Life > April 3, 2008

By Jeff Merski | Senior writer

As I walked into T.J.’s Deli with a friend for dinner, Mitch, the owner, was at the counter welcoming patrons and taking our orders for dinner. T.J.’s is similar to many deli-style restaurants – there are plenty of menus available for people to look at, and when you get up to the counter, you order by the item’s number.

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It’s a pretty simple formula that is hard to mess up.

The fare is similar to many other deli-style restaurants, in that there are a variety of sandwiches, hamburgers, chicken and other grilled items.

Prices are relatively inexpensive too, which is of utmost important to the college student on a budget.

Entrees range in price from $5-$8.

In addition, diners can add a moderately inexpensive soda or sweet tea to their order and receive free refills.

For my dinner, I had the chicken tenders. As an avid fan of chicken tenders, I have tried them at pretty much every restaurant in Winston-Salem.

And let me say that these are the best chicken tenders that I have ever had.

Not just in Winston, but in my entire life. T.J.’s serves a hearty five tenders per platter, all of which are lightly breaded and fried and cooked to the point that they are still extremely juicy and tasty. The meal comes with a choice of pretty standard options like French fries and chips.

A nice part about the side orders is the ability to substitute an appetizer for the side item and have $0.50 taken off the price of the side item.

If you’re looking for a great choice, I would recommend going with the home-cooked potato chips as a side item – they cook these up in the kitchen for you and have a taste that is much better than a regular bag of chips.

My companion had the buffalo cham for his dinner, and he was equally impressed by the tastiness of the food.

Now, I’m sure you’re asking what a cham is. A cham is T.J.’s specialty dish, and it stands for a chicken and ham sandwich. In essence, it’s very comparable to a chicken cordon bleu, in that it takes the chicken, ham and cheese and combines it with a variety of vegetables to make a sandwich that is quite legendary and above all, delicious. In regards to the size of the dinners, both me and my friend walked away from dinner completely stuffed – always a positive. Between the generous portions given for the entrees and the heaping portions of your chosen side item, it’s tough not to leave the restaurant completely full.In fact, there’s only one downside to T.J.’s that I can come up with – the unfortunate fact that it is a decent drive from campus. It’s located at the intersection of Peace Haven Boulevard and Country Club Road across the street from Calvary Baptist Church – meaning that it is approximately 15 minutes away from campus. It’s not that long of a drive, but it can seem like a haul compared to the other restaurant options that are much closer to campus. Still, as one of my friends once said, “There is nothing bad about T.J.’s,” and minus the distance away from campus, this is certainly a true statement.

The next time you’re thinking about heading out to someplace closer to campus for dinner, I urge you to venture a little bit further away and try out T.J.’s. You won’t be disappointed.