Howard Delicatessen, 2612 Georgia Ave.
A Constant Through Decades of Change
Kenny Gilmore sees someone he knows passing his shop, a neighborhood fixture.
(Michael Williamson - The Washington Post)
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"Hi, Kenny!"
"Kenny, can I get a doughnut?"
"Let me get a ghetto iced tea."
The orders come fast at Howard Delicatessen, a well-worn sandwich shop near Euclid Street.
Kenny Gilmore, 56, inherited the shop from Gracie Guerra Urciolo and Louie Guerra, whose father opened the store in the 1920s.
Gilmore and his brother, Pepe, spent so much time in the store next to their home that they were "adopted" by the Guerras.
The sign outside says "Formerly Gracie and Louie" on one side, "Kenny, Pepe & Lydia" on the other. Lydia is their sister.
Inside, the laminated menu is drawn in crayon. Celebrities, college presidents and Howard and Banneker students are pictured on the walls.
"All the greats came through here," Gilmore said. "Ralph Bunche ate here."
Howard students trickle in all day. Banneker students flood in minutes after classes end.
Gilmore, his brother and his nephew pull out cardboard box tops with cellphones. "We keep their cellphones," Gilmore said. "They can't take them into the school."
In return, Gilmore gets smiles and orders for candy, doughnuts and "Howard Deli's Famous Ghetto Sweet Iced Tea." At $1.50 a pop. His competitor, McDonald's, sells iced tea for $1.
"Now, ours cost a little more," he said, pouring the brown nectar from a plastic pitcher. "It's made with love."
Gilmore would like to keep meeting students each year to watch them mature. "We know change is inevitable," he said. "What you have to do is put yourself in position."
A few minutes later, he pulled out faded photos of his childhood home and of the original deli, torn down in 1970 to make way for expansion of Howard University.
-- Nikita Stewart
