We Ranked The 10 Best Italian Delis In New York And Here’s Who Made The Cut
Ranking Italian delis is a good way to start an argument before lunch. Everybody has a favorite counter, a sandwich order they refuse to change, and very strong feelings about mozzarella.
New York makes the debate especially difficult. Old family shops still slice meats to order, bake bread that crackles at the crust, and build sandwiches with enough heft to require both hands.
The real test goes beyond size. A great deli needs balance, fresh ingredients, and the sort of consistency that keeps people returning for years.
History matters too, especially when recipes survive several generations without losing their edge.
Once all of that enters the conversation, picking an order gets complicated fast. That is exactly what makes this ranking so much fun.
10. Salpino Italian Food Market & Caterers – North Bellmore
Long Island shoppers love a good brag, and Salpino hands them one on a platter. Salpino calls its cold-cut case the largest in New York State.
The shop has 26 feet devoted to Boar’s Head meats and cheeses, plus a much larger 56-foot deli counter filled with prepared foods and salads.
A 56-foot deli counter runs through the shop at 1540 Newbridge Road in North Bellmore, packed with Boar’s Head meats, imported cheeses, and trays of prepared food made from family recipes.
Beyond the sandwich window, there is a gourmet Italian bakery and a produce section that keeps the weeknight dinner crowd moving. Eggplant rollatini, stuffed peppers, and pasta salads sit ready for people who ran out of time but refuse to run out of flavor.
Catering is where Salpino really flexes. Graduations, christenings, office parties, and Sunday gatherings all get handled with hot trays and cold platters that rarely leave leftovers.
Online ordering makes pickup and delivery easy, which can save time when you already know what you want.
Newcomers should start with a classic Italian combo on a seeded roll, then add a container of prepared greens for later. The prepared-food counter changes enough that checking the current selection is part of the fun.
For Nassau County families, the place functions as grocery store, sandwich shop, and party planner all at once. That kind of range earns a spot on any serious list.
9. Marco’s Italian Deli – Williamsville
Spelling rules get thrown out the window in Williamsville, and nobody minds one bit. Marco’s calls its signature creation the Sangwich, and the name has become local shorthand for a very good lunch.
Open since 1998, the shop at 960 Maple Road has built a reputation on ingredients that taste like somebody’s grandmother approved them. Fresh mozzarella, marinated eggplant, and cappicola form the backbone of the menu.
Buffalo area regulars order by instinct here. The sandwiches arrive heavy, the bread holds its structure, and the oil soaks in just enough to make the last bite as good as the first.
Soup shows up daily, made in house, which matters a great deal during a Western New York winter. Crisp salads and wraps round out the board for anyone trying to behave themselves.
Cannoli waits at the register, shells filled so the crunch survives the trip home. Resistance is generally futile.
Dine in, take out, or have it delivered, and catering is available for team lunches and family gatherings. Trays travel well, which the local offices figured out years ago.
Newcomers should not overthink it. Ask for the original Sangwich, add hot peppers if you like a little fire, and let the counter crew do the rest. Williamsville has kept this spot busy for more than two decades, and the reason sits right there on the roll.
8. Rubino’s Italian Food Market – Rochester
Sixty-eight years in business is not luck. Rubino’s opened locally in 1958 and has spent every decade since teaching Rochester what a proper Italian market smells like.
The shop sits at 1304 East Ridge Road, where the deli case gleams with prosciutto, sopressata, and mortadella sliced to whatever thickness you request. Artisanal cheeses take up serious real estate nearby.
Grocery aisles carry imported pasta, tomatoes, oils, and the pantry staples that make a Sunday sauce taste like it should. You can shop for dinner and eat lunch in the same trip.
Homemade stuffed breads deserve their own paragraph, honestly. Dense, savory, and sliced into rounds, they disappear fast at parties and even faster at kitchen counters.
Catering here leans traditional in the best way. Antipasto platters, salads, and baked pasta trays anchor the menu for showers, reunions, and holiday spreads across Monroe County.
The market has grown into a full Italian food destination, with a deli, cheese shop, bakery, pizzeria, meat department, prepared foods, and catering under one roof.
Bring a cooler if you are driving any distance, because the meats and cheeses will tempt you into buying more than planned. Everybody does it.
Daily prepared foods include hot Italian dishes, salads, arancini, pizza, and sandwiches, so it is worth checking more than just the deli case before ordering.
