Breakout Box

Some people try to dodge strip malls at all costs, scared off by the cookie cutter designs and endless chain stores offering the same old thing. Yet, in Southwest Florida strip malls are all but unavoidable, and at some point you have to make the turn into their maze-like parking lots. Sometimes it is worth it though, times when you happen along a place like Neumann’s Deli.

Hidden away in the back right corner of the Mission Square plaza off Pine Ridge Road, Neumann’s is an authentic German delicatessen offering an endless variety of meats and sausages that come from Carl Geier, a master butcher from Munich based in Sarasota.

Husband and wife, Alexander and Margaret Neumann of the lower Saxony part of northern Germany opened the deli in July 2005. They moved to Naples 20 years ago, when they opened their first deli in the Village of Venetian Bay.

“I like to say we offer German and American comfort foods,” Alexander said.

Walking into Neumann’s, the first thing you see are the deli cases with 50 varieties of hard-to-find deli meats, cheeses, kielbasa, bratwursts, ring bologna, kishka, veal loaf, blood sausage, hard salami, and sausages.

Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., when Neumann’s offers sandwiches, homemade soup, salads and German specialties like Sauerbraten, Wiener Schnitzel and veal bratwurst. It’s not just for meat lovers; for those who would rather not step up to the half-pound Black Angus sirloin burger, you can feast upon the equally hearty portobello mushroom burger.

I went with the turkey breast sandwich, adorned with cranberry mayo, lettuce, tomato and sprouts. My friend got the chicken breast salad. Both sandwiches came with chips and were ample enough to satiate our lunch-time appetites. The turkey breast and chicken salad were obviously top quality, and made the meal more than just your typical mid-day deli experience. They also offer a traditional reuben that, coming out of the kitchen on its way to another table, looked delicious.

Neumann’s also offers breakfast until 11 a.m., where they once again go beyond typical dishes. Besides omelettes and pancakes, they offer thick cut applewood bacon, nut crusted French toast with peach butter, sweet potato pancakes and eggs benedict with smoked Norwegian salmon and sautéed spinach.

The service was friendly and fast, with Alexander greeting customers at the door from his cash-register perch, while Margaret busily managed the kitchen.

Neumann’s also caters events, taking pride in meeting any customer’s special requests.

“A couple came in here the other day and said we had catered an event for them in the early 90’s. I told them if they could remember what they had we would find a way to do it again,” Margaret Neumann said.

Our bill came out to $18 for two sandwiches and coke, a little pricy, but worth it when you want a little more flavor and care put into your breakfast or lunch.

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