This is a list of notable delicatessens. A delicatessen is a retail establishment that sells a selection of unusual or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessens originated in Germany during the 1700s. They later spread to the United States in the mid-1800s during the diaspora of European immigrants. Because of their cultural ties to Central and Eastern European culture, the Ashkenazi Jews popularized the delicatessen within American culture beginning in 1888.