Downtown lunch spot Tony’s Deli, ransacked after protests, reopens after big renovation

It’s been nearly a year since Tony’s Delicatessen & Catering last opened, a visitor Wednesday noted. Eleven months and twelve days, owner Elias Silhi replied.

The downtown Italian deli, a lunch favorite of state employees and convention center attendees during the before times, reopened Wednesday at 1131 J St. A few customers were inside by lunchtime, chowing down on sandwiches like The Godfather (smoked Italian sausage, capicola, salami, grilled peppers, onions and smoked gouda) or the Roma (prosciutto, pesto, artichoke hearts, peppers and provolone).

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Tony’s was as badly damaged as any downtown Sacramento business in the nighttime fracas that followed protests last June over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. The large front windows were all smashed, the walk-in cooler’s doors were busted and condiments painted the ceiling. People stole Tony’s safe, espresso machine and food, and even took hammers out of Silhi’s toolbox to use against his restaurant, he said.

“I almost had a heart attack. Or a stroke,” he said.

The total damage was about $140,000, and Traveler’s insurance only covered about $30,000, Silhi said. But well-wishers helped clean up and chipped in more than $70,000 to Tony’s GoFundMe, a few close friends made sizable private donations and Silhi took out a loan to get the deli back open, he said.

Silhi, a Middle Eastern immigrant who opened Tony’s in 1991, says he never doubted it would reopen.

“I never thought negatively. I was thinking positive, ‘I’m going to try my best and my hardest to come back again, because I love what I do and the community loves it,’” Silhi said. “Everybody knows us and we know everybody, just about, in the neighborhood.”

The new Tony’s is sleeker and more modern than its predecessor. Gone are the 1990s Pepsi menu boards behind the deli counter, replaced by a red-and-white sign bearing the restaurant’s name. Granite countertops, dark wood floors and black leather chairs are all new.

Certain charms remain, like the trophies that now sit higher up and extensive fridges full of sodas and energy drinks. Tony’s menu is also the same as before, though every sandwich is $1 more, making most $10.

Tony’s will be open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to start, with 10 small indoor tables and to-go service. And as for the people who caused Silhi’s headache?

“They destroyed our place for no reason. We didn’t do nothing to them. We were not against them. What they did is completely wrong,” Silhi said. “God forgive them. What can I say? It’s in God’s hands on that one.”