What’s Good Here: Devine Cinnamon Roll Deli

Mother and son team Jody and Richard Kreush have made close to 400 cinnamon rolls a day since they opened Devine Cinnamon Roll Deli at 2617 Devine St. in June.

“Every night we make ginormous batches of dough that have to sit, rise and then proof and then … the next day, we roll them out with a cinnamon sugar blend that’s our own, all different types of butters and vanillas. And then another day has to process, and then we let them rise again, bake them off and put our secret, delicious vanilla frosting on them,” Jody said.

But don’t let the name and the incessant cinnamon roll baking fool you.

Devine Cinnamon Roll Deli also has a full lunch menu with sandwiches, homemade soups and New York City pushcart hot dogs (shipped fresh from New York City to the restaurant).

“Our most popular sandwich is the Gamecock, which is cheddar cheese on San Francisco sourdough, applewood-smoked bacon, smoked ham and smoked turkey. Our second best-seller is the Godfather, with all of our Italian meats – Genoa salami, capocolla, pepperoni – on ciabatta,” Jody said.

“For breakfast, our best-sellers are our Big Max sandwich, with our double-applewood-smoked bacon, and our steak and eggs sandwich. For that one, we cook a big, delicious roast beef in the back every single night, we paper-thin slice it, top it with provolone, onions, eggs over easy and serve it on a garlic-roasted ciabatta.”

The breakfast and lunch sandwiches are topped with a variety of sauces – roasted garlic, pepper relish, Thousand Island, CRD (Cinnamon Roll Deli) signature sauce, tiger sauce – all of which are made in-house and are Kreush family secret recipes.

“Every sauce, every soup, everything is made from scratch every day,” Jody said.

And every meal is served with Devine Chips, which are deep-fried dough triangles tossed in Romano and Parmesan cheeses and sprinkled with Italian herbs and spices. And of course, a mini cinnamon roll.

For those still craving the full cinnamon roll experience, however, the special Hawaiian sweet bread treats are baked fresh daily and served warm, topped with the aforementioned secret vanilla frosting and, if you’re feeling decadent, your choice of toppings such as a black pepper bacon maple glaze, bourbon caramel sauce, apple cobbler topping or a wildberry graham cracker crumble.

How did Devine Cinnamon Roll Deli get its start?

A native of New Jersey, Jody worked for more than a decade managing restaurants in Maryland and then as a successful food truck owner in Pittsburgh. Then, after moving to Columbia two years ago for her husband’s job, Jody decided to follow a lifelong dream of owning and operating her own restaurant. Son Richard enrolled at the University of South Carolina, where he is completing a degree in hotel, restaurant and tourism management. The two decided their combined experience and training would make the perfect recipe for success.

Cinnamon rolls and sandwiches were chosen as the main menu focal points, thanks to Jody’s previous success making the sweet bread treats during a brief time living in Hawaii. And after living for years in the New York and New Jersey area, Jody and Richard developed a good sense of what goes into making a solid deli sandwich.

Who eats here?

In addition to a variety of local professionals, families and couples of all ages, Devine Cinnamon Roll Deli has a large college student fan base. Fraternity members recently had a cinnamon roll-eating contest at the deli.

What does the place look like?

Both the building that is home to the restaurant and the Kreushes’ newly purchased building next door were previously part of the LRADAC/The Behavioral Health Center Of The Midlands Devine Street complex. Jody and Richard spent a year renovating the property, adding exposed wood beams to the space’s cathedral ceilings and creating one large, open dining room with individual tables, a large community dining table and soft, relaxing blue, cream and tan hues.

The space also serves as an art gallery for University of South Carolina students. If a student’s work is sold, he or she gets 60 percent of the profits, with the remaining 40 percent going to Columbia animal rescue mission SQ Rescue.

What else?

Jody and Richard announced earlier this month that they purchased that adjacent building at 2621 Devine St.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do with it yet, but we know it’s going to be something amazing,” Jody said.

This story was originally published August 24, 2016 at 2:58 PM with the headline "What’s Good Here: Devine Cinnamon Roll Deli."