hether as a student with friends or as a coach with recruits, Bill Smyth had a go-to gathering spot on the Corner across from the University of Virginia’s Grounds.
“Iconic” is the word he used to describe Littlejohn’s New York Delicatessen, a longtime staple of Charlottesville’s famed business district that served the community its signature sandwiches from 1976 to 2020.
Smyth’s favorite was the Nuclear Sub, a fitting name for a zesty dish that combined turkey, tangy barbeque chicken, coleslaw and melted cheese on sub roll. He ordered it while an All-American swimmer for UVA in the early 1990s, and later during an eight-year run as an assistant swimming coach for the Cavaliers.
Soon, he’ll get a bite of the Nuclear while carrying a different title.
After a hiatus of more than three years, Littlejohn’s is reopening at its old Corner location – 1427 University Avenue – with Smyth as its co-owner.
“I want to be faithful to the old sandwiches and the old subs,” Smyth said, “and bring back things that everybody remembers and has nostalgic feelings about.”
No date has been set for the official reopening, but Smyth, a 1994 UVA graduate, is determined to make it happen this spring semester. He wants current fourth-year students to taste a tradition he believes they’ve been deprived of since Littlejohn’s, under previous ownership, closed its doors in August 2020, citing reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I want that class to get back there and to be able to tell the third-years, the second-years and the first-years what to get,” Smyth said. “Which sandwiches are their favorites? That connection’s important to me, so opening this semester is going to be a high priority.”
