This Downtown Jackson restaurant is changing hands, again. Everything we know

For the second time in just more than a year, Steve's Deli is changing hands.

Michael Longo and Ashley Davis are in the process of buying the downtown Jackson restaurant from Daniel Fairly, who purchased the iconic brand in May 2023 in a deal with long-time owner Steve Long, who along with his wife, Julie, moved to Pennsylvania.

Longo said that since September of 2023, he has been looking for a way to purchase the restaurant, which has been closed for the last two weeks as negotiations have been ongoing with Fairly.

"We have another meeting with our attorneys on Thursday to finalize a couple of things," Longo said Monday from the dining room of the restaurant as he was meeting with vendors. "We are just excited to get back to it."

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Longo said he would like to have the restaurant back open by Thursday, but he suspects it could be a few days after that.

"I think one of the last things left to do is for (Fairly) to sign over the ownership of the equipment in the building, and then his name will be away from Steve's Downtown," Longo said. "That's our main goal."

Steve's over the years

Steve's Deli has gained an almost cult following over the years as its sandwiches and cookies have been a staple for the downtown business crowd.

Long started with the restaurant in June 2001 when he was hired by the late James Patterson at the Congress Street location, when it was called Saucers. Patterson hired Long out from under Jeff Good, where he had been the head baker at Broad Street.

Patterson sold Long the business in 2004.

What's next for Steve's and new owners?

Longo said as soon as all of the paperwork can be completed, he, Davis and their other partner, Fred Grayer, will get back to serving the customers of Downtown Jackson.

"At the end of the day, we still have to tie up a couple of loose ends and then we will be ready to go full force," Longo said. "As soon as Daniel takes care of things he needs to take care of, we can get moving. We are comfortable with him just walking away. We are going to come back with a bang. You can count on that. It's going to be awesome."

He went on to say that when ownership is completely switched over, restaurant goers can expect the same Steve's they have come to enjoy over the past 20 years. Longo also said his group hopes to expand on the menu at some point and even be open at night a day or two a week. Steve's has always just been a lunch-only experience.

"We want to do a night-time menu that's a little more creative, just to show our skills a little bit, but for right now we are going to stick to the basics," Longo said. "For the last year, we haven't been able to get there, but we feel like we can do that now, now that we are cutting ties (with previous ownership)."

Fairley was contacted for this story, but he declined to comment.

Ross Reily is the business and development writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: This Downtown Jackson restaurant is changing hands, again. Everything we know