Elevator

When you enter the Yellow Deli in Courtenay, you might find yourself reliving some ancient memories of an era long gone. Formerly a day care center, it was bought in 2005 with the intent of housing a cafe / bakery. Much restoration took place in that old house before the Common Ground Cafe opened its door in 2010 and today you can still see the original windows and front entrance adorning the Yellow Deli. Inside all of the decor is made from recycled materials gathered locally in the Comox Valley. Here you will find beach driftwood, hand-hewn beams, weathered barnwood and shanties built with the care and the love of the One who created us in His image. All of us who work there live together, and together we want to provide you with something that is hardier and harder to find - true food. While not strictly organic we labor to provide you with quality wholesome food at an affordable price, in an atmosphere that is warm, inviting and nourishing. Some of this food is even produced right here on our farm in Merville, BC. Since you might not find what you are accustomed to in any other eating establishment, please feel free to ask any of our staff for more information about our menu or about the life of those who labor to serve you with the fruit of the spirit. Thank you for joining us.

There’s old barn wood and timbers, yellow curtains, and custom-made steel work.  Our Deli here is full of lots of stories from local history told through beautiful artwork and murals, each little detail tells its own story.

Also the Common Sense Store is  just to the right of our Deli.  The store is also accessible through the Deli.

The To-Go Shop is located at 7 North Street just up the hill from Plymouth Rock.  We have a slightly smaller version of the Yellow Deli menu you may know and love from our other locations. In addition to our famous sandwiches and salads, we also have some breakfast, baked goods, drinks, desserts, and fresh baked bread daily. 

For take-out call (508) 747-3354

Years in the making... we have flung open the doors wide on The Yellow Deli in San Sebastian, Spain. We look forward to serving you again! Come on in for a meal today (or tonight!)

Long ago in the old village of Vista an idea sprouted... Wouldn't it be nice to have a place in this unusually quiet and uncrowded part of Southern California for a pleasant place where we could meet friends and serve good food...

So, early in the year of 2003 this property was acquired on Broadway... an old one room dilapidated building stood next to the old Adobe offices. That little building was torn down and then began a very long process of learning for us. We got to know about building permits, architects, engineers, many fees, etc. Finally, after many trials and even more errors, we began building our Deli in 2008.

From the ground up, our nice Deli building began to take shape. And after many more difficulties and many more fees, building permits, architects, and engineers, we finally finished the task. It took seven years all together. On Feb. 14, 2010 we opened our doors.

So, the nice idea is now a living reality: The Yellow Deli.

Some may say that we're dreamers, but we're not the only ones...

Even longer ago, and even farther away, the idea actually sprouted up of a society where people could work together and live together in peace and harmony. The "utopian" ideal of a society of complete sharing has come and gone across the face of history over the years, but few realize that the roots of this type of living was demonstrated most vividly in the "First Church" (which was entirely made of up Jewish believers in the Messiah) as they practiced complete communal living... this fact is documented clearly in the Bible. Somehow it must have appeared to them to be the perfect way to live out all the demands of Love, going the "extra mile." So, why not live that way today?

That is a good question. It seemed to us like love demanded that kind of "together lifestyle." So, for the last 40 years, we have been working together as a co-operative, raising our families together. Not until the early 2000s did we actually start a community here in Vista. Some of us are originally from this area and were very happy to become part of such a community right here. We support ourselves by organic farming (Morning Star Ranch organic avocado ranch in Valley Center) and sell our produce at the various farmers markets in our area. The Deli is able to serve you fresh, organic, and local produce some of which comes from our own ranch. We also have a woodshop in Vista where we work together, making nice doors and windows and cabinets (such as the ones you see in the Deli).  And now we work together to run our little Deli built with great care by all of us together...

So, we have good organic food, nice craftsmanship, and a nice environment to eat a meal... that is The Yellow Deli!

Our way of life is different and we do not mind one bit answering your questions. As Henry David Thoreau once wrote: "If a man does not keep peace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."

We are just extremely happy to be here in Vista and to have actually, finally opened our doors.

We hope your dining experience is pleasing and you can be sure, "We are with you..."

We are now hosting Open Discussions every Tuesday & Thursday from 7:30pm - 8:30pm. All are invited to come and discuss the deeper topics of life!

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The early '70s would not have been such a special time in the Chattanooga area without The Yellow Deli. Remember those luscious fruit salads, great sandwiches, fresh salads, and homemade desserts? Something about its warm, rustic atmosphere drew people like a magnet. And who can forget the heart-felt invitation at the bottom of the hand-drawn Yellow Deli menu: “We serve the fruit of the Spirit... Why not ask?” Somehow God’s love had been communicated to our hearts in such a way that all we wanted to do was pass on the love, joy, and peace spoken of in the New Testament. Our Savior meant everything to us, so working together to serve the best food in the best atmosphere, with all of our hearts, seemed a normal response. The fruit of the Spirit was produced naturally from the good tree of happy believers working together.

That was the motive in the hearts of Gene and Marsha Spriggs when they opened The Yellow Deli on Brainerd Road in May of 1973. They wanted to have a place where people from all walks of life could come and touch a living demonstration of God’s love in those who served them. They had the hope that in the darkness of our troubled society we could reach out to lost people like a beacon of light in the midst of a storm with the pure love of God we had found. We were young and small and not so powerful, but our love and zeal for our Savior was strong. We wanted to share this love with everyone we saw. We were convinced that the love of Jesus could change the world if people could just see it being lived out in reality on a daily basis. We had a burning desire to see that love even heal the strife and division we were seeing between the Christian churches we grew up in. But as time went on we sensed that there was something holding people back from demonstrating the same “sold-out” zeal we had found. We knew from our Savior’s own words that the greatest hindrance to giving a hundred percent to God comes when we love the world or the things of this world. And without giving a hundred percent, no one can endure.

We have written the following stories as a way to reach out to many who were with us in the Vine House days but didn’t endure. As one man states: “There came a point in my life when all I really wanted to do was be where I was really wanted.” Nothing has changed. Our desire is to let those who left us long ago know that they are still wanted. We also want our old friends, who were drawn to the faint light in us and who still hold fond memories of their times with us, to know that they are still wanted and needed. And for those whom we are meeting for the first time, we extend our heartfelt invitation to be part of us. You are all greatly wanted and needed.