The Melville Deli 90 Broadhollow Road Melville, New York 11747 (631) 351-9338 https://melvilledeli.org/

I recently downloaded the BTC Map app from Fdroid and started looking around for local businesses that accept bitcoin. I was disappointed to see how few appeared within a 100 mile radius of my current home. In fact, there was exactly one that showed up on Long Island. (For non native New York readers, the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens don’t count as Long Island, even though they are physically on Long Island). That was the Melville Deli, located in Melville. I decided to pay a visit to this oasis located almost exactly midway between Manhattan and Montauk Point.

I went for breakfast in the middle of rush hour on a recent Friday morning. The first thing I noticed was that the location was prime for attracting New York City commuters. It is just south of the Northern Parkway, one of the three east-west highways that connect Long Island to New York City, and on one of the major north-south roadways that bisect the Island. In short, lots of car traffic. This surprised me. I expected a deli that accepts bitcoin to be a little mom and pop establishment. This is a major operation.

When I arrived it was very crowded. There was a line at the counter where you place your order. You might want to plan to visit after rush hour, say 9-11 am. I made a few mistakes on my first visit, so I would recommend you do the following:

Then let the person taking your order know that you will be paying with bitcoin.

There are some tables in the back where you can sit down and enjoy your meal.

I chose a two fried egg sandwich with bacon and cheese on a roll. I consider this a classic New York breakfast sandwich. I’ve been eating them since I was a kid. This one was excellent. I read reviews from other diners, but the real proof of the quality of this deli’s food was the long line of patrons waiting to get served. I intend to get breakfast or lunch there at least a few times a month. It’s worth the drive.

A few days after my visit I spoke to Simon, who is one of the owners. It was obvious right away that he is a committed bitcoiner. The photo above shows that the deli accepts venmo, cash app, and paypal. He converts all of those payments to bitcoin.

He told me this orange pill story:

Simon always gives his employees Christmas bonuses. When he discovered bitcoin in 2016, he announced that everyone could either receive a $1000 cash Christmas bonus, or let him invest it for them. Everyone took the cash except for two workers. Simon bought them each $1000 worth of bitcoin, which was trading at around $900 back then. They still have their bitcoin. This past year he bought the two of them cold cards as part of their Christmas bonus.

Simon has held bitcoin meetups in the deli, and he’s willing to start them up again in the future if there is interest.

Since my visit Simon has been working on a more robust LN payment system, with a static lightning address to replace the on chain bar code that employees use when he's not working. The deli currently runs its own node. I sent him a link to one of @DarthCoin’s guides, which he found very helpful.

I hope local bitcoiners make the Melville Deli their regular spot to grab a sandwich. The food is really good, even by New York deli standards. It is also very reasonably priced. For out of town visitors (Pub Key patrons, in all likelihood), I know it’s a long way from Greenwich Village to Melville. If you’re up for the drive, it is an opportunity to experience the real New York. I am a big fan of Pub Key, but I don’t believe I have met any native New Yorkers there yet. The typical local can’t afford to live anywhere near Pub Key. At the Melville Deli, you will encounter real New Yorkers, Long Island accents and all.