{
 "schema": 1,
 "id": "american-deli",
 "type": "place",
 "names": {
  "name": "American Deli",
  "aliases": [
   "American Deli International, Inc."
  ],
  "sort": "American Deli"
 },
 "region": [
  "atlanta"
 ],
 "facets": {
  "state": "GA",
  "status": "open",
  "founded": 1989,
  "cooked": "fried",
  "styles": [
   "atlanta-lemon-pepper"
  ]
 },
 "text": {
  "what": "A counter chain out of Atlanta, open since 1989, that sells wings by the ten-piece with a long board of seasonings and sauces. Lemon pepper wet — wings sauced and then hit with dry lemon pepper — was invented here, and the company now runs more than 200 stores across ten states.",
  "story": "American Deli opened in 1989 with one store in Atlanta. The company describes itself as a small family-owned business at the start; it does not name its founders on its own pages, and this project could not find a source that does.\n\nThe wing that carried the name out of Georgia is lemon pepper wet. Wikipedia's account credits the variation to American Deli: wings coated in sauce rather than left dry, then seasoned. The dish travelled further than the store did. An episode of the FX series Atlanta put lemon pepper wet in a character's hands and attached it to J.R. Crickets instead; the writer Stephen Glover has said the wing on screen was drawn from American Deli's.\n\n*Inference —* the chain sits in this set as a counter, not a bar: no dining room to speak of, a sealed clamshell, a bag. The wing goes home.",
  "today": "As of 2026 the company reports more than 200 locations across ten states and gives its corporate address as 275 Scientific Drive NW, Peachtree Corners, Georgia. Its own press page collects the Atlanta rappers, mayors and ballplayers who name it. Atlanta Eats, in April 2025, called it \"Arguably the spot that started the lemon pepper wing craze in ATL\"."
 },
 "geo": {
  "lat": 33.749,
  "lon": -84.388,
  "precision": "town",
  "source": "s:this-project"
 },
 "address": {
  "city": "Atlanta",
  "county": "Fulton",
  "state": "GA"
 },
 "links": [
  {
   "label": "American Deli",
   "url": "https://americandeli.com/"
  }
 ],
 "tags": [
  {
   "tag": "house-sauce",
   "source": "s:web-american-deli-about",
   "tier": "cited",
   "note": "the company's own page says almost all its sauces are made by hand in small batches in house"
  }
 ],
 "recognitions": [
  {
   "by": "local-press",
   "what": "Atlanta Eats, \"Where To Find Atlanta's Best Lemon Pepper Wings\", named it the spot that arguably started the city's lemon pepper wing craze",
   "year": 2025,
   "source": "s:web-atlanta-eats-lemon-pepper",
   "url": "https://www.atlantaeats.com/blog/lemon-pepper-wings-atlanta/"
  },
  {
   "by": "thrillist",
   "what": "Listed in \"The 21 Best Chicken Wings in America\"",
   "year": null,
   "source": "s:web-american-deli-press",
   "note": "the citation here is the company's own press page, which names the piece without its date; the Thrillist piece itself is unread by this project"
  }
 ],
 "kin": [
  {
   "to": "atlanta-lemon-pepper",
   "as": "Sells the city's wing in both its forms, dry and wet, at a counter price.",
   "rel": "style"
  },
  {
   "to": "lemon-pepper-wet",
   "as": "Invented here, per Wikipedia's account of the dish.",
   "rel": "sauce"
  },
  {
   "to": "lemon-pepper-seasoning",
   "as": "Goes on last, after the sauce, which is what makes the wing wet rather than dry.",
   "rel": "sauce"
  },
  {
   "to": "jr-cricketts",
   "as": "Got the television credit for lemon pepper wet that the show's writer says belonged here.",
   "rel": "contrast"
  },
  {
   "to": "wet-and-dry",
   "as": "The two words an order here has to choose between.",
   "rel": "term"
  },
  {
   "to": "wingstop",
   "as": "The other chain that took lemon pepper national, from Texas rather than Georgia.",
   "rel": "contrast"
  },
  {
   "to": "fried-rice-plate",
   "as": "Shares the counter format: wings and a starch in one clamshell, carried out.",
   "rel": "dish"
  }
 ],
 "sources": [
  "s:wp-lemon-pepper-wings",
  "s:web-american-deli-about",
  "s:web-american-deli-franchise-story",
  "s:web-american-deli-press",
  "s:web-atlanta-eats-lemon-pepper"
 ],
 "provenance": {
  "default": {
   "tier": "cited",
   "source": "s:web-american-deli-franchise-story"
  },
  "fields": {
   "text.story": {
    "tier": "cited",
    "source": "s:wp-lemon-pepper-wings",
    "note": "the closing paragraph is marked as this project's inference"
   },
   "geo": {
    "tier": "inference",
    "source": "s:this-project",
    "note": "town-level: the chain has no single wing counter this project can name as its flagship, so the point is the city, not a door"
   }
  }
 },
 "images": [],
 "x_commons_files": [],
 "confidence": "medium",
 "needs_verification": true,
 "updated": "2026-09-16",
 "blurb": "A counter chain out of Atlanta, open since 1989, that sells wings by the ten-piece with a long board of seasonings and sauces.",
 "region_terms": [
  {
   "key": "atlanta",
   "name": "Atlanta",
   "state": "GA",
   "note": "lemon pepper, wet and dry, and the wing plate with fried rice"
  }
 ],
 "kin_out": [
  {
   "to": "atlanta-lemon-pepper",
   "type": "style",
   "name": "Lemon pepper wings",
