Staple Phoenix Jewish deli to close. Fans have a week left to visit

On a Friday afternoon, Patty Geiger and her colleague Steve Dietrich grabbed a table at Scott’s Generations. Geiger knew what she’d order before they sat down: The Scottwich. Named for the restaurant’s owner, Scott Snyder, it’s a pastrami on garlic rye with melted Swiss and grilled onions. Or, as Geiger says, “the best pastrami, hands down.”

The duo sits in the dining room, dotted with photos of the New York City skyline, family and longtime regulars. Geiger has half of her towering sandwich cradled in a takeout box next to her. It’ll be her last from the venerable Jewish deli, which will close after service on Sunday after 37 years in business. She, along with many other customers, made a point to visit before the last day.

“It’s packed; it’s great,” Geiger says. “I love seeing it.”

Scott’s Generations began when Snyder and his dad, Gene, moved to Phoenix from New York nearly 40 years ago.

“We came with the idea that we were gonna open up a deli,” Snyder says, explaining that they’d both worked in delis back east. 

They found their original spot along Missouri Avenue and Seventh Street and started serving sandwiches, homemade matzo ball soup, smoked fish and other traditional Jewish deli staples, such as knishes, kugel and rugalach. 

“We opened up in June of ’89, and the rest is history, as they say,” Snyder says while sitting at a table in his bustling restaurant next to his son, Ross.

The popular eatery has been named Phoenix New Times’ Best Jewish deli for the last two years. With the restaurant’s lease ending soon, Snyder, 60, decided it was time to change things up and slow down. His kids have their own careers, so he won’t pass the restaurant down.

“It was time for me to do something different. Something different that’s not going to be weekends every week and holidays every year,” he says. “Everything else is as good as it’s always been, and the community has been incredibly supportive.”

‘We have flourished and survived’

When Snyder announced the impending closure, he gave his team and customers almost a month to stop in to say goodbye. They’ve seen plenty of long-time regulars and some new customers, Ross says. 

The sendoff has been both “chaos” and “emotional,” says Snyder, who sports a gold chain and a compact Bluetooth headset. His words are direct and still carry an East Coast accent. 

“I knew that there would be support and I knew that people loved us for being here,” he says, “but I never could have imagined the outpouring of support that we’ve gotten.”

As the breakfast crowd clears out and the lunch rush starts, customers interrupt him with a pat on the shoulder or a quick “We’re gonna miss ya” as they head to their tables. 

Snyder started the restaurant with his dad when he was 22. The name acknowledges the generations of Snyders who have pitched in to keep the restaurant running for nearly four decades. 

“My son was born in the business, basically,” Snyder says. “(He) started working when he was 5 years old, standing up on a crate, trying to take money and packing out shelves.”

Since then, Ross has helped his dad with marketing and brought Scott’s into the modern era with online ordering and social media. 

Snyder credits his son and once-in-a-generation moments, like the pandemic, for teaching him the importance of being flexible. During COVID, they offered to grocery shop for customers and deliver those items with their restaurant order. The owner is also proud to have survived the ups and downs of Phoenix’s rapidly evolving dining scene. 

“There’s only a couple of restaurants of any caliber, any size that have survived and flourished for 37 years,” he says. “We have flourished and survived.”

Customers share disappointment, understanding 

On Friday, the dining room was filled with old friends and familiar faces, including Dietrich. He’s dined at Scott’s since it opened. 

Dietrich’s father ate at the restaurant every morning before work. An early riser and a rancher, he’d often wait at the door before the deli opened. He’d help the staff bring furniture onto the patio before taking a seat in a booth and ordering a breakfast that Snyder since enshrined on the menu as J.C.H.’s Smoked English Kippers. Snyder explains that the acronym for the smoked herring and eggs is Jewish Cowboy Harvey, named after Dietrich’s dad.

Dietrich called it a “bummer” for Phoenix to lose the deli.

“They’re disappearing all over the country, actually,” he says. “Younger people don’t like this kind of stuff. My doctor doesn’t like this kind of stuff.”

Over the years, Dietrich has cut back on how much pastrami he eats at Scott’s, but keeps coming back because “it’s always inviting.” He often runs into friends at the deli. Though he’s sad to see the restaurant closing, “I understand where he’s coming from,” Dietrich says.

In their last week of service, Snyder and his crew won’t cut back on hours or the menu. The owner says the kitchen won’t run out of signature items, like its popular pastrami, corned beef and latkes made year-round.

“Just be patient with us,” Snyder says. “It’s overwhelming, and the staff is doing everything that we can to accommodate everybody.”

After Scott’s closes, Snyder won’t retire. Instead, he plans to start a food business selling meat and East Coast products. For the moment, he’s focused on the next few days with his staff and customers. They’ve already reminded him of stories from decades earlier: memories of the restaurant, catering their events or cooking holiday dinners. He hopes people will continue to share stories with him as they make their final visits. 

“It’s more than sharing a meal. It’s spending your time with us,” Snyder says. “It has changed my life drastically, and I hope in some little small way, it has affected people in a positive way.”

Scott’s Generations

Closes on Sunday
742 E. Glendale Ave., #142