WILMINGTON — After growing its popularity in a South Carolina beach town for the last 13 years, Pulaski Deli has opened a market in the Oleander Pointe strip mall.
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Located at the intersection of Oleander Drive and South College Road, the Polish deli is operating beside the Butchers Market. It’s owned by Mark Zagulski and Peter Wilczynski, who started the venture in Myrtle Beach back in 2012.
“We wanted to bring authentic Polish food to Americans,” Wilczynski said.
He moved to the states after doing a student exchange program and became a lifeguard in Myrtle Beach in 2008. Wilczynski was studying to become a physical education teacher and eventually moved to the beach due to its easy-going lifestyle appeal.
He then met Zagulski, who had been living in the area since the early 2000s.
“But he came to the states in the ‘80s,” Wilczynski said, noting the two began to commiserate about missing traditional Polish food.
Wilczynski said memories would flood every holiday season, as he would think back to being at his grandparents’ house. Cousins lined up to help make a traditional 12-course, Christmas Eve feast, always meatless — “one rolling the dough, another cutting the circles for sauerkraut pierogi,” he reflected.
Then on Christmas Day, they would prepare the fish — carp.
“Have you ever been to Broadway at the Beach?” Wilczynski asked. “It’s the fish that jumps out of the water, but Americans don’t really eat it here.”
As he and Zagulski began discussing how Polish markets were aplenty up north, the conversation shifted to bringing one down South.
“We were noticing older people migrating here for retirement and wanting access to those same foods,” Wilczynski said.
Pulaski Deli started as a market only, located at 27th and North Kings Highway, within close proximity to area resorts like Dayton House and Breaker Myrtle Beach. It stocks shelved items, like varied Polish soups, including red borscht, sauces, mustards, pickles, jams and more.
They also order homemade kielbasa and sausages, like Polish white sausage, from Chicago and New York delis to sell. Wilczynski makes homemade pierogi, cabbage rolls, sauerkraut and cabbage stew from his grandmother’s recipes.
Popularity grew quickly after its opening and the two expanded the deli, adding tables and a hot bar, as well as made-to-order sandwiches, including kielbasa dogs and more.
After building a strong clientele of locals and tourists — including many Polish-Americans often traveling 70 or so miles from Southport’s St. James community and Wilmington — the two began considering a second location.
“We were looking in Leland at first,” Wilczynski said. “But then we found a small place in Wilmington that was inexpensive. And we knew there was a good clientele there, especially with the Polish festival taking place there every November at St. Stan’s.”
The Oleander Drive market had a soft opening in April, just before Easter, welcoming many regulars with a first look. It’s now open to the public from Wednesday through Sunday currently and as the crew hires more employees, it will eventually open seven days a week.
Customers will find multiple flavors of homemade pierogi — potato and cheddar, ground pork, sauerkraut and mushroom. The latter is Wilczynski’s favorite, though he said potato and cheddar is the most popular.
He and his mom make them daily, a dozen sold in each package, as well as the cabbage rolls, served as three in a container. They’re going through more than 1,000 pierogi a week in Wilmington, so far.
“We had my grandma on Facetime, helping us refine the process,” Wilczynski said upon opening the venture.
The market also sells paczki. The Polish doughnuts are ordered from a Brooklyn bakery once a week. Wilczynski said they’re made on Thursday and shipped down to serve fresh on Friday.
“They’re only good a day or two,” he added.
Other sweets include Easter babka, a sweet bread with cheese and raisins, as well as Angel Wings, which are fried bowties of dough, and jam cookies known as kolacki. Plus, traditional nut and poppyseed rolls, rye bread and fruit strudels can be found.
Though there isn’t a hot bar in the Wilmington deli, it could come in the future, according to Wilczynski. There are two rooms in the back of the narrow store that could operate a full kitchen.
Right now, he and his business partner are focusing on the market only, much like their flagship store, to see what takes off with the public. While the Polish grocery items are shelved, all takeaway homemade foods and the sausages are available from the deli cases and refrigerated sections, including white borscht and perhaps in the future schnitzel and Polish meatballs with onions.
Pulaski Deli opens noon to 6 p.m. on Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. It’s located at 4512 Oleander Drive Suite 600.
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