Delaware's Oldest Deli Is Tucked Away Inside Of A General Store

Delaware (aka "the Diamond State"); is home to a number of food-related gems, including the little-known Apple Scrapple Festival in the town of Bridgeville. About half an hour away from that locale lies Georgetown's Wilson's General Store, where you'll find Delaware's oldest deli tucked away at the crossroads of Springfield and Gravel Hill Roads. There, scrapple is also on the menu — the scrapple egg and cheese is a local celebrity. However, the sign outside used to say you could pick up groceries, get something notarized, and even purchase a gun inside. That sounds like small-town-general-store vibes to the max.

The building itself dates back to 1895 when it served as a schoolhouse. It transitioned to a general store sometime in the 1930s until it was finally purchased by Marshall Wilson, who wanted to branch out with what's now the deli. As Wilson's son, Jim, said in a community feature by the Delaware Electric Cooperative, "He had seven kids, and he wanted to feed them."

Wilson's General Store is a neighborhood favorite that's tried to stay true to its original charm despite changing owners. Mr. Wilson sold the store after he had a heart attack in 2019, and the new owners reopened Wilson's in 2022. Although you can't buy a gun at Wilson's anymore (the notary is gone, too), they decided to keep the same menu, hoping to win over regulars who had been enjoying Wilson's sandwich lineup for decades.

It's no surprise that Wilson's General Store has been running the state's oldest deli for so long — more than one Google review has used the expression "to die for" to describe its offerings. The only official menu we found online just lists some basics, like breakfast sandwiches and cold subs. However, the deli offers up a range of sandwiches, such as tuna salad, an Italian combo ,and grilled sammies like the cheesesteak and tuna melt. You can also order cold cuts and cheeses by the pound to make deli-worthy sandwiches at home.

Wilson's often posts new sandwiches and menu upates on its Facebook page. Some more recent menu shoutouts have included a fried flounder sandwich, a turkey Reuben (we're a big fan of giving any turkey sandwich the Reuben treatment), a variety of daily soup specials, and even deep-fried butterflied shrimp. Reviewers online seem to overwhelmingly agree that Wilson's is the place to go for breakfast sandwiches, but they have plenty of praise about Wilson's lunch menu, too.

The food sounds popular, but there's no doubt that part of the store's appeal is its small-town charm. With just over 80 years of operating as Wilson's in the neighborhood, this general-store-slash-deli is a community centerpiece.