The Yellow Deli... not Delhi

Our Sunday School teacher mentioned the Yellow Deli in class, and Chris and I geared up for Indian food. Boy, were we surprised! Those dang homophones get me every time!

The Yellow Deli, located on the campus of UTC in the 700 block of McCallie Ave., has very little parking available. In fact, my friends who attend UTC have skipped class before for lack of a parking spot. We drove the block so many times that it would have been faster for us to actually walk from our house. Finally, a small metered spot opened up, but being after 4:30 pm, we didn't have to fork over the cash to park there. After a fourteen-point parallel park by my dear sweet husband who is all-talented, we finally disembarked and walked a block and a half to the hippie-decorated brick building with an extensive paver patio.

After we entered, we weren't sure what to do. A small carved niche shows a handful of hot drinks available at what looks like a coffee bar. Loaves of bread were also available here. The sign said, "Please seat yourself," but we wanted to sit on the patio and weren't sure this applied to us. So we seated ourselves on the patio. My husband actually asked someone on the patio if this was the right move (a man, asking??!), and we were directed back inside.

It's easy to tell who works at the Yellow Deli because they all belong to a commune, a Christian cult called The Twelve Tribes, and many of the women wore long, billowy, cuffed pants and loose button-down shirts. Those who didn't choose Billow Cuff as their style still wore Billow. From what I gathered by reading the wall, this movement grew out of the "love everybody" hippie movement. The men wore unshaven faces, ponytailed, and headbands.

We flagged down a tribe-member and asked what to do next. He grabbed some menus for us (yellow, of course), and directed us to the smoothie bar, where two barstools awaited us. He told us, "Sometimes, when you're sitting here, you may be blessed with some tea, so be prepared."

We weren't.

We perused and perused that menu. We read the wall, which explains a little bit about the movement. We watched a college student stop himself about a centimeter from banging his face into a wooden post, which had, incidentally, been padded with leather, indicating that he was not the first to meet nose to post.

Still no tea.

Finally, we flagged down a lady with a long gray ponytail and a worrisome look, and asked her if she was the right person to order from. She took our order, ran our Visa, then returned and asked for cash. Chris sits on his wallet and rubs the magnetic strips off of them, so that was no surprise. I managed to break the worried look by making this observation aloud. She smiled ever so slightly.

For $14.75 plus tip, we enjoyed the most delicious lamb sandwich (the lambwich) and Deli Rose sandwich ever. The honey wheat roll just melted in my mouth like cotton candy. I told Chris I wasn't hungry, but he urged me to order anyway, and we'll take it home. I ate the whole thing. Lamb! Can you believe it?!

Two fully-bearded and ponytailed men sanded and shellaqued away at a new handrail for the patio while we munched our deli meal. They seemed normal enough--no strange accent, a normal sense of humor, no strange bonnets on their heads or a million kids running around (as if I can talk about that!). We picked up a free brochure on the way out about the order, but it's awfully wordy, and I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Apparently, the Deli sustains their way of life financially. It's some good eatin', lemme tell you. If I could afford it, I might eat there all the time. They have free wifi, and they're open 24 hours for 5 days a week. I think they close on Friday night and reopen sometime on Sunday. I'm sure www.YellowDeli.com will give all the details you need.

We toured the building before we left so I could describe it to you. Downstairs, you'll find the coffee bar and smoothie bar, as well as an array of small tables and chairs made of wood seats and iron formed in the shape of large daisies. A very cool spiral staircase leads upstairs, but since spirals are difficult to manage sometimes, they added a traditional staircase in the back. That one leads you right into the lounge, where drinks are allowed, but not food. They have a few couches, and one table in that area. Eventually, they'll open their upstairs balcony. I peeked out the windows and saw a few members of the order chatting out there among mostly disassembled tables and chairs. Additional seating in daisy chairs is available upstairs as well.

When you go to the restroom, choose one of two rooms labeled, "Whatever you are." The handles are fashioned from leather and brass, which lends to the hand-crafted feel of the place. Appropriately enough, the toilet was yellow, or at least looked yellow in the dim light of the brown room. Since you never can tell with religious cults, I was glad to see soap and running water.

This is definitely the most unique restaurant I've visited in many years. While I do enjoy my cookie-cutter Starbucks, I like unique, too. I'll probably go back very soon, if not to the restaurant, to the concession stand at the Sunday Farmer's Market downtown.

Why yellow?

And why is everything decorated with daisies?

No wonder our Sunday School teacher confused it with the Purple Daisy... whatever that is. Maybe we'll head there next time.