Travel Dixie Highway and you’ll quickly discover that it’s home to thousands of small businesses: machine shops and consignment stores, auto body repair garages and submarine sandwich shops.
So many submarine sandwich shops that Dixie Highway sometimes feels like the submarine sandwich capital of the world.
I hit the Highway and found 17 purveyors of the original eat-in-your-car meal from West Palm Beach to Hollywood. There are probably more.
“Dixie Highway connects to local places,” says Helen Landers of the Broward County Historical Commission. “Local people tend to use it. Maybe their parents used it.”
Dixie Highway is South Florida’s oldest north-south thoroughfare. And submarine sandwiches are one of our oldest forms of fast food.
Is there a connection?
“I’ve been to most of them,” says Bill Renko, who makes architectural trim in a shop in Pompano Beach and eats subs at the nearby Sottini’s. “I like these guys because you get to talk as well as have some food.”
Like most businesses along Dixie, most sub shops aren’t fancy. Many are true mom and pops where the watchwords are freshness and good value. In all but one, you order from a counter. They mostly serve the folks who work nearby or those who used to work here.
“We must have 20,000 customers,” says Brian Martin of DiSalvo’s in Pompano Beach. They don’t come in as often as they once did, but at least once a month someone will stop by claiming to be a regular from 30 years ago.
On my nearly four-day submarine sandwich journey, I asked whenever possible for the house specialty. A cold Italian with three or more different kinds of meat plus provolone was most common. Second-most-popular was the hot steak sub.
You know the adage about cops and doughnut shops? The same holds true for subs. In Hollywood, a sergeant talked up a place called Mile High. In West Palm, another man in uniform pointed north.
“Russo’s,” he said. “Corner of Fern and Dixie.”
Three generations
A Russo family crest forms the sign at Russo’s Submarine Sandwich Shop (415 S. Dixie, West Palm Beach, 561-659-4333), which got its start as the Philadelphia Submarine Sandwich Shop back in 1948. Harry Russo’s partner died a few years later and Russo’s was born. They’re still baking their own rolls and it’s run by Harry’s son, Daniel Russo, and grandson, Michael Russo. They’ve grown into two other West Palm locations, where the specialty continues to be The Russo: a combination of ham, salami and provolone ($4.39 for a 9-inch). Even more important at Russo’s is service. “You get your best food at home,” says Daniel Russo. “But you go out to get served.
Home of the Steak Bomb
Farther south at Southern Boulevard, I hit the always-busy Jon Smith Subs (3929 S. Dixie, West Palm Beach, 561-833-5999), which has intrigued me for years, probably because I’ve always been on my way to fancier dining destinations when I pass. Turns out it’s a Palm Beach County-only chain with 12 locations. The same country music is piped into every store. On the counter help’s recommendation, I ordered the Steak Bomb ($5.19 for a 6-inch), a very wet and very tasty combination of steak, grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms, bacon, tomatoes and provolone.
Meatballs from scratch
The submarine opportunities are harder to find in Lake Worth, where chains prevail. But I make a right on Lantana Road and Ferrara’s Gourmet Deli & Restaurant (445 W. Lantana Road, Lantana, 561-533-1600) appears. I get a friendly greeting from Beatriz Cuello. Her parents, Marisel and Reinaldo, bought Ferrara’s six months ago. They are the third owners of the 25-year-old shop and they are making sure to follow the original recipes. They make the meatballs and marinara sauce from scratch and the resulting meatball parmesan ($6 for an 8-inch) is incredible. Even better is the prosciutto with fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers and fresh basil ($7.50 for an 8-inch).
By George, he’s got it
Back on Dixie, I scan east and west and catch sight of a sign in the window at George’s Meat Market (125 S. Third St., Lantana, 561-585-2990). Inside, it looks like any other old-fashioned meat market, but there’s a sub menu on the wall. I order an Italian ($3.99 for a half) and wait. While the sandwich is being made, I notice dozens of old-fashioned meat grinders — the kind I remember screwed to the kitchen table — lined up along the ceiling. Call the Smithsonian. The sub’s not bad, either.
Jersey guy
Around Delray Beach, Dixie gets a new name — Swinton? Fifth? — and splits and I get very confused. But I catch sight of Jersey Mike’s Subs (455 NE Fifth Ave., Delray Beach, 561-276-8949), which started in Point Pleasant, N.J., in 1956. There are three stores in Delray and more than 300 nationwide. You order your sub and a guy reaches inside a cooler for the cold cuts and slices the meat while you watch. A small Italian ($6.25) includes the usual provolone and ham, but also prosciuttini, capocollo, salami and pepperoni.
