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After 45 years of deli sandwiches and community building, Menlo Park institution Lutticken’s will permanently close Sept. 30. But with the future of its storefront undecided and a longtime employee expressing interest in taking over the business, the Lutticken family needs to “sit back and figure out where we stand,” said Bobby Lutticken, the son of founder Bob Lutticken.
“There’s just a lot to do. When you’re wrapping up 45 years, imagine being in five houses and trying to figure out where everything goes,” he said. “But there will be something there, and so hopefully it’ll make another big splash and can go another 45 years.”
Lutticken’s is much more than a deli – it has also served as a live music venue, a supporter of youth sports and a frequent donor for causes supporting local veterans, the homeless and hungry. Notable politicians such as former Vice President Al Gore have frequented the spot, and it was recognized as Senate District 13’s Small Business of the Year in 2024 for its generosity and commitment to supporting the community.
“Lutticken’s has been an institution in our community and a place I’ve personally visited hundreds of times over the last 30 years,” state Sen. Josh Becker said in an email interview. “It wasn’t just a place to get a great sandwich. It was a neighborhood gathering place where people knew one another and everyone felt welcome. … It simply won’t be the same without them.”
After service ends Sept. 30, Lutticken’s will shutter all four of its locations – its flagship in Menlo Park, two at Stanford Medical Center and one in an office building on Sand Hill Road.
“Forty-five years is a long run. It ran its course,” Bobby Lutticken said. “Business model switched, and everyone involved just got older, and it was just time.”
According to manager Judy Congdon, who’s been with Lutticken’s since its inception and will retire after the business shutters, the daytime business never fully recovered from the pandemic.
“The neighborhood is losing a great spot that everybody loves, but it just is not sustainable,” she said. “Business hasn’t come back since everything shut down with COVID.”
Bob Lutticken operated two grocery stores in South San Francisco in the 1970s before opening Lutticken’s as a grocery store in Menlo Park in the building adjacent to where it stands today. The grocery store offered sandwiches called Poor Boys and Rich Boys, priced at 79 cents for a sandwich (99 cents with cheese).
“There was a ton of construction going on in the early ’80s over in Atherton, and there would be lines out the door for sandwiches at 9 a.m. all the way through the day,” Bobby Lutticken recalled.
After a decade in that building, Lutticken’s moved next door and reinvented itself as a deli and catering business. In 2011, Lutticken’s introduced its After 5 program, expanding beyond a daytime deli to also offer dinner, a full bar and live music.
While the deli won’t close until Sept. 30, the After 5 program had its final day of service Aug. 29, and community members held a farewell celebration with live music outside Lutticken’s Sept. 12.
“(Lutticken’s After 5) was just such a warm and welcoming place, and it always felt like a second living room to us,” regular Mary Zarruchi said of the After 5 program. “It feels like our ‘Cheers.’”
She and her husband Bob Zarruchi frequented the After 5 program weekly since its inception in 2011, often enjoying a cheeseburger or the naked burrito bowl with panko chicken. She and her band The Salty Licks performed there once a month for years, and she enjoyed meeting other musicians, partaking in Thursday night karaoke and listening in on the open mic nights.
“Everyone is treated like family there,” she said. “It almost makes me want to cry that we’re losing this institution.”
Todd Johnson, who spearheaded After 5’s live music programming and open mic nights, said the nighttime business had been packed up until its closure.
“I’ve been there two nights a month for the last 14 years, and so it was sort of sadness mixed with some great memories of events that we had there and people I’ve met,” he said. “I hope it’s like a phoenix, and someone comes in there with deep pockets and takes over, and we can rebuild it into something.”
After 5 manager Carlos Magana wants to continue the legacy of Lutticken’s and said he and an investor are ready and waiting to take over the business. Magana said that Bob Lutticken is like the father he never had and that it would be an honor to continue and revive Lutticken’s.
“I learned how to be more kind and more caring for people because that’s what Bob is. He cares for people, and without judging who you are, he really does show love for people,” Magana said.
Alpine Little League and Menlo-Atherton Little League are hosting a lunch for Bob Lutticken at the deli on Friday, Sept. 25, from noon to 2 p.m. to thank him for sponsoring the teams for decades.
“The Lutticken’s name is synonymous with Little League,” said Ricky Flores, president of Menlo-Atherton Little League.
In fact, Lutticken’s has been a sponsor for as far back as the league’s records go, he noted.
“Lutticken’s is more than just a deli and the local neighborhood restaurant,” Flores said. “They’ve supported generations of kids, families, year after year … And these kids, when they wear the Lutticken’s jerseys, they wear them everywhere. So while the Lutticken’s restaurant may close, his memory and contributions to our community will not be forgotten.”
Lutticken’s, 3535 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park; 650-854-0291. Until Sept. 30, open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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