Jill Shalhoob was ten years old the day her father Jerry opened his butcher shop on Santa Barbara Street. Now, three decades later in the same location, the butcher’s daughter presides over Shalhoob’s Deli—known to locals simply as Jill’s Place. There you can get a tasty sandwich at lunch or an excellent steak at dinner, all featuring the celebrated Shalhoob meats. The Shalhoob family landted in Santa Barbara when Jill’s great grandfather settled here to oversee the Western States Greek Orthodox Church. Her grandfather is still remembered as a wild character. (He was a horse trader whose antics included riding his horse into a restaurant during an early Fiesta.) “He used to come terrorize us at lunch every single day at the deli,” Jill adds. Apparently without the horse. Jerry reports that four generations of his family have been born in Cottage Hospital. They’ve all also worked with meat or food here. His maternal grandmother, Annie Alegria, was born in Refugio Canyon in 1893. “She married my grandfather, Joe Arbeitz, who was a slaughterhouse man in Goleta. They moved to the San Ynez Valley and were farmers.” His mother and stepfather were Helen and Jim Romp who owned Arnoldi’s restaurant for thirty years. The walls reflect the family history and are adorned with numerous photos and collages, including a 1980 photo of Jill at an industrial meat band-saw, flanked by portraits of Jerry and her big brother John, Jr. also at work. Jerry recalls that both kids rode their bikes over to the store after school to help out. Within four years, the butcher shop outgrew its space. “I had seven guys working in that room,” he says. He moved it to Gray Avenue in 1977 to focus more on the commercial meat business, and sold the Santa Barbara Street retail location. Jill was managing the deli counter at Cantwell’s Market in 1984 when she got a call from her dad. “He said, ‘Hey, I just got the store back. Let’s open a deli!’” Jill laughs. “Within two weeks we opened and two days later he left, saying ‘I have to go to work—just make sure I get the rent.’” In 2002, after 15 years of successful deli and offsite catering, Jill needed a change. “It just hit me one morning,” she remembers. A restaurant would be just the thing. “I wanted to run with the family name, so I met with my father and brother. I didn’t ask—I told them what I was going to do,” Jill pauses. “They said ‘great idea!’” It is hard to imagine anyone stopping Jill Shalhoob once an idea has set hold. She’s a straight talker with a direct gaze and a quick smile. Obviously proud of her namesake eatery, she is genuinely happy to see her customers—both regulars and newcomers. “She has a real outgoing personality,” says Jerry. “She’s good with people and has a real touch for the business.” Business is indeed brisk. During our lunch time chat, all the tables fill and many people eat at the bar. A local businessman comes in to pick up a huge to-go order, the deli staff help him carry it out. The lunch menu has stayed the same for over 17 years. I dig into a luscious meatloaf sandwich after eyeing a sliced turkey platter. “These are all fresh-cooked deli meats,” reports Jill, “real turkey…like Thanksgiving.” The meatloaf, tuna and egg salad recipes come from her mother Jacque. “This is my family’s style of cooking…our recipes,” Jill proudly states. “We cook in the ‘old Arnoldi’s’ way, home-style. You get soup and salad with dinner, good drinks and good value. Very simple.” There is no chef and no specials. The delicious soup, a split-pea base augmented with rice, carrots and meat, is grandmother Helen’s recipe. Steaks are seasoned with a dry rub (formulated by brother John, Jr.), charred on a flat grill and finished in the oven. “They are more flavorful that way,” Jill says knowingly. The rub and the meats served at Jill’s Place are all available at Shalhoob’s Meat Company on Gray Avenue. Jerry is retired; John, Jr. now owns and operates the commercial business which also supplies meat to local restaurants, hotels and other local businesses. There’s a lively weekday happy hour ($5 top shelf-based margaritas, Cosmos, mojitos and martinis) and the grilled Shalhoob sausage assortment is a great cocktail snack. A concession to modern times is a blackened ahi tuna appetizer. Otherwise, the menu is timeless: thick pork chops, baby back pork ribs, scampi, spaghetti Bolognese, and five different cuts of Shalhoob steaks served with a choice of two sauces and optional blue cheese, mushrooms or prawns. The wonderful buttermilk fried chicken is from the late great Acacia Restaurant, courtesy of chef Lydia, a longtime pal of Jill’s. Another pal carved the restaurant’s sign. It used to say just Shalhoob’s Deli, but now also states Jill’s Place. “So many people called it that — the name just stuck. I now have to put it in the phone book!” Jill laughs out loud. She doesn’t advertise. She doesn’t have to. And don’t ask for a latte. “We are ‘old school.’ We’ve got no espresso. We’ve got whiskey, beer, and we’ve got coffee. We are cool, just in our own way.” Jill’s Place is at 632 Santa Barbara Street. 963-0378. Open M–F: 8 a.m.–3 p.m., and 5 p.m. – closing; Saturdays: 8 a.m.–2 p.m. and 5 p.m.–closing, closed Sundays, Catering menus for breakfast, lunch and offsite barbecue catering are available at www.shalhoobs.com /www.jillsplacesb.com
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