Foodservice That Keeps Customers Coming Back

When local television stations ask viewers to vote on their favorite restaurant, convenience stores don’t often make those lists. However, United Deli & Grocery in Columbus, Mississippi, is bucking this trend: In 2025, the store won the WCBI News Viewer’s Choice Award. And that’s not its only award: Mississippi Magazine named United Deli & Grocery the maker of “Mississippi’s Best Sandwich” and Columbus Dispatch readers voted the store “Best Deli in the Triangle.”

So, what’s the secret? Owner John Musa believes there are a few factors at play.

“I’d say the cook sets us apart. Second, the quality of the meat,” Musa explained, adding, “People drive 20 or 40 miles to eat here. You have to be there for your customers.”

Musa said he insists that the employees love the food they prepare and that they pay attention to detail.

“I tell my workers when you have food, you have to design it. When you make it, be happy. You have to respect the food. You get it in your system. When I sell a hamburger or Philly steak, customers feel they have to eat it,” he said.

Customers also love the food at United Deli & Grocery, as Facebook users will attest to. “If y’all ain’t been here and got a ‘Johns special’ you’re missing out!” read a comment on the store’s Facebook page. The John’s Special sandwich is piled high with roast beef, turkey, ham, cheddar and Swiss cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles.

Also popular are the hamburgers, which found their way to United Deli & Grocery from a previous store Musa owned.

“I was in Brooksville, Mississippi, with a little gas station in the middle of nowhere. I was working by myself. I only sold pizza. I got a tiny grill to cook hamburgers for myself. People would smell the hamburger cooking and ask about it. I sold a few and customers liked [it] better than pizza. … I brought it to this store and customers like it,” he said.

Continue reading “The Best Sandwich in Mississippi” in the May 2026 issue of NACS Magazine.