You know when you move to a new area and tell yourself you’re going to check out the scene and make sure to love your local whenever possible?

Fifteen years later, I’m just ticking that box for The Wheatmarket in Chester, and I will be hereby making up for lost time after a few trips and several satisfying samplings.

Wheatmarket offers hot and cold deli sandwiches, a handful of salads, and other prepared foods, alongside daily specials and a rotating cast of at least four fresh soups. I’m a bigtime soup gal and a recent chilly-ish day called for just that. I picked ideal fall-fare soups: Chicken Noodle ($4.95; one size) and Potato and Leek ($4.95), and while both are on the Order Again list, we’re still raving about the Potato and Leek. It was a silky and buttery blend of balanced flavors and quite nourishing. As for the chicken noodle soup, the “noodles” were actually small pasta shells, into which the flavorful broth pooled. Boosted with ample carrots and celery, the soup amounted to a very satisfying meal.

We’re only three sandwiches deep into our sampling of Wheatmarket’s approximately two dozen offerings – all customizable with several bread, cheese, and veggie options. In the spirit of the season, the Thanksgiving on a Roll daily special ($8.99) came home with me on a recent evening. We say: Let the Turkey Day festivities begin, early or not, with this handheld cornucopia of flavors and textures. Not only does the sandwich feature the best parts of the titular dinner – hot turkey and stuffing (the real deal, not something out of a box) – it’s also dressed with cranberry jam and a smidge of mayo and comes with cheddar cheese, because why not? Arguably, there is a meal’s worth of food packed upon the pillow-soft roll, so consider making this sandwich a two-person affair, depending on hunger levels. Recommended.

The Hot Roast Beef with honey mustard and cheddar (#9 on the regular sandwich menu; $7.99) we sampled a little later approached the greatness of the T-Day on a Roll, but it’s hard to beat anything with built-in stuffing. However, French bread filled with freshly sliced roast beef and honey mustard with a kick of heat works quite well after a day of skipped lunch and non-stop meetings. Once again, some sliced cheddar added nuance and texture to an already good combination, making sandwich #9 another happily recommended item.

On another night, we paired two specials in regular rotation: The Meatball Sandwich ($7.99) and a slice of three-meat deep dish pizza, priced at a very reasonable $5.99. Note: They aren’t kidding about the deep-dish part. At about an inch and a half thick, this pie is packed with excellent tomatoes and bits of meatball, pepperoni, and sausage. Tying the toothsome strata together was the pungent power of garlic and parmesan cheese, both generously applied. We haven’t had deep dish pizza in ages, so we got a kick out of this well-executed blast from our past.

The Meatball Sandwich was enjoyable enough, although not particularly exciting. Every part of the sandwich was very good, from the tender meatballs and fresh provolone to the uber-soft roll, but it could’ve used a little more … something. Maybe more of the tasty tomato sauce? Some toaster time? Yes, I’m quibbling, but only because the bar was set quite high by our other selections.

We’ll end on a slam dunk, and that was the freshly baked chocolate-chip cookie ($2.50) that did not survive the car ride home. At once chewy and a bit crumbly like shortbread, this sweet treat with a good balance of chocolate chips is an ideal coffee companion, but honestly, there is no context in which it wouldn’t be good. On a recent day, peanut butter and what looked like ginger cookies were among the options for the sweet-tooth afflicted.

There is much to recommend The Wheatmarket, a welcoming space with a smattering of cafe tables amid a small selection of gourmet grocery items and a much larger selection of candy, including fun nostalgia items like root beer barrels. Combined with the genial staff and the obvious care they take in their food sourcing and preparation, we know we’ve found another hidden gem, right in our backyard.

The Wheatmarket

4 Water St., Chester

(860) 526-9347

Cuisine: Deli sandwiches, fresh soups and salads; prepared foods to go; coffee and cold drinks

Atmosphere: Plenty of seating in an airy, inviting space where a busy deli counter serves up fresh eats, bedecked with eclectic decor and a few shelves of gourmet grocery items.

Service: Incredibly pleasant. Will restore your faith in humanity.

Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Closed Sunday.

Prices: Very reasonable for the quality received. Sandwiches and specials are generally priced between $8 and $9; deli salads to go start at $7 a pound. The most expensive special on a recent visit was the meat lasagna with a side salad and garlic bread for $9.99.

Credit cards: Not accepted. Cash and checks only.

Reservations: N/A

Accessibility: Well-maintained, off-street parking lot leads to an entry with no steps and a spacious interior.