A little bit of New York City will be coming to downtown Kankakee.
New York City Deli, that is.
Owner Stephen Girard, of Chebanse, is targeting an autumn opening of a 2,400-square-foot deli in the 200 block of South Schuyler Avenue in the Standard Title building.
The building is now owned by Kankakee developers and brothers Steve and has been Harder, who operate under the company name HB Equities, LLC.
The Harder brothers purchased the 11,000-square-foot building on March 7, 2025, from Jim Kane, of Chicago Title.
Standard Title occupies 5,000 square feet at the location. The location is also home to the Kankakee County Chamber of Commerce and an attorney’s office.
Plans were made public at Monday’s Kankakee City Council meeting as the council approved a plan for patio seating outside the planned deli.
Girard is the owner of the New York City Deli, 1190 N. Convent St., Bourbonnais, having purchased it in November.
Girard, a 2010 graduate of Clifton Central High School, has been a heating and air conditioning contractor for the past five years with Glade Plumbing & Heating in Kankakee. Before working for Glade, he was with Precision Piping, Inc., also of Kankakee.
However, he has been a loyal customer of a New York City deli, and upon selling a property he had rehabbed, he walked into the restaurant immediately north of the Gulf Oil gas station and asked if the deli was for sale.
If so, he relayed to the owners that he was interested in purchasing it.
After discussions with the then-owners, Mike and Kristi Panozzo, of Bourbonnais, he took possession, and in November 2024, he became owner of the 1,000-square-foot site.
The New York City Deli has been at its Bourbonnais location since 2013, having been opened by businessman Shaddy Mohammad.
A father of three – Kyler, 11, Scarlette, 7, and Sydney, 5 – Girard said sandwich making could be in the future for this trio.
He is developing plans with Harder for an approximately 600-square-foot patio on the property’s north side. He expects the location will seat up to 40 or so. He estimates employing some 14 part-time workers.
Girard is not a total stranger to the restaurant world. As a teenager, he worked the concession stand at the Chebanse baseball park, and he spent some time working at McDonald’s and the Riverside Medical Center kitchen.
Now, he has spent time behind the New York City Deli counter making sandwiches.
“For me to understand something, I need to know how it works,” he said.
‘Amazing community’
He is committing to a five-year lease with Harder. He envisions operating the Kankakee location seven days a week. He is contemplating some breakfast foods.
He is more than encouraged at what is taking place in the city’s downtown core and wants to be a part of it.
“We have an amazing community. There are things happening here. We will be near the farmers’ market. So many people believe in Kankakee and want to build it up.
“I want to be a part of this. I want to support Kankakee.”
He described his purchase of the Bourbonnais business as acquiring a “well-oiled machine.”
He now wants to duplicate that business, albeit a little larger.
Panozzo had been privately contemplating selling the Bourbonnais deli. He never, however, put it up for sale.
When Girard inquired, the plan was put in motion.
Having a full-time job himself, Panozzo said operating the deli could be taxing, but he never regretted his decision to take over the site.
“It was awesome. I don’t miss the work. I miss the job. I miss the customers,” he said.
It will now fall on Girard to carry on the business and to expand the brand.
He even has plans dancing through his head of perhaps a third location. But first things first. He needs to get the Kankakee site up and running.
A bread knife in hand, this heating and air conditioning technician is ready to make sandwiches for another region of Kankakee County.