If you ask 8 Dollar Deli’s owner Roger Morgan what makes a delicious deli sandwich, he’ll tell you that it’s the goodies. His vibrantly colorful restaurant just opened last Thursday at 6600 Delmar Blvd., a space that used to be occupied by Smoothie King.

An $8 sandwich is prepared at 8 Dollar Deli. The restaurant, which has evolved from its food truck origins, just opened in the former Smoothie King location on the Delmar Loop.

“You got to have the goodies,” he laughed. “When you go and buy a deli sandwich, it seems like it’s all bread. I mean, if I wanted a loaf of bread, I’d buy a loaf of bread.”

The goal at 8 Dollar Deli is to make sandwiches, wraps and salads that are both healthy and flavorful. Every item is—you guessed it—a flat $8. While that may seem pricey, they pride themselves on making “huge-ass sandwiches” with the freshest ingredients.

Morgan didn’t always own a restaurant. In fact, he used to own a towing company. The concept behind 8 Dollar Deli, funny enough, came from Morgan’s experiences at motorcycle rallies, where vendors almost exclusively sold fried food. Morgan, frustrated with the lack of healthy alternative options, called up his buddy Jim Guyot from the towing company and asked if he’d be interested in going on a quest to make the best damn sandwich. And then, 8 Dollar Deli was born.

The restaurant spent its first year as a food truck, serving the very motorcycle rallies and festivals that Morgan would go to. There, Morgan was happy to find that other event-goers enthusiastically welcomed the truck—they also felt that there had previously been a culinary void there. In addition to the food truck, Morgan also drove an Uber around the Delmar Loop for three months. While he was driving around customers, he crowdsourced opinions from them on what kind of food they’d like to see in the Loop. After a year of operating the food truck and conducting market research, Morgan and Guyot finally established a brick-and-mortar location, which opened on August 25.

Holly Ravazzolo | Student Life

8 Dollar Deli, which began as a food truck, recently opened its brick-and-mortar business on the Loop. Roger Morgan, the owner, came up with the concept after being frustrated with the lack of healthy options among vendors at motorcycle rallies.

The menu is simple, but complete. You can get five types of deli-style sandwiches: ham, turkey, roast beef, vegetarian and the Big Bubba. If you don’t want a sandwich, you can also get these options as wraps or salads.

The most notable 8 Dollar Deli creation is the “Big Bubba” sandwich. It’s a monstrosity of a sandwich. In it, you get all three types of meat, along with the usual vegetables and sauces. It’s so massive that they serve the sandwich in a bag. If you’re lucky, you might be able to try their mysterious “deli burrito.” It’s made up of a special blend of all of their ingredients and wrapped in a tortilla. Since the blend takes all day to make, it’s only available in the late evening or at night.

While some of their options might be a little meat-heavy, Morgan promises that vegetarians won’t be disappointed. To make up for the lack of meat, vegetarian items are loaded up with “extra goodies.” These extra goodies consist of farm-fresh vegetables.

“Within 48 hours of the vegetables coming out of the ground, we have them delivered to us,” Morgan said.

Morgan is really big on making sure all of the ingredients are as fresh as possible. The meat is never frozen, nor does it have additives or preservatives. The bread is baked and delivered daily from Fazio’s Bakery—it’s even made using Morgan’s own recipe.

As far as connecting to Washington University goes, the restaurant is hoping to start accepting Bear Bucks soon, along with partnering with campus organization for events and fund-raisers. One of the biggest draws for students, though, might be the late hours. They’re open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays through Wednesdays, and from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays.

The restaurant has been open for less than a week, but Morgan already has ideas on how to expand 8 Dollar Deli’s presence on the Loop. From decorating the patio space to adding photos of customers posing with the restaurant’s mascot statue, he’s eager create an even more welcoming, cheerful atmosphere.

“Creativity is our best asset, so the sky’s the limit,” said Morgan. “Wherever we want to go, we’ll go.”