Jae, his wife and their two children came to America from Seoul, Korea in 1977.

"In Korea I was an engineer for Hyundai. When we came to America I found work as a heavy-duty mechanic and worked at the same company for 12 years. We saved all of the money we could and purchased the store," Jae said.

Jae and Bona have been working together ever since.

"We have good days and bad days. But mostly good. It's nice to work together and have our son and daughter working here with us. It makes it more of a family place, something we can all share in," Jae said.

Say Cheese has been known by many names and has had several owners since opening in 1946.

"When I first bought Say Cheese it needed a lot of work," Lee said. "We had to do a lot of remodeling, a lot of painting and a bunch of other work to make it nice again."

Lee says that when he and his wife first reopened Say Cheese under their ownership, the store was 80 percent liquor sales.

"We wanted something more for a family to come in to. We wanted to have a deli that served quality sandwiches. But we also wanted to keep the liquor section open," Lee said.

Say Cheese is now exactly as Lee wanted it when he first opened his doors.

The deli section of the store is right in front, and the smell of fresh cheeses and bread greets each customer as they walk in.

Say Cheese has a large selection of deli sandwiches, much like one would find at some of the chain sandwich shops but with one difference that Lee feels is very important.

"When you come here you decide what kind of sandwich you want and you order exactly what you want. We don't put anything on the sandwich unless it's been ordered," Lee said.

The selection of sandwich fixings is large, from roast beef, pastrami, smoked turkey and smoked ham to homemade tuna, crab and chicken salad.

There is also a selection of seven or eight different cheeses to top each sandwich.

"We sell deli trays also. We used to do catering, but it got to be too much on my wife. We were having to work long hours on the weekends, and it was just too much on both of us," Lee said.

But Say Cheese does still sell deli trays for parties.

"We make great meat and cheese trays for parties. A large tray is $49.99, and a medium tray is $39.99. The customer calls and orders whatever they want on the tray, and we can even order them fresh bread from our bakery if they want," Lee said.

Say Cheese is still a liquor store as well as a deli, but the Lees have done their best to make it a quality liquor store.

"We carry some high-end wines and hard liquors. But we try to keep some of the usual liquor store items as well. There are a lot of older people in the community who have been coming here for years and expect to find the same things that they have always been able to purchase here. We don't want to disappoint them," Lee said.

Say Cheese Liquors and Deli is located at 1118 Meridian Ave. The liquor store is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m.; the deli is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. For more information or to place an order, call 408.266.8141.