The eggplant was the first to go.

Alfredo and veal, roast beef and lasagna followed close behind. By the end of the lunch rush this afternoon, there won't be much of anything left.

No bread. No sausage. No Phil Musumeci.

"I guess this is the end," said Musumeci, who is walking away from his downtown Salt Lake City deli after 15 years.

The city's redevelopment agency, which owns the building at 251 S. State, has given Musumeci until Sept. 1 to vacate the building, as the city tries to decide whether to renovate or raze the rundown Regis and Cambridge hotels.

Thursday morning, as Musumeci and his son, Philip, prepared for their second-to-last day of work at Musumeci's Italian Deli, there was a feeling of bitterness in the restaurant.

Phil Musumeci believes the city has broken their lease agreement.

A lawsuit could follow, he says.

"I call them a slum landlord. I call them a crook," he said. "I'm upset. Not that I'm going out of business. But ... I want to go out in the glory of my own — not because someone is kicking me out. But what can I do?"

Salt Lake officials, meanwhile, say Musumeci was on a month-to-month lease that could be terminated with 30 days notice. The letter was sent July 14.

The RDA has received interest in the hotels from three developers, who have until Sept. 3 to present financing and renovation plans.

The buildings could be remodeled or torn down and rebuilt.

Whatever the case, it will be a new world at the State Street hotels, and Musumeci's Old World smells and tastes won't be there.

"We're done," said Philip Musumeci. "(My father) needs to retire. We're going to get him a job at Walmart as a greeter."

Phil Musumeci will turn 69 this year. He was born in Sicily, Italy, and in 1956 moved to the Bronx, N.Y. — the year Don Larsen's perfect game helped lift the Yankees over the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series.

In his 15 years in Salt Lake City, Musumeci has made friends and loyal customers who are none too eager to say goodbye to the deli.

They have been coming in early and often since news of the closure spread.

Musumeci has had to up his food orders and close his doors early.

When the fresh bread runs out, he said, there's no reason to stay open.

The customers came early Thursday morning, the first strolling in at 11 a.m.

"A meatball, Gary?" Philip Musumeci asked one of his first customers. Gary Gibbs nodded, "Yes."

"He didn't have kids when he started coming here," Musumeci said of Gibbs, a regular customer of the last eight years. "Now he does."

"I was hoping to have grandkids by the time you guys closed," Gibbs said.

By 11:30 a.m., the line spilled out the deli's front door and into the eating area.

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Looking for mementos, customers have pulled down the Italian flags and Yankee posters that hung in the store. They have asked Musumeci for autographs.

"I'm just a sandwich maker," he said with a laugh.

Thursday, the lunch line grew longer, and people began to worry aloud about what item would run out next.

e-mail: afalk@desnews.com

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