Behind the Counter: Taylor Gourmet

Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of business profiles that will highlights employees at local Bethesda establishments. Our highlighted

The red Phillies baseball cap gave him away.

Casey Taylor Patten, 31, co-owner of Taylor Gourmet Deli, was working alongside his employees in Bethesda during the busy lunch hour.

“I grew up working in restaurants all my life,” he said. “My business partner (David Mazza, 33) and I bought a building over on H Street in Northeast D.C. back in 2006. We decided that we needed a good old sandwich shop like we had in Philadelphia.”

Patten relocated to D.C. over a decade ago after growing up in Philadelphia and attending Pennsylvania State University. Recognizing a need for a “hoagie” shop, a term coined in Philadelphia to describe a submarine sandwich, he and Mazza did market research on the area to open their own establishment.

Since the first shop opened on H Street, Taylor Gourmet has expanded across the D.C. metro area with three current locations and two more in the works. One is set to open in the U Street corridor this November and another next year in Merrifield, Va.  The opened just over a year ago.

“It’s been going phenomenally,” he said. “Just like our other outposts, this operates the same way.”

Taylor Gourmet operates by offering its customers a diverse menu, developed by Patten, using meats roasted and flavored in-house. This formula didn’t include condiments like mayonnaise or mustard. After customers requested them, though, Patten was flexible.

“We put the flavor combinations together…without overpowering them with mayonnaise or mustard. But customers asked and we wanted to give them what they wanted.”

A year later, Patten’s approach has allowed Taylor Gourmet to establish its place in the Bethesda food scene.