SCOTT JOHNSON
Oct 6, 2023
A plan to open a new branch of The Yellow Deli in the old Cock of the Walk building in Mobile is still moving forward, according to the organization.
The Twelve Tribes religious organization, which operates The Yellow Deli, announced plans for a location on Halls Mill Road in Spring 2022. Those plans haven't changed, a representative at the original Chattanooga, Tennessee, location told Lagniappe during a phone call.
"That's still the plan," the individual said. "We've had people move down there to help get it started."
No projected opening date was available.
The Yellow Deli is known for its steamed sandwiches, soups and baked goods. However, the restaurant is perhaps better known for its controversial operating model, which relies entirely on volunteer labor by its local congregation.
The Twelve Tribes religious movement was founded in Chattanooga in 1972 and was birthed out of the Jesus Movement, a Christian revival that appealed to hippie culture. That movement was recently portrayed in Lionsgate's 2023 film "Jesus Revolution," which was filmed at various locations in Mobile and Baldwin counties.
The Yellow Deli restaurant operates completely on "volunteer labor" from its church community and uses revenues from its establishments to fund its communal homes and provide for followers' personal needs.
The restaurant chain currently has 31 locations in 10 states and seven countries. The Mobile location would be the organization's first restaurant in Alabama.
According to land records, the Twelve Tribes have owned the vacant restaurant property located at 4815 Halls Mill Road since 2017 under the name "Community in Mobile LLC." The organization purchased the nine-acre parcel for $552,000. The address listed is the same as the The Yellow Deli's location in Pulaski, Tennessee.
Community of Mobile LLC is also listed as the property owner for a home on Rochelle Street less than a mile from the planned restaurant.
The old Cock of the Walk land has shifted several times over the past decade, with ownership shuffling to the Catfish Shack and Jacko Foods before ultimately being sold to the local Twelve Tribes community.
Controversy
The Twelve Tribes movement has come under fire in recent years for its treatment of children and other labor practices, according to a March 2022 Denver Post article. According to the Post, Twelve Tribes garnered headlines in Colorado when authorities began investigating the Marshall wildfire in Boulder, which destroyed more than 1,000 homes in December 2021; officials believed the fire initially started on their property.
"The Twelve Tribes tends to attract people who are down on their luck, struggling to function in society or even running from the law," ex-members told the Post. "The cult used to send a bus to follow Grateful Dead concert tours. Twelve Tribes members would offer first aid, cookies and tea to the band's hardcore fans."
New members must give the group all their possessions when they join, and they must sign over personal property to Twelve Tribes' limited liability companies. If they leave, they are not allowed to take anything with them and have little to fall back on.
According to the restaurant's website, Twelve Tribes communities seek to lead lives of peace and contentment and attempt to model themselves after the first-century Christian church, which "shared all things in common." Members' homes also have rules against televisions and drugs.
"We hope that through having an open and hospitable place like our Yellow Deli, people will be able to see that we are not really strange and scary, but just friendly folks who love God and our neighbors," the group's website states.
"For some, this way may seem too restrictive, but to those of us who live here, it was the beam of light that revealed the solution to our dark and troubled lives. Our life is like 'yellow for our souls' … as we live in 'the green pastures of home' along with our sheep! So … Let there be Yellow!"
Email Scott Johnson at scott@lagniappemobile.com
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