By Tim Moran
Consistency is a key to staying in business for a long time, but the way Swanson’s Deli has pulled it off is particularly impressive.
Since the 1940s, Swanson’s Deli recipes have remained the same even though ownership has changed three times.
“All the recipes are exactly the same as they were in the 40s,” said Greg Dix, owner of Swanson’s Deli since 2016. “The potato salad, chicken salad… everything is the same.”
Dix is the fourth owner of Swanson’s Deli, which first opened near 63rd and Artesian in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood during the 1940s. The Swanson family opened their namesake deli and then sold it to the Johnston family, which owned it up until the 1980s. It then switched hands to the Rusch family, which owned it until Dix bought it from them nine years ago.
Since 1965, Swanson’s Deli has stood at 2411 W. 103rd St., between Western and Artesian avenues along one of Beverly/Morgan Park’s busiest thoroughfares.
“There’s a lot of family traditions that have come through this place,” Dix said. “We’ve had some elderly customers come in here recently who remember the original place on 63rd Street.”
Dix himself has a Swanson’s Deli story that spans decades as well.
He worked at Swanson’s as a teenager during the 1980s when the Rusch family owned it. While working at Swanson’s, he was studying to become a culinary chef at the now-closed Washburne Trade School when it was at its heyday at 31st and Kedzie.
Since then, Dix has worked as a chef at Disney World in Florida, and then locally at the Hyatt Hotel in Oak Brook and 115 Bourbon Street, among other places, before buying Swanson’s from his former employers.
After a three-year tour working for the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria, Dix said he needed to find the next chapter in his career after returning home in 2015.
“Both my mother and my neighbor said I had to buy Swanson’s because it’s for sale,” Dix remembers. “At first, I said ‘no way,’ I don’t want to own a restaurant.”
But the more he thought about it, the more the possibility made sense. He did insist on working at the deli for the Rusches for a year or so before buying it, which the sellers agreed to.
“I had to learn the ropes,” Dix said, and in December of 2016, the sale was official.
“From just being a chef, I had to learn how the be a business owner… and that means being an account, a scientist for sanitation reasons, HR, marketing, media person, everything. It was a quick lesson in business ownership.”
More than eight years in, Dix has been able to navigate the economic challenges that have multiplied.
“It is crazy how much all the costs (of running a business) have gone up,” he said. “The cost of mayo has doubled since I got here. I never thought I’d have to charge $15 for a reuben.”
Price increases do get passed on to the consumer, but Dix said it hasn’t slowed operations at the iconic restaurant that’s stood the test of time for so long.
“In business, when you have to pay more, you do have to charge more. But no one is getting rich here,” he said.
While other places may have resorted to “shrinkflation,” the lessening of the amount of product offered or quality sacrifices, Dix said Swanson’s Deli will never do that.
“Everything is still of the highest quality,” he said. “Everything is made from scratch. We make our own corned beef, smoke our own pastrami with no added preservatives. We’re known for our turkey and ham, which has no extra salt or water added.”
Snack items, namely cheeseballs, have also been popular items ordered at Swanson’s over the years.
“We sell about 35,000 cheeseballs a year, mostly around the holidays,” Dix said.
The deli’s iconic status can be further evidenced by a few of the famous names who have been among the customers.
“We’ve had all the politicians come in here,” Dix said, recalling a particular time when family members of two opposing Chicago mayoral candidates happened to stop by Swanson’s at the same time.
“They may have been going at each other, but we stay politically neutral here,” Dix said.
Among the famous entertainers who have been there is Craig Robinson, perhaps most known for his role as Darryl on “The Office.”
“He actually grew up not too far from here and I grew up with him and his sister,” Dix said.
Under Dix’s ownership, Swanson’s Deli has expanded to include a second location – albeit a slightly smaller one – in west suburban La Grange.
He hopes to stay at Swanson’s Deli until it’s time for him to retire, then, ideally, pass on the iconic tradition the place has become to a fifth family of ownership.
“We need this place around here,” Dix said. “It’s truly become a staple in the community.”
