LITTLE RIVER, S.C. (WBTW) — There’s nothing little about what they serve at the Little River Deli.

The portions, the flavors, the menu — all bigger than you might expect. Inside this little building, they do it big.

“We can really do a lot in a small space,” owner Amanda Flowers said. “We got a great crew.”

The day I was at Little River Deli, it was a slow day and the line was still five people deep.

Flowers, who took over the deli in February, said some days the line goes out the door. The deli has been here since 1999, and it’s still the same.

“That’s one thing that I really wanted to keep was just the heart of it and the thing that people have come to love,” Flowers said. When you take over a business, I worked here, so I kind of knew what the place was and what people were here to get, and I never wanted to change that.”

Flowers has worked here for 15 years; her dad’s been here since it opened.

“I love it,” Flowers said. “I went to college and I had a whole ‘nother career. I always worked here in between and weekends and stuff, and at the end of the day I chose this, hands down.”

Little River Deli has a lot on the menu, but they specialize in New York and Italian food. While not much changes, occasionally, something new is added.

“So we’re cooking our own, roasting our own roast beef now, slicing it and serving it on a sub or open face with gravy. It’s something that people are calling in for every single day now,” Flowers said. “So that was my touch that I added.”

While tourists are important to the Grand Strand, this place is important to the locals.

“Honestly, a lot of times we do get some tourists, which is awesome, but consistently it’s locals coming in, and it think it’s really cool,” Flowers said. “A lot of people will say that are finding us, they’ll say, ‘Oh my gosh I drive right past you,’ or ‘you have no idea how many times I’ve driven past and this is my first time in.’ And I think that it’s so cool to know that they’re finding this new place and they always come back.”

And she’s not kidding when she says they come back.

“It’s a lot of hard work. It’s worth it,” Flowers said. “I think it’s satisfying when you see people come in every single day. We have customers that come seven days a week.”

Little River Deli now does catering for any size event. They’re on Highway in, you guessed it, Little River.