The apple doesn’t fall far from the deli: Longtime Hello Deli owner passes business down to daughter

Angela Wiest knows Hello Deli inside and out.

It’s a place she spent many summers and weekends, doing everything from dishwashing to waitressing. Now, she’s filling big shoes as owner, a role previously held by her father.

“I grew up in this restaurant,” said Wiest, who has been gradually taking over the business since leaving her corporate gig of 11 years in 2023.

Hello Deli, a casual spot for breakfast and lunch in Albuquerque, first opened nearly four decades ago. The restaurant, located in the Journal Center’s Market Place at 7600 Jefferson NE, is entering a new chapter, as longtime owner Marcus Cassimus has passed the business on to his daughter.

Cassimus acquired the restaurant with business partner Ryan Fellows in 2003. He bought out Fellows about five years later and has been running the restaurant ever since.

The longtime owner began contemplating retirement in 2022, prompting him to explore how to step back with the hopes of keeping the business in the family. Wiest arose as a clear option.

“She’s been with me for a long time. I think she started at about 13, 14 years old. The deli — it’s just in her DNA,” Cassimus said. “It just works out well because no one knows the restaurant like she does.”

Wiest, who graduated from the University of New Mexico and had been working in corporate tax for 11 years, gladly jumped at the opportunity.

“I really missed this place quite a bit,” Wiest said. “I decided to leave tax and very happily came back here.”

The transition has been a gradual one. As Wiest has been getting her feet wet in the role, Cassimus discovered retirement wasn’t for him after all.

“I actually ended up going back,” Cassimus said, adding that Wiest is still the owner, but he is involved with the restaurant.

“I tried to relax and move on, and lo and behold, I’m only happy when I’m at the deli. Go figure. That one’s for a psychologist,” Cassimus joked.

Cassimus works fewer hours than before but he still comes by to visit with the customers he’s gotten to know over two decades.

“He has such a rapport with our customers,” Wiest said. “So, usually, when he’s not in Greece, he’s still here talking to everyone and keeping up those relationships.”

Wiest has hit the ground running to establish those relationships and mirror the level of involvement she sees her dad have.

Spending her days surrounded by people, both her 36 employees and the restaurant’s customers, has been the most rewarding part of being back and involved with the business, Wiest said.

The restaurant, which serves breakfast burritos, homemade biscuits, sandwiches, burgers, wraps, salads and more, is open every day. Seating roughly 80 people inside and 60 people outside, the restaurant typically caters to a fast-paced crowd of people on their lunch break during the week and offers table service on weekends.

The restaurant used to have three locations — one on Candelaria and Carlisle NE and a small to-go location on Jefferson NE. All but the 7600 Jefferson NE spot were eventually closed. Wiest said it didn’t make sense to have two locations so close together, and the clientele and atmosphere of the Candelaria location had shifted over the years.

The area surrounding the existing Jefferson location has shifted too, but for the better, Wiest said.

“We’ve got all of these new apartments, so the landscape in this area has changed quite a bit. It’s a lot more residential than it has been in the past,” she said.

The shift has prompted Wiest to consider offering dinner in the future, but she said she wants to settle in before jumping into another venture — including potentially opening another location.

Some of the minor changes Wiest has implemented so far include a logo refresh, a few new menu items and acquiring a liquor license.

“I’m really trying to keep the restaurant at its core the same and serve the same good food and provide the same great service, just with my spin on it,” Wiest said. “Honoring what (my dad’s) done and just building on it is super important to me.”

The restaurant’s patrons have responded positively to the change in ownership, Wiest said. Her two kids, ages 9 and 5, have enjoyed their mom’s new gig as well.

Wiest said she hopes to keep the business going for as long as she can, potentially long enough to pass it on to her kids.

“They love being here. My daughter wants to manage, and she’s always telling people what to do, talking to customers. … Sometimes I have to remind (her) that she can’t fire people,” Wiest joked.