17 March 20 - 26, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents sandwich isn’t really their sandwich; all of the ingredients are shipped in from Chicago, and they just put it together. It’s a Vienna Beef sandwich — a Chicago sandwich. He pointed me toward their meatball and Ital- ian sausage sandwiches because, he said, “We make those.” So, I went back to Jimmy’s. I parked a block away in front of new, homogenized apartments lacking character and charm and walked into Jimmy’s Food Store, which has both. I ordered a sausage sandwich. When the DiCarlo family opened Jim- my’s in the ’60s, it was just a basic grocery store with staples Mom and Dad needed to put dinner on the table. The DiCarlo family made sausage only during the holidays for family meals, but as this article, “How Jim- my’s Conquered Dallas” from Scott Reitz, lays out, after some cajoling from an Italian restaurant, they rebranded as an Italian grocery in 1997, focusing on the family’s Si- cilian roots. Since then, they’ve been selling obscure Italian groceries, meats, cheese and wine. They’ve also allotted much more space for grinding pork shoulder into sausage imbued with a secret blend of spices and peddling it all around Dallas. Customers buy it by the boatload. Restaurants bank on it. “They use Jimmy’s” might be the most legitimizing term in Dallas hospitality. Longtime foodies and pizza junkies can spot it atop a pizza from across the room: the sausage structure is unique. It’s tall and lumpy, not flat nor finely ground. The fennel seed, red pepper, touch of citrus and cloves are unmistakable. The spicy Italian sausage hoagie ($9.99) comes with slices of the famous links and is topped with peppers, cheese and a wee bit of red sauce. Biting into the sausage sandwich, I realized DiCarlo was right about the most iconic Dallas sand- wich: The Italian beef, while excellent, is not, the most iconic sandwich in Dallas. The sausage is because you taste dozens of other dishes, pizzas and pastas you’ve had around Dallas for more than two decades. This is the taste of Dallas. Pro-tip: Eat this sandwich hot. Since there aren’t tables at Jimmy’s, this means in the car or after a short trip. (Put a towel in the car because this sandwich isn’t built for tidiness.) Once it’s cooled, the cheese loses its gooeyness and the sandwich isn’t quite the same experience. Also, if you’re in a hurry, call it in. Everything is made to order and it can take 15 minutes or so to get a sand- wich, and longer at lunchtime, which is great for perusing the aisles. Lauren Drewes Daniels Jimmy’s Italian sausage sandwich comes with cheese, peppers and onions, and it’s best eaten hot. 1713 N Market St. - Dallas - TX 214. 468. 4729 Reserve a Table at TheLiamsSteakhouse.com in Dallas’ NOW OPEN The 100 bars we can’t live without. view this years full list
