Review: At Louie's Deli, the Italian sandwich experience you feared extinct

For 33 years, housemade chicken cutlets, precision assembly, and boffo stromboli has fed Clarence and environs

The Royal at Louie’s Deli

Ever walked into an old-school Italian-American deli and stood in line for a sandwich, greedily inhaling the atmosphere? Fresh bread’s yeasty breath, funk from cured meats and aged cheese, the acetic cologne of pickles and vinegar dressing, all for free.

In Buffalo, you must leave the city limits, and venture into the wilds of Clarence. Dave Lyman, the fish fry whisperer, first led me to the unassuming plaza where Louie’s Deli & Italian Imports still makes sandwiches from the good old days.

The 8226 Main St., roast turkey, sun-dried tomatoes, chunked aged Fontinella cheese, at Louie’s Deli

Chicken parm subs are built with pounded-out cutlets rolled in fresh breadcrumbs and baked fresh daily. Two generations and 33 years after his dad opened the place, Louis Yannello Jr. is the Louie in charge these days.

At Louie’s Deli, there’s actually a Louie: Louis Yannello Jr., who took over his father’s business, in its 33rd year.

Elsewhere, savory fillings wrapped in fresh dough, baked off and sold in slabs, are called stromboli. At Louie’s, they’re “stuffed breads,” because that’s what his mother Linda called them, when she started pitching in on Saturdays at her husband’s new deli in Clarence.