Best Sandwiches in Dallas From meatball sandwiches at Jimmy’s to mile-high pastrami at Cindi’s, North Texas has some great sandwich shops. Here are our favorites, new and old. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS D allas is well known for its barbecue, opulent steak- houses and Tex-Mex, but we have some solid sandwich shops at our fingertips as well. There are several chefs in Dallas doing their part to serve a proper Reuben, Italian sub and meatball, and we’re here for it, dammit. Below is a list of some of our favorite local sandwich shops, some old favorites, others new and saucy. Now go out there and support your local sandwich shop. Make us proud. New York Sub Online for now (Park Cities area); Stay tuned for a new space. New York Sub owner Andrew Kelley announced late last year that his Park Cities shop would close after more than 50 years (that happened in February). However, it’s still thriving as a ghost kitchen with delivery orders through Uber Eats and Grubhub. Then, just in late March, Kelley teased in a video that a new place is imminent. Kelly originally took over the shop in 2016 after working in upscale kitchens in Chicago. He applies his fine-dining background to the sandwiches here, making giardiniera in-house, adding dry rub and smoking pork in-house for the Cuban sandwich, and, of course, curing the corned beef pastrami. Go see about it. Cenzo’s 1700 W. 10th St., Oak Cliff We declared Cenzo’s fried bologna the best damn sandwich in Dallas last year. We still stand by that, but don’t miss the specials, Italian beef or Italian deli. Honestly, we’ve yet to have anything at this charmed-up old gas station we don’t like. Everything here is made in-house, including the pizza dough and sauces, which is why this spot is on our top restaurants list. Happy hour here is great (3 to 6 p.m., Monday - Thursday). At lunch, you can get a half a meatball sandwich for $10.50, or half an Italian for $10. Cindi’s New York Deli Multiple Locations This is an old-school Dallas institution for New York-style deli fare. It’s also regularly one of our favorite spots for sandwiches and breakfast. They’re not messing around with the Reuben here: it’s stacked larger than your pie hole on rye bread with sauerkraut and Swiss. There are all sorts of pastrami and corned beef numbers (even with chopped liver and onions and tongue). Enzo’s Deli and Imports 4017 Preston Road, Plano Heard of Enzo’s? Better get in that game, if not. This market and restaurant specializes in food and recipes from Southern It- aly, where owner Michael Martin spent time as a kid. In a first look, Observer contributor Hank Vaughn wrote about the Amal- fitana and meatball sandwiches, prepared as ordered, and Vaughn added, “The deli section has several traditional meats such as capocollo, guanciale, speck [lightly smoked, dry-cured ham] and prosciutto, along with some that are a bit more diffi- cult to find like mortadella pistachio or nduja salame.” Jimmy’s Food Store 4901 Bryan St., East Dallas People take a lot of photos outside Jimmy’s holding their sandwiches, and they’re not even influencers. This is Dallas’ most known sandwich spot. We proclaimed the meatball sandwich the most iconic sandwich in Dallas, but the muf- fuletta is a personal favorite. Vaughn fancies the pochetta. This is a traditional bodega-style deli with rows of imported groceries to peruse while sandwiches are being made. The wine selection is also fantastic. Goodfriend Package 1155 Peavy Road, White Rock Lake Area Consider The Gigantor: ham, roast beef, turkey, pickled sweet peppers, Swiss, LTO, Italian vinaigrette and mayo. There’s a roast beef with a herb-crusted eye of round, a French Dip with the same beef and caramelized onions and a house jus. Yes, the chefs at Goodfriend cure and smoke the beef pastrami in-house. For the Reuben, the corned beef and sauerkraut are all prepared in-house. The biscuit sand- wiches get around as well. Cenzo’s hot meatball sandwich Theressa Velazquez Hank Vaughn The Porketta at Jimmy’s 22 DALLAS OBSERVER • CRAVE 2026
