David's Deli

Overview

David's Deli at 163 Boatyard Drive is one of those Fort Bragg businesses whose history belongs to more than one building.

Today most people know David's as a breakfast and lunch restaurant in the Boatyard Center, where it has developed a loyal following for good food, friendly service, and the kind of atmosphere where regular customers quickly begin recognizing one another.

But David's did not begin here. Community memories and a surviving vintage menu place the business on South Franklin Street years before the move to Boatyard Drive.

That earlier chapter makes David's more than a restaurant occupying one shopping-center storefront. It is a Fort Bragg business that moved across town, passed through different ownership periods, changed along with the community around it, and kept going.

Location

David's Deli is located at 163 Boatyard Drive in the Boatyard Center, near Harvest Market and the other businesses that make this one of Fort Bragg's everyday commercial areas.

The current storefront belongs to a much newer period of Fort Bragg development than the older downtown commercial buildings along Main and Franklin Streets. Community memories help document that change.

Long before this portion of the Boatyard Center was filled with storefronts and parking spaces, the area is remembered as open ground with a large barn. Halloween gatherings were reportedly held there, including games, apple bobbing, a spook house and even a greased-pig contest. Another recollection places the area west of Harvest Market as largely open dirt used for employee parking as late as the summer of 2005, with construction of the later shopping-center addition beginning around that time.

The present David's Deli location therefore represents two different pieces of Fort Bragg history: the development of the Boatyard commercial area and the relocation of a restaurant that had already been part of town for years.

History

The Franklin Street Years

The earlier documented location of David's Deli was on South Franklin Street. A vintage David's Deli and Restaurant menu lists the business at 450 South Franklin Street, Fort Bragg, with the telephone number 964-1946.

Community recollections place David's at the Franklin Street location during the 1980s. Mike and Lori Furse are remembered as owners during part of that period. People remember David's as a comfortable place to meet friends for a meal or coffee, and one particularly well-remembered menu item was turkey enchiladas made with chunks of roasted turkey breast.

Another menu remembered from the late 1980s or early 1990s suggests that David's operated somewhat differently from the restaurant people know today. During that period, it is remembered primarily as a lunch and dinner restaurant rather than the breakfast and lunch restaurant familiar to present-day customers.

Ownership Changes

Community recollections indicate that David's Deli passed through several owners during its long history.

Mike and Lori Furse are associated with the earlier Franklin Street years. Another family recollection says Kenneth Dexter purchased the business sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s. According to that account, the business later moved and was eventually sold again. Another community memory recalls an employee named Julie remaining with David's through several different ownership periods and remembers Kira as a later owner.

The available comments do not provide a complete business-transfer record, so the exact sequence and dates of every ownership change remain an open part of the story. What the recollections do show is continuity. David's survived changes in ownership while keeping the name and identity that generations of customers associated with the restaurant.

The Move to Boatyard Drive

At some point after its South Franklin Street chapter, David's Deli moved to the Boatyard Center. Community memory places construction of this portion of the shopping center around 2005–2006, with work on the commercial expansion remembered as beginning during the summer of 2005.

That timing is important because the building at 163 Boatyard Drive was not the beginning of David's Deli. It became the new home of an older Fort Bragg business. David's brought its established name, customers, employees, recipes and reputation with it.

The Building Today

Today David's Deli is particularly well known as a breakfast and lunch restaurant. The more recent community comments are remarkably consistent in praising the food, staff and service.

Several people say they regularly recommend David's to visitors, while others describe it as a regular stop whenever they return to Fort Bragg. Breakfast appears especially well remembered. Community comments describe David's as a favorite breakfast restaurant, and chicken-fried steak is among the dishes specifically remembered.

Other comments point to something less tangible but equally important to a longstanding local restaurant: familiarity. One visitor remembered the feeling that everyone seemed to know everyone. That sense of community may help explain why David's has remained part of Fort Bragg through different buildings, owners and generations of customers.

Community Memories

The replies add details that ordinary business listings could never capture.

People remember David's on South Franklin Street before its Boatyard Center years. They remember Mike and Lori Furse. They remember later ownership changes and employees who stayed through more than one owner. They remember David's as a lunch and dinner restaurant before breakfast became such an important part of its identity. They remember turkey enchiladas. They remember chicken-fried steak. They remember meeting friends for coffee. They remember good service and recommending David's to visitors.

The replies also reach beyond the restaurant itself. People remember the property around today's Boatyard Center before the present commercial development existed — when there was open ground, a large barn and community Halloween activities.

Taken together, those memories document both the changing restaurant and the changing neighborhood around it.

Why It Matters

David's Deli is a good example of why the history of a local business cannot always be told through the history of one building. Its earlier chapter belonged to South Franklin Street. Its current chapter belongs to Boatyard Drive.

Between those locations came different owners, employees, menus, customers and generations of Fort Bragg residents who simply knew the place as David's.

The restaurant also became part of the transformation of the Boatyard area from open land and earlier uses into one of Fort Bragg's everyday commercial centers. That gives David's a place in two overlapping local stories: the history of a longtime Fort Bragg restaurant and the development of the Boatyard Center itself.

Timeline

Before the Boatyard Center — Community memory recalls open ground and a large barn in the area later occupied by portions of the commercial center. Local Halloween gatherings and activities were remembered there.

1980s — Community recollections place David's Deli on South Franklin Street and associate Mike and Lori Furse with the business.

Late 1980s–early 1990s — David's is remembered as operating more as a lunch and dinner restaurant during this period.

Franklin Street chapter — A vintage David's Deli and Restaurant menu identifies the business at 450 South Franklin Street and lists telephone number 964-1946.

Late 1990s–early 2000s — Community recollection says Kenneth Dexter purchased David's during this period.

Early 2000s — Community memories indicate additional ownership changes.

Summer 2005 — The area west of Harvest Market is remembered as still containing open dirt parking while construction of the newer commercial expansion was beginning.

About 2006 and after — The newer portion of the Boatyard Center develops.

Later Boatyard chapter — David's Deli moves from its earlier Franklin Street location and becomes established at 163 Boatyard Drive.

Today — David's continues at 163 Boatyard Drive as a breakfast and lunch restaurant with a strong following among locals and returning visitors.