BRIGHTON, N.Y. — New York State is honoring two local businesses for their decades of commitment to the community.

Fox’s Deli in Brighton and House of Guitars in Irondequoit are both being added to the state’s Historic Business Preservation Registry. Fox’s Deli has served customers on Monroe Avenue since 1963 but the business’s history goes back over 100 years. The House of Guitars was founded in 1964 by brothers Bruce and Armand Schaubroeck in their mother’s basement, who went on to attract all-star musicians to their store on Titus Avenue.

News10NBC spoke with Fox’s Deli co-owner Alex Rheinwald about the business’ history and plans for the future. Rheinwald is part of the second family to own the restaurant. He said Fox’s Deli is planning to expand to a bagel shop on Park Avenue soon.

“It’s really great to see where we’ve come from and where we’re going,” Rheinwald said.

It all started when founder Irving Fox opened a deli in Manhattan in 1929. He relocated to Rochester in 1943 to open a deli on Joseph Avenue. After that, he relocated to Brighton in 1960. With the deli growing in popularity, the deli moved to a larger location three years later, which is the location that customers know and love today.

Rheinwald remembers going to Fox’s Deli as a child, never imagining that he would one day own the place.

“A lot of my first memories as a kid were here, walking down the little alleyway here with my grandmother and my mother, smelling the food as we got in here, picking our favorite sandwiches,” he said.

Rheinwald knew some of the family members who originally owned Fox’s Deli and had been in the restaurant business for a long time before he took it over. The artwork from the original owners, such as a “Bologna and the Beast” poster, remains at the restaurant.

Rheinwald said he was thrilled when the historic team reached out about adding Fox’s Deli to the Historic Business Preservation Registry.

“We did a little homework, they did a little homework, and we found out some really great stuff,” he said.