Kevin’s Deli voted best Black-owned business in The Pitt News’ survey

Right out of high school, Kevin McAllister began working at the Webster Hall Deli in 1987. The owner, William R. Lee, taught McAllister “everything he [knows].”

“[He] taught me how to do cooking, and we used to make egg salad, tuna salad and all those things,” McAllister said. “Cooking is easy. You just gotta pay attention. That’s all cooking is — paying attention to what you’re making and just loving what you do.”

McAllister worked at the deli for 17 years before taking over. In 2004, he renamed it Kevin’s Deli. A framed photo of McAllister and Lee still hangs on the wall of the deli today.

McAllister is now the owner and sole worker at Kevin’s Deli. Students voted Kevin’s Deli the best Black-owned business in The Pitt News’ annual “Best Of” survey. Located inside Webster Hall, he serves classics like buffalo chicken salad and Reubens, as well as breakfast options. According to McAllister, his steak hoagie is “the best in the city.”

“No one’s touching my steak hoagie,” McAllister said. “Everything I make is good. You’re going to like everything, because it’s not just a worker working here, it’s the owner, and when it’s the owner, he makes everything good because he don’t want no bad remarks on them.”

McAllister has formed relationships with a number of customers. During a typical day, he sits and talks with an 89-year-old woman who comes in for coffee each day as they wait for the lunch rush. Another customer recently started running McAllister’s Clash Royale for him in exchange for a free coffee maker.

“I don’t want just a customer, I want friends,” McAllister said. “That’s the way I look at business.”

On the deli counter, McAllister has a number of trinkets — a Pikachu figurine, Hot Wheels and a Rubik’s cube.

“People do my Rubik’s cube for me,” McAllister said. “Every time the one customer comes in, he does it in seconds. I’m like, ‘Wow. You know, customers are cool.’”

McAllister decorated the walls of the deli with tokens from customers — paintings of the Pittsburgh skyline from former residents of Webster Hall, a bulletin board filled with foreign currencies, and posters signed by Pitt sports teams. McAllister said he loves people, and that for him, interaction is “everything.” The deli is even where McAllister met his wife of 34 years.

Working in a college neighborhood, McAllister’s customers are constantly coming and going. Every year, McAllister receives Christmas cards from one past regular and his family. They even bring him cookies sometimes. Another former customer and his family send letters yearly updating him on the family’s doings. Both the Christmas cards and letters are taped up on the wall behind the deli counter. 

“Every four years, I get new customers because a lot of college kids work and live around here and go to school around here, so I meet them and become good friends with them, and then they’re off to life, and I gotta find new ones,” McAllister said.

Jessica Stanislaw, a property manager with Webster Hall, has worked around the corner from Kevin’s Deli for 11 years and enjoys the “fantastic breakfast sandwiches.”

“We have a great relationship,” Stanislaw said. “We are proud to have Kevin as part of our Webster Hall community. We make sure to include him in our leasing tours.”

Stanislaw believes Kevin’s Deli was voted “Best Of” because McAllister’s personality “can’t be beat.”

“He is friendly to everyone and brings a nice vibe to Webster Hall and the surrounding community,” Stanislaw said.

Manny Basnet, a senior media and professional communications major, first heard about Kevin’s Deli from a friend who frequented the place. His first impression of the deli was centered around McAllister’s personality.

“He was really nice, and just made me feel really welcomed,” Basnet said. “And I thought that it was pretty odd for just someone making food to be that hospitable towards me, and it was a really pleasant experience.”
Now, Basnet goes semi-regularly, and his favorite menu item is the steak hoagie with fries. He said he thinks Kevin’s Deli won “Best Of” because of McAllister’s welcoming personality.

“When it comes to what separates food places, whether it’s a restaurant or just a grab-and-go place, I think there’s a lot of places that have really good food, but my favorite places are always ones that give me a good experience, not just good food.”

To McAllister, winning “Best Of” meant he was “not a prick or a-hole,” as he tries to do good things and be kind.

“I lead with kindness always,” McAllister said. “If you don’t have enough money, you can eat here. I don’t say that to everybody, but if someone comes in and says they only have $5, I’m not going to turn them away. Not going to do it every day, but I’m not going to turn them away the first day.”