7. Calabresella’s New York Style Deli – Rochester
Naming your deli New York Style while sitting in New York takes a certain confidence. Calabresella’s earned it by building sandwiches that could hold their own on any block in Brooklyn.
Find the shop at 1386 Buffalo Road, where the assorted Italian sub arrives stacked so high that a two-hand grip becomes mandatory. Portions here are not shy.
Prime roast beef, sausage, chicken parm, pastrami, and the Italian Assorted all remain on the current sandwich menu, giving the counter plenty of old-school range.
The grocery side keeps Rochester stocked with imported cheeses, cured meats, dried pasta, and jarred sauces worth keeping in the cabinet. Local favorites sit alongside the imports.
You will also find Zweigle’s hot dogs, which is a wonderfully specific Rochester touch. Nothing says Western New York quite like a white hot in an Italian deli case.
The menu offers large, small, and mini subs, plus wraps, so deciding on both the filling and the size before ordering can keep things simple.
Half sandwiches exist for people with reasonable appetites, though ordering a full one and saving half for dinner is the smarter play. Cold leftovers taste even better the next day.
Families use the place as a one stop shop before holidays, grabbing meats, cheeses, and sauces in a single run. That combination of sandwich shop and specialty market is exactly why Calabresella’s made this cut.
6. Emily’s Pork Store – Brooklyn
Some places change with the times, and some places decide the times got it wrong. Emily’s Pork Store has been part of Graham Avenue since 1974, keeping its old-school butcher and Italian deli identity intact for more than fifty years.
The shop occupies 426 Graham Avenue in Brooklyn, a classic butcher counter where meats and cheeses are sold by the pound and nobody rushes you.
Sausage hangs where sausage should hang. Bread sits stacked near the register. Jarred sauces line the shelves for anyone who wants to fake a homemade dinner convincingly.
The pork sandwich is the headliner, built with provolone, broccoli rabe, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil on a roll that soaks up all of it. Bitter greens against rich pork makes perfect sense on the first bite.
Chicken cutlet fans get their moment too, paired with fresh mozzarella and roasted red peppers. Crisp, creamy, sweet, and salty all working the same shift.
Williamsburg around it has transformed several times over, yet the shop keeps doing what it does. That stubbornness is a gift to anyone who values tradition.
The shop keeps daytime hours and remains a counter-service stop, making it easy to work into a Williamsburg food run.
Buy a pound of something to take home even if you already ate. The butcher case here tells you more about old Brooklyn than any guidebook could, and the prices stay fair.
5. Mike’s Deli Arthur Avenue – Bronx
Seventy-five years on the same avenue buys you a certain amount of authority. Mike’s Deli traces more than 75 years of family history through Arthur Avenue, with Mike Greco arriving in New York in 1947 and the family business continuing inside the Arthur Avenue Retail Market today.
Home base is the Arthur Avenue Retail Market at 2344 Arthur Avenue, where the stall overflows with cured meats, imported cheeses, olive oils, and pasta stacked to the ceiling.
Hero sandwiches carry names with swagger. The Godfather and the Forza Italia have become shorthand among the faithful, and both deliver the heft those titles promise.
The market setting gives the whole visit a European feel. Vendors call out, cheese gets cut to order, and the sounds of the place blend into one steady hum of appetite.
The Arthur Avenue Retail Market setting makes the deli part of a larger food stop, with meats, cheeses, pasta, sauces, and other Italian specialties surrounding the sandwich counter.
Shipping means you can send Bronx cured meats to relatives who moved away and complain about it constantly. A thoughtful gift, frankly.
The deli sits in the heart of Bronx Little Italy, surrounded by generations-old Italian food businesses along Arthur Avenue and East 187th Street, and Mike’s sits at its center. Arthur Avenue without this deli would feel incomplete.
Come hungry, come early, and ask for a taste of whatever cheese looks unfamiliar. The shop sells a deep selection of cheeses, cured meats, sauces, pasta, and imported specialties alongside its sandwiches, and you will leave knowing more than you arrived with.
4. Sorriso Italian Pork Store – Astoria
Queens keeps a few secrets, and Sorriso used to be one of them. Word got out, and now this Astoria salumeria pulls crowds from across the borough.
The shop stands at 44-16 30th Avenue, filled with fresh meats, imported cheeses, and house-made sausages coiled in the case like they are posing for a photo.
House-made mozzarella remains one of Sorriso’s specialties, sharing the case with sausages, cured meats, imported cheeses, and prepared Italian foods.