Try D’Pilgrim
In Boca Raton, D’Best Sandwich Shop (5201 N. Dixie, Boca Raton, 561-241-5155) serves something called D’Pilgrim ($7.25 for a 7-inch). Owner Jeff Zadoff has no bones about telling you its contents: fresh turkey pulled off the frame, Stove Top Stuffing, Ocean Spray canned cranberry sauce and mayonnaise. It tastes like the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Zadoff, a restaurant and hospitality grad, could have opened any kind of restaurant. “I wanted a business that I could have a life with.”
Cooked to order
The giant yellow sign heralding Lou’s Giant Subs (1721 N. Dixie, Pompano Beach, 954-942-7709) is my first stop in Broward County. The dining room is packed with fishing memorabilia, which may explain why on two visits there was a blackened dolphin sandwich on the special board. I’m not a fan of fish on bread, so I order a chicken Philly sub ($4.59 for a 6-inch). It takes longer to make this sub than any other on my tour. Cooked to order.
Customer turns owner
Just before Dixie splits, DiSalvo’s (255 S. Dixie, Pompano Beach, 954-946-3740) appears on the north side next to a strip club. Brian Martin, 39, grew up in the neighborhood and has been eating here since third grade, when Gaetano DiSalvo owned the place. Two years ago, DiSalvo was looking to sell. Martin and wife Lori jumped in and continue to serve the old-time favorites. The steak cheese and grilled onion ($4.25 for a 6-inch) is tender and lean. The Martins have added homemade cakes to the menu and the $1 per slice lemon cake is worth the trip.
Steak pizzaiola
At Sottini’s (1441 S. Dixie, Pompano Beach, 954-781-4211), John Rodriguez and his father-in-law, Ken Henkel, serve something called a steak pizzaiola ($5.35 for half): steak with grilled onions, peppers, marinara sauce and cheese. It’s also one of the few spots I visited that makes healthful suggestions for subs made without cheese or with low-fat mayo.
Maybe a churrasco
Corinto Restaurant (4390 N. Dixie, Oakland Park, 954-563-8800), which looks like a bit like a 1950s space age Swiss chalet, is still serving the subs from the previous owner, but new owner Jose Villtoro, who was born in El Salvador, has added grilled meat or churrasco. Try the 6-inch Corinto churrasco sub ($6.95) loaded with onions and mushrooms and tender grilled beef.
Here’s the scoop
Deborah and Dana Jordan opened Jordan’s Got the Scoop Ice Cream and Subs Parlor (3728 NE 12th Ave., Oakland Park, 954-640-0222) 18 months ago when the neighborhood was slated to be transformed into a downtown area. Those plans are on hold. Meanwhile, Jordan’s is known as much for its wraps as its subs and ice cream.
Piled mile high
The next real stretch of Dixie comes in Hollywood, where I find Marco and Hylde Viteri, who have been slicing and stacking subs six days a week for the past 26 years at Mile High (828 N. Dixie, Hollywood, 954-922-8521). Marco says he began his life in cold cuts after arriving in New York City from Ecuador in 1954. For 25 years, he worked in a Queens deli.
“I didn’t want to raise my kids in New York,” says Marco, so the Viteris moved to Florida. Hylde makes the brisket, corned beef, salads, soups and rice pudding. “I don’t advertise,” says Marco. “What I do with my money is make the best sandwiches in town.” The brisket ($6.14 for a small) is exceptional.
One Moe time
Just south of Monroe is The Original Moe Winer’s (417 S 21st Ave., Hollywood, 954-920-8361). It’s been here for 32 years, according to current owner Vincent Iengo. Moe’s Special is cotto salami, capocollo, ham and Genoa ($3.98 for a junior). Some old-timers like Realtor Joan Henry say Winer used to sit in one spot every day reading the newspaper.
If you drive farther south into Hallandale, there’s a place called Aldo’s that claims to make subs, but it seems more like a corner convenience store. “We only sell 6 or 7 a day,” says a man, who doesn’t want to be included in a story.
It’s just as well. I’m stuffed.
John Tanasychuk can be reached at or 954-356-4632.
IF YOU NEED ANOTHER HERO
Other sandwich shops we sampled:
620 Subs, 805 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, 561-620-7827.
Subs, Subs, Subs, 1563 N. Dixie, Pompano Beach, 954-941-7565.
The Sandwich Factory, 1311 S. Dixie, Pompano Beach, 954-942-6768.
Lucarella’s Italian Bakery, Deli and Pizzeria, 4165 N. Dixie, Oakland Park, 954-630-8855.
