(In later correspondence, Lavroff clarified that he thought the customer may actually have been from Portsmouth, but from the Commonwealth, nonetheless.) After their encounter with the visitor from Virginia, the Lavroffs offered a kosher adaptation of the sailor—substituting sauerkraut for Swiss cheese—as a special and, noting its popularity with their customers, they eventually gave it a permanent home on their menu.

Warranting the attention of a national franchise, the sailor has insinuated itself into Jason’s Deli’s three Richmond locations. According to Alex Williams, Jason’s Deli district manager for Virginia and Maryland, Richmond customers’ requests for sailors simply couldn’t be ignored. "We had never heard of the sandwich before this," Williams told me. "We used to carry knockwurst on our menu, so we had a supplier to contact and all the other ingredients had always been on our menu, so we went ahead and met the demand." Richmond diners, it appears, are the sailor’s most ardent supporters. "There is not much demand in any of our other markets, including Virginia Beach or northern Virginia," Williams pointed out.