner, it was closed on Wednesdays.

Shabbat and Haim are also planning to expand the deli's offerings by adding breakfast foods like bagels and omelettes. They also want to increase the catering side of the business.

Koch's has been consistently featured in the Zagat Survey in recent years, and Haim called the deli "one of the best, if not the best, in Philadelphia."

But they never forget the impressive legacy of their business.

"Whenever we make sandwiches," Shabbat said, "we have Bob watching us."

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