   "as": "Sells the city's wing in both its forms, dry and wet, at a counter price.",
   "rel": "style"
  },
  {
   "to": "lemon-pepper-wet",
   "type": "sauce",
   "name": "Lemon pepper wet",
   "as": "Invented here, per Wikipedia's account of the dish.",
   "rel": "sauce"
  },
  {
   "to": "lemon-pepper-seasoning",
   "type": "sauce",
   "name": "Lemon pepper",
   "as": "Goes on last, after the sauce, which is what makes the wing wet rather than dry.",
   "rel": "sauce"
  },
  {
   "to": "jr-cricketts",
   "type": "place",
   "name": "J.R. Crickets",
   "as": "Got the television credit for lemon pepper wet that the show's writer says belonged here.",
   "rel": "contrast"
  },
  {
   "to": "wet-and-dry",
   "type": "term",
   "name": "wet and dry",
   "as": "The two words an order here has to choose between.",
   "rel": "term"
  },
  {
   "to": "wingstop",
   "type": "place",
   "name": "Wingstop",
   "as": "The other chain that took lemon pepper national, from Texas rather than Georgia.",
   "rel": "contrast"
  },
  {
   "to": "fried-rice-plate",
   "type": "dish",
   "name": "the fried rice plate",
   "as": "Shares the counter format: wings and a starch in one clamshell, carried out.",
   "rel": "dish"
  }
 ],
 "source_list": [
  {
   "id": "s:wp-lemon-pepper-wings",
   "kind": "wikipedia",
   "title": "Lemon pepper wings",
   "publisher": "Wikipedia",
   "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_pepper_wings",
   "accessed": "2026-09-16"
  },
  {
   "id": "s:web-american-deli-about",
   "kind": "web",
   "title": "How American Deli Makes It.",
   "publisher": "American Deli",
   "url": "https://americandeli.com/about",
   "accessed": "2026-09-16"
  },
  {
   "id": "s:web-american-deli-franchise-story",
   "kind": "web",
   "title": "Our Story — American Deli Franchise Opportunities",
   "publisher": "American Deli International, Inc.",
   "url": "https://americandelifranchise.com/our-story",
   "accessed": "2026-09-16"
  },
  {
   "id": "s:web-american-deli-press",
   "kind": "web",
   "title": "Press | What People Say About Us",
   "publisher": "American Deli",
   "url": "https://americandeli.com/press",
   "accessed": "2026-09-16"
  },
  {
   "id": "s:web-atlanta-eats-lemon-pepper",
   "kind": "web",
   "title": "Where To Find Atlanta's Best Lemon Pepper Wings",
   "publisher": "Atlanta Eats",
   "author": "Trisha Pintavorn",
   "date": "2025-04-30",
   "url": "https://www.atlantaeats.com/blog/lemon-pepper-wings-atlanta/",
   "accessed": "2026-09-16"
  }
 ],
 "tiers": {
  "text.what": {
   "tier": "cited",
   "source": "s:web-american-deli-franchise-story"
  },
  "text.story": {
   "tier": "cited",
   "source": "s:wp-lemon-pepper-wings",
   "note": "the closing paragraph is marked as this project's inference"
  },
  "text.today": {
   "tier": "cited",
   "source": "s:web-american-deli-franchise-story"
  },
  "geo": {
   "tier": "inference",
   "source": "s:this-project",
   "note": "town-level: the chain has no single wing counter this project can name as its flagship, so the point is the city, not a door"
  },
  "address": {
   "tier": "cited",
   "source": "s:web-american-deli-franchise-story"
  }
 },
 "primary_image": null,
 "tag_facts": [
  {
   "key": "house-sauce",
   "label": "Sauce made in house",
   "icon": "🥣",
   "group": "kitchen",
   "evidence": "the business's own words or a press piece",
   "resources": [],
   "source": "s:web-american-deli-about",
   "note": "the company's own page says almost all its sauces are made by hand in small batches in house",
   "tier": "cited",
   "url": ""
  }
 ],
 "recognition_facts": [
  {
   "key": "local-press",
   "label": "The local paper or alt-weekly",
   "what": "Atlanta Eats, \"Where To Find Atlanta's Best Lemon Pepper Wings\", named it the spot that arguably started the city's lemon pepper wing craze",
   "url": "https://www.atlantaeats.com/blog/lemon-pepper-wings-atlanta/",
   "year": 2025,
   "source": "s:web-atlanta-eats-lemon-pepper"
  },
  {
   "key": "thrillist",
   "label": "Thrillist",
   "what": "Listed in \"The 21 Best Chicken Wings in America\"",
   "url": "",
   "year": null,
   "source": "s:web-american-deli-press"
  }
 ],
 "acclaim": 2,
 "kin_in": [
  {
   "from": "atlanta-lemon-pepper",
   "type": "style",
   "name": "Lemon pepper wings",
   "as": "Credited with inventing lemon pepper wet, and the restaurant the Atlanta scene was actually modelled on.",
   "rel": "origin"
  },
  {
   "from": "lemon-pepper-seasoning",
   "type": "sauce",
   "name": "Lemon pepper",
   "as": "An Atlanta counter that shakes it, and where the wet version was invented.",
   "rel": "place"
  },
  {
   "from": "lemon-pepper-wet",
   "type": "sauce",
   "name": "Lemon pepper wet",
   "as": "Invented the version the name points at, and the one the television episode was modelled on.",
   "rel": "place"
  },
  {
   "from": "jr-cricketts",
   "type": "place",
   "name": "J.R. Crickets",
   "as": "The counter the show's writer says he actually had in mind when the wings went on screen here.",
   "rel": "contrast"
  },
  {
   "from": "wet-and-dry",
   "type": "term",
   "name": "wet and dry",
   "as": "Where lemon pepper wet was invented, per the record.",
   "rel": "place"
  }
 ]
}