Bedder Bedder & Moore Delicatessen & Caterer

There are a few restaurants that go completely against the grain when it comes to catering to their customers. Some go with a “customer is always right” outlook. Some have a “my way or the highway” feel. Bedder, Bedder & Moore Delicatessen is the latter, and their customers couldn’t love them more for it.

Consistently ranked as one of the best lunch places in all of Charlotte, the restaurant takes themselves out of a “Best Dinner” competition by closing their doors at 3 p.m. each day. Bedder, Bedder & Moore have found their niche — creating an incredible lunch experience — and they are fine with keeping it that way.

If you are just driving down the road past one of their two locations, you may never stop in since it looks and sounds like a law firm. But every seat is usually filled with both blue and white-collared workers every day of the workweek.

The diner is not for everybody, but the owners know this. They cater to employees on their lunch break who want a good sandwich and some soup and like to mix things up each day for the often-forgotten meal. With little to no advertising, Bedder, Bedder & Moore serves up more food before 3 p.m. each day than some restaurants will serve all day long. 

The restaurant offers only a few different types of meals — sandwiches, salads, burgers and wraps — but provide dozens of different iterations of each item. There are nearly 50 different types of sandwiches and wraps, and they all cost approximately $7.50 and come with a side of chips or pretzels and a cup of soup. Everything comes with a cup of soup.

This is possibly the best thing about the restaurant, but you would never know about it without hearing it from someone who has experienced the delicatessen. The first time you visit the restaurant, a cup of soup will be brought to the table and you will most likely tell the server, “I didn’t order any soup.” Yes, you did; you just didn’t realize it. 

Nowhere on their menu does it mention that you get a cup of soup with your meal. Nowhere on the Web site, or inside the restaurant, does it mention anything about the distinctive side of soup. And we’re not talking about offering vegetable soup every day. The soup changes each day, sometimes multiple times depending on how busy they are, and each potage is usually incredible and distinctive.

According to one of the servers, BB&M has “easily” served more than 100 different types of soup. The restaurant may serve more than 100 different types of soup each year, and it has been open for 20 years. One could only wonder how many different styles of soup have been featured. 

This is what is incredible about BB&M, but may frustrate those diners who prefer monotony with their lunch. Not every soup recipe is a winner, but it’s a unique experience that is not often replicated. 

The delicatessen also offers box lunches and can also cater large groups if given at least one day notice.

- by Mike D'Avria, Charlotte Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

He worked for the daily newspaper, The Athens Banner-Herald in Athens, Ga. before turning to freelance writing and video production.

Mike is the Executive Editor of CampLeadership.org, and has lived in Charlotte for four years.