Mom and Dad were not big into the foodie scene. Apart from the odd holiday or birthday outing to a fine dining establishment, visits to burger or chicken joints were not common. The overriding mantra for this stance was, “Pfft. There’s food at home.”
This mindset was ingrained into impressionable young me and followed me to college, where I tended to buy groceries and cook my meals. A consequence of this during my time in Auburn was not making rounds of the hot spots hit by all the cool kids. One example is a sandwich shop named Momma Goldberg’s Deli. This place sprouted up in 1976, and their original location was no more than 50 yards from my old apartment. Early in my first quarter, I figured I’d give it a go.
The interior was what you’d expect from a sandwich shop catering to college students for a dozen years. I remember dark panel walls full of flyers and notices posted by students and student groups. The tables and benches were well worn, but comfortable. I ordered one of the specialty sandwiches and understood immediately why it was held in high regard. It was a damn good sandwich. Yet, the cost of that single meal was enough to cover groceries for several days. For a non-finnicky eater, the math didn’t work out.
That all changed when the redhead entered the picture. Over the remainder of our time in Auburn, I think Andrea and I eventually hit every late-night diner just talking over cups of coffee. We also frequented a good number of the established student friendly restaurants (I’m looking at you, Niffer's), and ranged far afield to places in Atlanta and Montgomery. There was one glaring exception within the Auburn environs – Momma Goldberg’s.
As we’ve been driving around Auburn these past few weeks, I discovered Momma G’s has flourished as the go to deli for the student population, opening multiple locations in the area. I’d asked Andrea if she and the family hit the place as a family when she was growing up. She laughed. I gathered her parents recited the same mantra as mine.
Blatantly disregarding the parental exhortation, our next date night this weekend will be at the original Momma Goldberg’s. It’ll be like ticking something off a checklist, just some thirty years later. Bonus: we’ll be able to legally partake of their beer menu!
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