Good food, service keeps ‘em coming back to Big Bear Deli

POST FALLS – While the first bite of the toasted hoagie may have hooked Joannie Burnett, it’s a tougher call as to whether it’s the food or the service at her new favorite deli that keeps her coming back.

Since opening last June, Burnett’s become one of many regular customers of Big Bear Deli in Post Falls, where the shop’s unique sandwiches and small-town service has customers coming back time after time, and lunch hour after lunch hour, often for the same dish. Located in the former home of the Golden Mirror Salon behind the Napa Auto Parts store, the deli, which resembles a ski shack with its cedar shakes inside and out, also offers soups, fresh salads, quiches and homemade extras such as slaw and cupcakes.

“I’ll go one to two times a week and order the same thing,” Burnett said about her favorite “Number 10” sandwich, which includes chicken, bacon, Swiss, tomato, sprouts and bleu cheese dressing on toasted focaccia. “They have the best customer service, I think, around. I walk in the door and they know what to make right away.”

And what’s the secret to the shop’s standout service?

It can be found on a heavily marked board underneath the deli’s front counter, where the three-person staff – owners Tim and Cathy Riorden and Tim’s brother, Shaun Riorden – keeps a running tally for frequent customers and tips to remember them by on the wall of fame, as it’s known.

“We kind of anticipate them. We start cutting the bread before they even get in the door,” said Shaun Riorden, who joined his brother in the business after having been “blown out here by Hurricane Katrina” from New Orleans and now assembles the deli’s sandwiches. “I guarantee it’s in front of them in five minutes.”

Knowing the names and favorites of their regulars is a long-established tradition for Tim and Cathy Riorden, which dates back to the deli they previously owned for more than nine years in Virginia before making the move West. In fact, many of Big Bear Deli’s items were created in the kitchen of their former business, Old Town Wine and Cheese Deli.

Back in 2003, The Riordens were still living in their hometown of Fredericksburg, Va., and operating the Old Town deli. In August that year, however, they made a trip to North Idaho that would change their lives.

“We came to visit and never left,” Cathy Riorden said about their first trip to the area and their decision to stay in Post Falls. “The community is awesome. The scenery is the best. It’s just better living.”

Within a few months, the Riordens had sold the Old Town deli and settled into their new North Idaho home with their children. Yet at that time, opening a shop in Post Falls wasn’t on their radar.

That decision didn’t come until the family had lived in the area for several years. After not being able to find anything that offered a similar lineup to their current menu, the couple decided to get back in business.

“We wanted something in Post Falls, not Coeur d’Alene. Post Falls needed something … different; there are a lot of good places to eat here, but there aren’t a lot of good and unique places to eat,” Cathy Riorden said.

The Riordens set out to remedy that with their line of specialties, including a “pork feast” with pork tenderloin and apple kraut on sourdough; a hot “Reuben” with corned beef, Swiss and kraut on toasted marble rye; and giant cupcakes for $14 that feed four to six. A full meal, which includes a sandwich, chips, drink and a pickle, costs about $7.

“Our sandwiches are unique in their own way; they all have their own taste,” Tim Riorden said. “I don’t think you can find a deli in the area that does what we’re doing.”

That’s a moot point for the faithful, though, since many have settled on a favorite, such as Burnett’s “Number 10.”

“I’ve never had anything like it. It’s better than home, and I’m quite the cook myself,” she said.

“It’s nice to have some small-town service to it. The little bell rings, they greet you and they know right away what you want… I’ll be a customer for life.”