Unwrapping the decades-long legacy of DeFalco’s Deli

DeFalco’s Deli, the Italian eatery and market located on Scottsdale Road, is a celebrated Valley institution with a local history that stretches back to 1972. But its story begins before that — and across an ocean.

The enduring legacy of DeFalco’s Deli begins with Giovanni (John) DeFalco and Dora DeAngelis. John’s family had immigrated to the United States from Abruzzo, Italy via Toronto; Dora’s family moved from Rome. The two met in Michigan, got married, and then did the next logical thing — they opened a neighborhood tavern. The Venezia Inn was located in Melvindale, a suburb of Detroit.

The inn was successful, but “it was too cold in Michigan,” says Andrea Moran, DeFalco’s vice president and granddaughter of the pair. After a family trip to visit Dora’s sister Eleanor in Arizona, the DeFalco family decided to make the move from the Midwest to the Valley's warmer climes.

John, Dora, their son Jerry and his wife Judith (Judy) opened the first Arizona store in 1972 at the Wagon Wheel Shopping Center on the corner of 44th Street and Thomas Road.

“They all started together and then incorporated the business in 1974,” Moran says.

DeFalco’s operated out of that location until 1984 when the family received notice that the building was being demolished. The deli found new digs at 68th Street and Thomas Road.

However, 17 years later, history seemed to repeat itself and DeFalco's needed to relocate, again. This time, the building was being converted into a design center. In 2001, DeFalco’s moved into its current location on Scottsdale Road.

“It was a stroke of luck,” Moran says. “Since then we’ve had a lot of growth.”

Moran has been involved with the family business for as long as she can remember.

“My first role was standing on a box near the cash register so I could reach to bag groceries. My kids did the same thing; on a box, bagging groceries,” she said. Moran's daughters, Madeline and Alyssa, still work at the deli occasionally and other family members have been involved over the years.

As for Jerry and Judy, who are now both 81 and semi-retired, “they like to keep their eye out, make sure it’s still the way they like things,” Moran says.
More than an Italian deli

DeFalco’s is the place to find shelled clams and unique Italian grocery items like imported provolones, sauces and Pasta De Cecco, one of the best dried pastas you can get shipped to Arizona, according to Moran. DeFalco’s imports all of the available De Cecco pasta cuts from Italy.

“Some products you can only get on the coasts, it’s only as far as Italy will send them,” she says.

For its signature sandwiches and traditional dishes, DeFalco’s draws on a tome of family recipes passed down over 100 years. The pizza dough is made onsite daily as are the meatballs and sausage.

Around lunchtime, steady streams of customers flood the deli, hungry for meatball subs, melty cheesesteaks and DeFalco’s best-selling Italian Combo, which includes ham, salami, pepperoni, mortadella and provolone.

“We are one of their guilty pleasures,” Moran says. “Nobody is coming in here looking for green juice. They’re looking for carbs.”

How DeFalco's Deli continues tradition

Running a successful restaurant in 2024 is like walking a tightrope above a shallow pool of sharks — it takes skill and the slightest change in conditions can plunge you into a tricky situation.

“Of course, the restaurant industry is a difficult industry, of course the margins are very thin and narrow,” says Steve Chucri, President and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association.

“If you don’t set yourself apart, then you’re going to find yourself, as we say in this business, you make sure you have a seat at the table or else you’ll end up on the plate,” he says.

Moran recalls relocating the deli, on two separate occasions, with little notice was among the hardest challenges DeFalco’s has faced. And then there was the pandemic.

“COVID brought its own set of challenges,” Moran says. “We were set up for takeout, the grocery part probably helped during COVID as well... grocery stores would be out of pasta, but we had pasta."

Moran also gives credit to DeFalco’s employees.

“We have five people who have been with us for over 20 years and another eight or so that have been with us for over 10 years,” Moran says. “Our staff is our backbone.”
Just like its classic Italian Combo, DeFalco’s Deli doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon.

“We have people who I knew as a kid whose kids are coming in,” Moran says. “I hope in the next 10 years we will have the next generation of those families coming in.”

DeFalco's Deli

2334 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale