The meat slicers, and the sandwich orders are on overdrive at Manny's Deli, 1141 S Jefferson St, Chicago.
"We are usually closed on Mondays but we opened this week Monday just to prepare for St. Patrick's Day," said Danny Raskin, co-owner, Manny's Deli.
"We actually started preparing last week, we started having more staff but obviously we can't do stuff too far in advance, but it's been all hands on deck every day."
In any given day, Manny's makes about 500 sandwhiches but on Tuesday, it'll be a different story.
"We'll probably make about 4,000 sandwiches on St. Patrick's Day. We're going through about 5,000 pounds of raw brisket, cooked down, it's a bit less but it's about 5,000 pounds of corn beef."
St. Patrick's Day also falls on Primary Election Day in Illinois which makes an even busier day.
"We have an event here on Election night, but during the day, all the politicians stop by and use the stop as a good luck charm. I think the tradition started with David Axelrod," Raskin recalled. "He would bring his clients in and they would walk around and shake hands and get to know people. Manny's is a great melting pot of customers so it's always a good place to shake hands and campaign," he smiled.
The fourth generation family deli is celebrating 83 years in Chicago this year.
"It feels great to be able to follow the traditions that my great grandfather, my grandfather and my dad have carried on and it's the same for customers. The same customers come in with multiple generations and they all have great stories of their first time coming in. It's always really nice stories. Its' what Manny's is, it's multi generations of families and feeding our customers. My dad did an incredible job. He always worked so hard to keep Manny's open and going. For me and my brother to be able to continue the same thing, is great."
Hundreds of orders have already been placed for delivery, but walk ins are welcome all day.
"This is our busiest time of the year. We have St. Patrick's Day and then Passover so we are very busy."
