DiBella’s Old Fashioned Submarines

This location has closed and been relocated to Citygate. When placing an order for two chicken Philly, one Philly cheesesteak and a tuna sub, I asked for extra cheese on the hot subs. I mentioned it has, been stingy in the past. The manager who took your order seemed surprised. He said extra cheese would be double the amount. I inquired what the cost would be and when I was told $ 1.50 per sub I said no thank you and to make sure there was enough cheese. We waited 10 minutes even though there were only a handful of customers in the store. Sure enough when we got our home our hot subs barely had any cheese
In fact it wasn’t even enough to put on their small size. Our order was for large. We will not being returning to this location and not ordering a hot subs from any DiBellas. What a ripoff to pay $ 9.99 for a large sub with out a proper amount of cheese!

I have been a fan of Dibella’s since it was a little deli shop on Jefferson. I like their bread although these days, if is not as good as what it used to in the early days. They now have a nice variety of hot and cold deli subs. Prices are still reasonable.

So, after about a 10-​year hiatus from Rochester, on our short-​list of to-do’s was a trip back to our DiBella’s on Clinton.
Same great sandwiches! We were not disappointed. Bread is excellent. Meats were tasty and in good quantity. I’m a sucker for the oil, mayo (spicy), and mayo on my sandwich. While a bit messy, it provides good taste and texture. Did I mention the bread?
The only hang-​up on this visit was a slow cashing out process. Our six sammies were bagged and tagged in good time. Interestingly, though, none of the sandwich builders wandered over to help the lone cashier.
No worries. The meal was great. Five stars for a sandwich shop? You bet!

The best subs ever. What a great place for fun food. So many choices, great wait staff, delicious chicken cheese steak, and everything roll is amazing! Wish we had one of these in Tucson arizona. Will be back!

I had a Turkey sub from them recently– it was pretty good and extremely filling. However, the one big problem with their sandwiches is the bread– it is WAAAAY to thick., making it incredibly difficult to eat the sandwich (besides, I would assume most people care more for the fillings/​toppings than the bread itself).
In comparison with Wegman’s subs, I would say Wegman’s makes the better sub.

Rochesterians should be just as proud of DiBella’s as they are about Wegmans. DiBella’s makes arguably the best submarine sandwich in town and it’s amazing that they are a chain restaurant.
I think DiBella’s bread sets them apart from other sub shops. It’s soft to the bite, yet maintains its structural integrity well enough to hold together all its components nicely. This makes for awesome hot subs, including their Italian meatball and chicken Philly (two of my favorites). You don’t have to worry about a soggy sandwich or having your sub fall apart on you during consumption.
DiBella’s cold cuts also seem to be of higher quality than their competitors. They use a flat top grill to cook their protein, as opposed to just microwaving precooked meat, which is another bonus. They have numerous condiments. I occasionally add boss sauce and/​or hot peppers to spice things up!
You pay a small premium compared to a place like Subway, but it’s totally worth it in my opinion. The portions are generous and even a small sized sub satisfies a big eater like me for lunch. I’m totally going to miss DiBella’s when I leave Rochester! Sad face.

Worst Dibella’s location I have ever been to, do yourself a favor and drive to the East ave location! Every time I have been there they have given me poor service and crappy food… Stale bread, extremely skimpy on the meat cheese and toppings, messing up the order… And it’s hit or miss because if I ordered multiple subs 1 out of 2 will be bad, or 2 out of 5! I complained the first couple of times and they were decent by remaking the subs. I hoped that it was just a fluke but no it happened AGAIN! That will be the last time I will ever step foot in that location!
If you are going to try it, check your sub before you leave to save yourself from having to drive back!

Subs are great, panini’s are too. Every time we are in Rochester, we stop here. The sub rolls are good and the buffalo chicken sub is great. They have locations in Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Detroit as well and we have never had a bad meal.

Seriously the best subs in Rochester and this is the best location that I’ve been to so far ! The subs are made neater at this location… and for some reason… taste better ! They’ve always been quick in store and when ordering ahead. Also, the employees are always super friendly and outgoing. They need a tip jar !

I want to love DiBella’s. I really do, but I can’t. There is always something wrong with my order. This time I ordered a veggie sub and several veggies were left off and the ones that did make it on were hardly detectable. Don’t get me wrong, their bread is good, but I went there for a sandwich, which should be a good balance of bread and filler. This «sandwich» was definitely lacking.
As far as the service goes, the employees are often rude and condescending, though there are a few friendly employees.
I guess my dining companion summed it up best by saying: «Man, they do not run a tight ship at this location.»

