After 67 years, Billy’s Deli in Glendale hangs up its pastrami

One of downtown Glendale’s oldest restaurants has served up its last ball of matzo ball soup.

Open since 1948, Billy’s Deli at 216 N. Orange Ave. closed its doors Thursday.

“I’m heartbroken,” said Gloria Pike, the eatery’s manager for more than 25 years.

The deli was named after the original owner and longtime Glendale resident Frank Whitten, whose nickname was, incongruently, Billy.

PHOTOS: Billy’s Deli closes its doors

Since word of the impending closure got out, loyal customers who had their first Reuben sandwich or pastrami at Billy’s in the 1950s and 1960s made one last trip for lunch.

“People are saying, ‘no, why are you closing, we have many memories here,’” Pike said.

But business hasn’t been back to normal since the recession and with higher food costs, the decision had to be made, she said.

Some customers’ loyalty, though, stretched beyond the grave.

“This past year I catered for 15 people and their funerals because people told their families when I die, I want food from Billy’s,” she said.

Longtime patrons called Billy’s a landmark and those who stopped by on Thursday for a final opportunity to eat there as well as share memories and get one last look at all the pictures of Glendale from yesteryear.

Some remembered longtime waitress Evelyn Rondino, who died last year, for making diners laugh with her often-blue jokes.

Others remembered picking up a full spread for Thanksgiving dinner.

High school buddies Warren McCortney and Arthur Psaltis, both 53, joined each other for lunch Thursday afternoon.

They’ve been customers since high school. When McCortney turned 16, his dad gave him one of his first behind-the-wheel tasks — to pick up some pastrami sandwiches from Billy’s for lunch.

“It’s sad to see the clientele either moved away or died off and the new people didn’t embrace it,” McCortney said.

When McCortney and Psaltis arrived Thursday, they bumped into Psaltis’ brother Spiro, who was already dining at Billy’s with his wife, two kids and mother-in-law.

“The first thing that comes to my mind is family — this was just a place for family,” Spiro Psaltis said.

Meanwhile, high school friends Joan Graham, 85, and Nancy Kohler visited Billy’s for lunch without knowing it was the restaurant’s last day.

“I’ve been crying in my soup,” Kohler said.

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