What’s the beef? Legendary Koch’s Deli is in a legal pickle.

Is it kosher for a deli opening soon in Center City to use the name of the venerable Koch’s?

Bing Li contends that when he purchased Koch’s Deli — a favorite among generations of University of Pennsylvania students and staff — in 2020, he bought the name along with the business and building.

But former tenant Morshed Alqaifi — who ran the West Philadelphia deli for two years, until Li evicted him in November — plans to open another Koch’s Deli at 618-622 Market St., a block from Independence Mall. The new deli’s sign proclaims “since 1966,″ the year of Koch’s founding at 4309 Locust St., while kochsdeli.com indicates that Koch’s is temporarily closed and gives the Market Street address. A banner advertises that it will open soon.

On Wednesday, Li‘s attorney, Donald Bermudez, filed for a preliminary injunction to block Alqaifi from using the Koch’s name. A hearing has been scheduled in Common Pleas Court for May 7.

The original deli on Locust Street was last open on Nov. 10, when the city Health Department shuttered it over multiple issues, including no hot water, inadequate refrigeration, and evidence of rodents. Alqaifi was listed on the record as the person in charge.

The beef began last year when Li sued Alqaifi in Municipal Court over more than $18,000 in unpaid rent, according to records. On Nov. 20 — 10 days after the Health Department-mandated shutdown — Alqaifi signed a judgment of agreement, allowing him to vacate the deli without paying the back rent.

Li alleges in a subsequent complaint in Common Pleas Court that Alqaifi removed deli equipment worth about $20,000, including slicers and refrigerator cases, along with the exterior sign.

Bermudez, Li’s attorney, said Li did not own the kochsdeli.com domain.

Alqaifi did not return messages seeking comment.

Koch’s opened in 1966 on a tree-lined row house block of family-owned businesses topped by apartments. A year later, after Sid Koch was injured in a car wreck, he and his wife, Frances, gave the business to sons Lou and Bob, who routinely kibbitzed with waiting customers while handing out samples. “More meat for less bread” was the slogan; according to legend, a customer once dislocated his jaw while trying to subdue a sandwich.

In 2005, after the deaths of Lou (1995) and Bob (2005), their brother Barry sold the deli and building to two men: Ezra Haim, the Main Line deli owner who had catered Bob’s funeral, and his friend Rami Shabbat.

Li bought Koch’s from Haim and Shabbat in November 2020, documents show, but never operated the deli himself. He did extensive renovations before Alqaifi leased the premises in late 2021.

Although the building’s ownership appears to be clear in city records, the business ownership’s records filed with the state are murky. “Koch’s Deli Inc.,” established by previous owners in 2005, was dissolved in January 2023. Alqaifi established “Koch’s Deli Inc.” in July 2023, listing the new Market Street address, though at the time he was operating on Locust Street.

Contacted by The Inquirer early this week, lawyer Alexander Granovsky, who represented Alqaifi in the eviction case, noted that Li filed for the name “Koch’s Deli of Philadelphia” in January 2024 — shortly after that case was settled.