Sandwich highlights include a parmigiana that arrives properly saucy and the Goodfellas, a homemade roast pork creation that has earned its cinematic name honestly. Both require napkins and commitment.
Prepared foods and Italian specialties extend well beyond sandwiches, making the shop useful when you want to bring more than a hero home.
The store feels like a proper old country salumeria, the kind where a simple question about cheese turns into a ten minute conversation. Nobody seems to be in a hurry.
Shopping here is dangerous for your grocery budget in the most enjoyable way. You walk in for sausage and walk out with olives, cheese, and a jar of something you cannot pronounce.
The shop keeps regular daytime hours, so a weekday visit can be worked easily into an Astoria food run. Either way, order the mozzarella fresh and eat it before you reach the car. Trust the process.
3. Lioni Italian Heroes – Brooklyn
One hundred and fifty sandwiches on a single menu sounds like a dare. Lioni accepted it years ago and has been winning ever since.
Lioni’s only current location is at 7803 15th Avenue in Brooklyn, where the mozzarella is made fresh and once earned recognition from Zagat as the creamiest in town. Bold claim, well defended.
Each hero carries a name, which turns ordering into a small adventure. Regulars memorize their favorite number and fire it off like a quarterback calling a play.
Ingredients stay simple and excellent. Good bread, real cured meats, roasted peppers, greens, and that mozzarella doing most of the heavy lifting.
Portion sizes lean generous enough that splitting one is a legitimate strategy. Nobody will judge you for asking them to cut it in half.
Hot and cold catering is available for parties and events, including specialty heroes, party-size sandwiches, and other trays.
First timers should scan the board slowly rather than panic ordering. Combinations range from classic Italian assortments to chicken cutlet builds stacked with peppers and greens.
Buying a container of mozzarella to take home is practically required. Eat it plain with a little olive oil and salt, and you will understand the fuss within seconds.
New York has plenty of hero shops, but few treat cheese as a craft the way this one does. That devotion is what puts Lioni near the top.
2. Casa Della Mozzarella – Bronx
Fresh mozzarella is the reason this tiny Bronx shop built its name. The cheese is made on the premises and remains the centerpiece of the counter.
The shop sits at 604 East 187th Street in the Bronx Little Italy, a few short steps from Arthur Avenue and a world away from anything mass produced.
Fresh mozzarella is made on site using traditional methods, and it anchors both the cheese selection and the shop’s sandwiches.
Cold cuts, imported cheeses, dried pasta, and hero sandwiches fill out the rest of the case. The sandwiches are assembled with the same care as the cheese.
Space inside is tight, which only adds to the charm. Shoulders bump, orders get called, and everyone waits their turn with good humor.
A simple order of fresh mozzarella with prosciutto on bread might be the finest three ingredient meal in New York. Nothing else needed.
The shop is currently open Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday until 1 p.m., leaving plenty of flexibility for an Arthur Avenue visit. The cheese tastes identical either way.
Pair a stop here with a stroll through the surrounding blocks, since the neighborhood bakeries and pasta shops are equally worthy. Making a morning of it is the correct approach.
Quality this consistent over so many years explains the devotion. Fresh mozzarella remains the product most closely associated with the shop, even as sandwiches, meats, and imported specialties fill out the counter.
1. Faicco’s Italian Specialties – New York
Nineteen hundred. That is the year Faicco’s opened, back when the West Village looked nothing like it does today. Everything around it changed, and the shop kept slicing.
The green awning at 260 Bleecker Street has become a landmark for anyone who takes sandwiches seriously. Generations of New Yorkers have made the pilgrimage.
Family ownership shows in the details. House-made sausages, fresh mozzarella, antipasto platters, and rice balls fill the cases alongside the sandwich station.
Two heroes dominate the conversation. The chicken cutlet with mozzarella and pesto brings herby brightness against crisp breading, while the Italian Special loads up prosciutto, capicola, and soppressata into one glorious stack.
Portions run large enough to justify the price without hesitation. The heroes are substantial enough that splitting one or saving part for later can make sense, especially with sandwiches such as The Italian and the chicken cutlet with pesto.
Online pickup and delivery are available, giving you another option when you already know which hero you want.
Take a number, study the case, and consider grabbing a sausage or two for dinner while you wait. House-made sausages and cured meats remain an important part of the shop alongside its much larger sandwich business.
More than a century of practice has made this place the standard against which other New York Italian delis get measured. Earning the top spot on this ranking took exactly that kind of staying power, and Faicco’s has it in abundance.