Good sub place. I liked the original (in Henrietta, where the owner would park his Harley in the store) and now that it’s a chain it’s very different (and more expensive), but they’ve kept the quality up.

This place is fantastic! I loved my sandwich. My hubby got the Godfather (Genoa salami, capicola, spicy ham), and I ordered the Old Fashioned (turkey, ham, Genoa alami). When I arrived, I waited patiently for the staff to be ready for us, which took five minutes. While I was standing on their line in front of their delicious toppings, I was not sure if they were open or closed or just renovating or taking inventory.
I understand that workers might be busy getting things ready such as other people’s orders, yet would it not awesome to know if we are next or maybe even a greeting like hi or how are you folks? What I expected was that they tell me someone will be right with us soon or that there will be a wait. Ehh, the effects of this bore my patience, but when I got the sandwich, I realized, «this sandwich is worth any wait, really.» Maybe the workers know that too.
Other than the standing wait, once you are the next customer, it is all about you. The cold cuts and the bread make their sandwiches better than Blimpies and Subway. First of all the bread is baked fresh on premises and it is good. Second, the size of the sandwiches are massive, since the bread is huge. Third, they have a questionnaire for feedback. Fourth, they have a bathroom (not always guaranteed in sandwich shops). Fifth, they cut the cold cuts straight from the packaging. It is not frozen and defrosted and placed on your bread. It is pretty amazing.
They ask you if you want multigrain, white, or wheat. They ask you if you want sweet or spicy peppers. They ask you if you want tomatoes, cucumbers, pickles, onions. They also ask if you like mayonaise, honey mustard, and oil. They ask if you like cheese. I opted for mozzarella, oil based dressing, sweet peppers.
You will be full after this sandwich, but then you will make space for a pickle and a cookie. Not sure why, but it is worth it. You will love it. It is delicious!

I love Dibella’s. Their crispity-​crunchety-​on-​the-​outside bread is really remarkable, not only for its ability to hold the cheese and dressing and other sandwich fillings, but also because it somehow does not tear up the roof of my mouth. The variety of toppings is enough to satisfy this vegetarian, which is really more than one can usually ask of a sub shop. They have yummy cheeses, and they really pile on the toppings. I love getting lots of sweet and banana peppers with mayo and honey mustard (along with the normal slew of veggies).
Their cookies are also delish. I usually purchase one thinking, «oh, I’ll just eat half of this and save the other half for some distant future time when I nom nom nom…» and by the time I get done with that thought I’ve eaten the whole thing.
If I could give them 4.5 stars, I would. The only drawbacks to this fabulous eatery (for me, anyway) are the price and the size of the meals– just under $ 5 for their smallest veggie sub size, and that’s the cheapest menu item. The sandwich is really big enough to be two meals for me, and because I usually shove it all into my face (because it’s so good) I leave feeling stuffed and kind of grumpy. I would love a smaller option in the sub department… maybe an «extra-​small?»

For a chain restaurant, its pretty decent. The meats are very fresh, and they give you a lot of food. I’d say they have the best «sub» rolls around, considering it’s upstate NY.

This is one of the best chain sub shops I’ve ever been to. I generally like the homemade feel of mom and pop local sandwich shops. DiBella’s, however, makes great deli style subs. Their options are basic meat, cheese and veggie subs. They will toast anything and have 4 options for bread, including an everything roll that makes me very happy. They also have deli-​style dill pickles and chocolate chip cookies. My wife and I buy the cookies by the box. They are the sh! t; better than mom used to make.

Still one of the best subs I’ve ever had.

I was a regular here when I went to Mcquaid. my personal favorite was the Godfather (genoa salami, capicola, and spicy ham) with provolone, hot peppers, oil and a little mayo on the everything roll.
They are generous with all the toppings so you will be satisfied.
The bread deserves it’s own review it is fresh crisp soft and tasty. Perfect

I miss these guys and wish I could get subs like this on the West Coast.
Amazing bread and delicious meats. Skip the mayo and get a tiny dash of dressing.

A friend of mine took me here when she discovered that they had no food in their house. They are noted for their bread — they have been rumored to sell their recipe to Wegmans for several mill.
It was worth every penny. Yummy! I found their meats to be delish as well. I got a traditional Italian type sub, when in rome right? Everything is made fresh to order and was yummy.
My friend said their cookies are amazing, but we didn’t partake. There are several locations in the Rochester region so check it out!