Greens and Beans Deli is serving up soup with a twist - or maybe even Gangnam Style.
Instead of singing for their supper, diners are dancing for soup at the Sapperton deli, which has declared Wednesday as Dancing for Soup Day. Each Wednesday, diners who dance to The Twist for 45 seconds earn a free, medium bowl of soup.
"We get between three and six dancers each week, and it is hilarious to watch," said owner Leona Green.
Diners cheer on those brave enough to dance. Behind the counter, staff groove to the music while preparing lunch for diners.
"I come in here all the time," said Kate Johnson, who works in the area. "They do cool things like this. I like it. It's a good idea."
A regular at Greens and Beans, Johnson recently danced with coworker Jen Allester.
"I love it. I love this shop and the staff," Allester said of the deli. "It's fun for us to have lunch together."
Green noted that many of the dancers partner up with friends.
While many diners don't like dancing alone, a woman recently danced solo - and didn't want any soup at all.
Another customer, a social worker, has no trouble dancing - but doesn't want the soup.
"I can only dance to get the soup for other people," she said.
During a recent visit from The Record to the deli, former city councillor Calvin Donnelly popped in for lunch.
"Are you here to dance?" Green asked. "It's Dancing for Soup Day."
Donnelly, who is well known for his singing appearances around town, didn't need any encouragement to dance. Partway through, he removed his sweater and placed it behind his back, one arm holding each arm of the sweater.
"That's how you learn to do the twist," he later explained to The Record.
Donnelly hadn't known it was Dancing for Soup Day when he came in, but gave the concept a thumbs up.
"It's a great idea," he said. "Why not? It's something different."
New Westminster native Wayne Leason now lives in Surrey but visits Greens and Beans Deli every time he's on this side of the bridge.
"Leona's great. She always has things going on," he said. "There's always something going on here."
Green said she offered Dancing for Soup Day a couple of years ago and then took a break before reinstating it recently.
"We are going to change the type of music every few weeks," she said.
And what's the next dance on the menu? Gangnam Style, a type of dance made popular by Korean singer PSY featured in a video that's gone viral on YouTube.
Dancing is just one of the novelties offered at Greens and Beans Deli, where people who ask what type of bread is available for sandwiches get a recorded message listing the choices.
For those who may need time to decide on what they're ordering, the Jeopardy theme music is played.
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