Altomonte's Deli Doylestown Warminster

Maria Theresa Nappi, Altomonte's Deli

Day 4 of our Italian tour around Bucks County brings us to a local business that many know and love:  Altomonte's Deli.  With locations in Doylestown and Warminster, Altomonte's brings you delicious Italian delicacies that you can't find elsewhere. We recently caught us with Maria Nappi, whose parents opened the store 40 years ago when they came from Southern Italy.

In Maria's words:

Altomonte's was started by my parents, Mike & Frances, in the early 70's in Philadelphia. My parents had recently come to this country, bringing with them their skills. My dad is a butcher by trade, as his dad was before him.  My mom was (and is!) an excellent cook.  My parents named the store Altomonte's, after the town of Altomonte in Calabria (Province of Cosenza, in Southern Italy), where my grandfather once owned his butcher shop.

My parents are two of the hardest working people you will ever meet.  At that time they were very scared about opening a business.  They had very little money; I remember that my mother would search all of her pockets and even the sofa cushions for loose change to start the register till for the next day.

My parents' original shop was in Philadelphia, but they moved to the ‘burbs in 1981. They found a little plot of land in Warminster, PA and built a tiny little store. That store was really tiny! But we managed to fit lots of imported Italian items. At that time very few people around this area were very familiar with authentic Italian food. Prosciutto, mortadella, auricchio provolone, Nutella, broccoli di rabe, even extra virgin olive oil were all foreign concepts.  The back room was particularly tiny, but Mom still was able to cook up a storm in there! The smell of fresh roasted peppers, home roasted beef & pork, meatballs…heaven! Luckily there was a nice base of Italian-Americans in this area and Altomonte's managed to attract quite a following of loyal patrons.  In '97 we moved around the corner to our current Warminster location which has plenty of parking and lots more space inside. This allowed us to expand our offerings for customers: our own bakery featuring bread & rolls, tomato pie, pastry and my dad's old world butcher shop.

As often as we have the chance, we love visiting all of our relatives in Italy.  Calabria is so beautiful and full of history.  In the summer, they have an open air amphitheater with live music and dance. It's a very warm place, where everyone knows everyone else. My grandmom is still there and lots of aunts, uncles & cousins. We love visiting and I feel so blessed to know exactly where my roots are. The home my mother grew up in is still standing, it's a 14th century structure surrounded by orchards of grapes, peaches, apples & pears and gorgeous old olive trees. They still make the best extra virgin olive oil from those trees.

We are not a big corporation; as a family owned and operated business we live here, our children live here, and so we strive to help on a local level whenever we can. We employ many students and donate to countless school activities, sports and fundraisers. Most recently we supported the Mercer Museum's fundraiser- the Savory Sampler 2010. We donated our time and enough prosciutto di Parma & parmigiano-reggiano cheese to serve over 300 people to benefit the museum's expansion.

Visit Maria and her famiglia at either of the Altomonte's locations: 85 North York Road in Warminster or 812 N. Easton Road (Cross Keys)in Doylestown. Also, they give their specials on their Facebook page daily.

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