CHERRY HILL – Radin’s Delicatessen opened in 2024 in the Town Center at Short Hills retail center, off Evesham Road.
On a recent afternoon, there were dozens of customers lined up to get in a van as they left the busy restaurant.
The deli, owned by Russ Cowan, has been well received in Cherry Hill. It will celebrate two things on Sept. 14: National Black and White Cookie Day and its own rich history.
The family got into the Jewish deli business 125 years ago in New York City, according to a press release. Cowan’s relatives officially opened their first deli, Radin Brothers, in 1905 on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, but the family had worked in delicatessens for five years prior to that.
So, on Sept. 14, the deli will offer one of its most popular items free to all customers for the day. Starting at 9 a.m., whether customers dine in or take out, they will receive a free “catering size” black & white cookie with their order, until supplies last.
Black & white cookies have become a ‘mainstay’
Radin’s Deli owner Russ Cowan is shown at this shop. Sept. 14 is National Black and White Cookie Day. The Cherry Hill deli will give away free black & white cookies to customers to celebrate. The family got into the Jewish deli business in the early 1900s.
Cowan, 70, says they will make 500 of the “cake-like cookies” for the giveaway. Desserts are made in-house from scratch.
“Black & white cookies were never an item you saw in Jewish delis back in the day – you only saw them in bakeries,” said Cowan in the release. “But over the past two to three decades, they started to appear everywhere, and have now become a mainstay at delis like ours. We sell a lot of desserts, and the black & white cookie is always one of our most popular items.”
The shop, located in a space once occupied by the Short Hills Restaurant & Delicatessen (closed in 2021), is located at 486 Evesham Road and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Cowan, who previously owned Philadelphia’s Famous 4th Street Deli, has also developed other Jewish delis and bagel shops throughout the Delaware Valley over the last three decades.
Radin’s is known for its oversized sandwiches and portions. The BLT, Reuben, open-faced sandwiches, hot dogs, smoked fish, knishes, pastrami and corned beef, matzo ball soup and salads are among its menu items. Radin’s is also known for its desserts, including those black & white cookies.
The deli serves traditional Jewish cuisine, breakfast anytime and much more, the release said.
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Free cookies to customers on Black and White Cookie Day at this SJ deli