JJ’s Deli
Did you know that the best deli in Arizona AND one of America’s best sandwiches can be found right here in Scottsdale North! According to the Food Network, JJ’s Deli as been awarded the best deli in Arizona, with its Santa Fe Chicken Sandwich being one the best sandwiches in all the nation. Be sure to WATCH THE VIDEO and Scott will introduce you to one of the J’s in JJ’s – Jacob. Together they explore what makes JJ’s so extraordinary. Enjoy the video introduction and then stop by and experience some great food and exceptional customer service at JJ’s Deli located at Pinnacle Peak and Scottsdale Road. Tell them you saw them on Connecting Scottsdale North and if you like the food like this video and tell your friends to subscribe!
Interview Transcript
– Hey, gang, Scott with the Scott Gaertner Group and we’ve to a great one for you today. A nationally recognized deli right here in Scottsdale North that’s really a home-style place. This place is like Cheers. There’s a good chance they’ll know your name when you come on in. So come on in! We’re here today at JJ’s Deli up at Scottsdale Road in Pinnacle Peak. I want you to meet one of the Js. This is Jacob and we want to talk a little bit about an award-winning sandwich, their Santa Fe chicken sandwich. Come on outside and let’s talk about it. Jacob, I’m dying to dive into this thing but first I want to know a little bit of the story of JJ’s. You guys have been around like 10 years, right? – Yeah, absolutely, 2010 was the first year that my father took over. I was in high school at the time. So just 14 years old, 15 or so. Playing sports in high school and didn’t really know much about a restaurant until my dad took over. So it’s been good ever since then. Almost 10 years now. – Right on, and then you were U of A, right? – Yeah, I graduated from U of A, of course, bear down always. 2018 is when I graduated so it’s been about two years now I’ve been working full time with him, it’s awesome. I love doing it. Getting to work with pops every day is cool. We’re not just business partners, it’s father and son but best friends too which is really awesome so it’s cool. – I can tell, you guys have a good relationship but it looks like, and I wasn’t even in there very long, but it does see, everybody has a great relationship. In fact, I think he said, his staff has been with him the whole time, right? – Yeah, absolutely, the staff was at the restaurant before we got it and these guys, they’re the best. They make it what it is. That’s why we’re so good is because these guys, Freddy, Oscar, Eddy and Renee, they all work in the front and then all of our cooks in the back, all of our guys, Lupe, Pavo, Vicente, everyone does just a phenomenal job. And they really care about the business like it’s their own and that’s why it comes off that way. The food’s so good, the service is so good. These guys, they’ll know your name and they’ll remember it ’cause they want you to come back. We want that kind of environment. Like I said, they make it what we are and they’re really irreplaceable. That’s the only adjective to describe them for sure. – That’s great. – Absolutely. – So what’s this national award thing you guys got? – Yeah, so we kind of were caught off guard but at the beginning of the year, the Food Network put out an article. We were top deli in Arizona. They had 51 delis best in every state and were listed as Arizona so that was awesome. That was a really cool achievement. And also, top 100 sandwiches in the country. This one right here, the Santa Fe grilled chicken sandwich. A phenomenal sandwich. We sell so many. We’ve sold hundreds and hundreds of pounds of it every week because people love it. They love it. Everything’s fresh, and that’s why. – That is so cool. So I think I should give it a try, don’t you? – Absolutely, why not? Dig in. – What have we got going on here, what’s this? – So fresh sourdough bread. Every day it’s delivered freshly from the local bakery. The homemade part is the Chipotle mayo. That part is phenomenal. These guys, they make the Chipotle mayo every day. Chipotle peppers, a little secret seasoning, I’m not going to tell you everything. And then of course, chicken. The fresh chicken, they grill every day, it’s fresh to order so you’re never going to get some stale chicken. No one likes that. – [Scott] I saw some hens out back, they actually kill ’em. – In my backyard, I like to raise ’em sometimes but it’s a little cold right now. But the green chilis, those are awesome. Not too spicy, a little mild sweet green chili and avocado, Swiss cheese as well. Who doesn’t like cheese? – It’s a little messy.
About Scott Gaertner
Scott Gaertner
Since 1984 Scott’s real estate career has always been committed to exceptional results and his business philosophy has always been “If you want extraordinary results, find out what the ordinary do – and then don’t do it!” Consequently his career has been a trail of astonishing successes created from ground-breaking methods.
His first year in real estate selling new homes for a large builder, Scott sold 101 homes and became the first recipient of the Arizona Homebuilders Association’s “Most Net Units Sold Award.” The Association created the award that year because they said nobody had ever heard of that many homes being sold in one year before! Later, due to his continued successes, he became the first recipient of the Homebuilder’s Association’s “Lifetime Achievement Award.”
In the resale home business, Scott continued his innovative trends by opening Scottsdale’s first real estate company devoted solely to representing real estate buyers. This pioneering event in 1990 was long before most had ever heard of the term “buyer’s agency” or considered buyer representation. After years of teaching classes and bringing much needed media exposure to the cause, buyer’s agency has become the accepted standard of practice. That cause complete, Scott moved on to a more traditional role with Keller Williams Northeast Realty. But of course, not in an ordinary way . . .
Shunning the conventional wisdom in resale real estate that says “Specialize in everything!” Scott adopted one small corner of the Scottsdale market to call his own. Using typically unconventional marketing methods and strategies, he became the dominant agent in one zip code of Scottsdale North. Dominant not only in numbers of sales, but in pricing successes for his clients.
By 2018, Scott’s techniques have proven so successful that he is now guaranteeing his results, and expanding his business to a much larger market in the North Valley.