Dino's Subs — Restaurant in Arlington

I have driven past this place since the mid 80s and kept thinking I needed to eat there, but just never did. My son ate there and told me their potato salad was almost as good as mine, plus the sandwiches are solid, so I decided after 30+ years to go try their food.

I meant to get there by 10:15 (I work nights, so my idea of meal times is very flexible!), but got there a smidge before 11. Only 2 other customers besides myself. I had read reviews & knew to he ready with my order or risk the ire of the employees (which I consider to be very unprofessional, not "New Jersey"), but I got up to the counter and suddenly needed to mull my order over - lots of things sounded good! It was painfully apparent that their prices had risen a lot & that I looked at an older menu. I had wanted the tuna plate & the menu I looked at online showed $8.00, but it was $14. For a trio of small scoops of tuna, mac & potato salad, that was too much of a price rise for me.

I ended up getting half a turkey & cheese cold sandwich, sans oil & vinegar, on wheat. First off, their wheat bread is so soft and amazing! The sandwich was tasty, probably would have been better with the oil & vinegar. I would definitely order it again, but I would not wait in the line I ended up seeing to get it. Their whole pickles are decent crunchy. As far as the potato salad, it has potential, but it had no eggs, onions or pickles in it. I think it could use a bit of salt & pepper as well. It's one of the better potato salads I have had, but not great.

There is not a lot of parking and it could be awkward to get in & out of the lot during their busy time. They do a booming take out business. Seating is decent. As others have mentioned, no refills on drinks.....they forgot my water and I hated to bother them about it, but I did.

Their staff was not rude or abrupt by far. However, they are definitely not welcoming. No smiles, no greeting anyone when they walk in or up to the counter. Flat affect across the board, which doesn't make me want to come back. They can be friendly and still be quick & efficient.

Overall, they have a great selection of meats and a good variety of cold sandwiches & a few hot ones (they microwave the sandwiches, instead of toasting the bread). I don't know if they sell their bread by the loaf, but I will be finding out! I honestly like Jersey Mike's better as far as taste and staff attitude. They do have a LOT of dedicated customers, so if you decide to try Dino's, get there by 11 or wait til the lunch crush is over!

For people wanting a veggie sandwich, they have one, but it's 99% cheese (including cream cheese), with cucumbers & mushrooms. That's not a veggie...

My wife and I visited yesterday, based on all the positive, great reviews, and man were we disappointed. As we entered, the nostalgic aspect of the shop I get, (looks like the shop hasn't had a fresh coat of paint, and the tables and chairs were the originals from the grand opening) but it was completely outdated, and the floors and restrooms needed a serious deep cleaning BAD. Both of us being in the CS industry, we know the 1st person you see in a restaurant sets the tone for a person's experience when entering, and w/that being said the employee slicing the meats as you 1st walk in just stared at us stoically and said "you know whatchu want?" 😳 Talk about a greeting 🤦‍♂️ Next as we ordered he began slicing the meats in front of us (which is a great concept btw hence the 2 stars) there were two things we realized right away:

1. the sesame seed sub rolls used weren't fresh, and if you know anything about bread those rolls are at the bottom of the barrel in the bread family - ZERO QUALITY
2. after he built the sandwiches, he literally threw the subs in a microwave. A MICROWAVE! 🤯 If I wanted a hot sub sandwich heated in a microwave, I could've went to 7/11 & saved about $20 on our order. Next the meat to bread ratio was way off balance, and we had more bread and veggies than meat AND I paid extra for more meat. They offer zero refills on their fountain drinks, which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't fill your cup to the top with ice (industry scam for max profit). Lastly about those reviews, if this place is "the best they've ever had" or "I'm from NY and this is just like home" ... WOW... People really don't know what a great sandwich should be or taste like, OR they've never been to, or forgot what it's like in NYC. Overall the experience as mentioned was extremely disappointing for a locally owned place for people who don't want chain shops, and rarely have I ever ripped a place before.... But Dino's REALLY dropped the...

First-time visitors. (August 7th, 2024 @ 7pm)

My family, plus my elderly (handicapped) mother-in-law, drove from southwest Fort Worth (30 minutes) because my wife heard great things about Dino's.

My mother-in-law has difficulty walking. Once we walked into the store, my mother-in-law saw an empty table near the ordering area and took a seat. (SIDE NOTE: The store was not crowded.)

... Did someone say, "Welcome to Dino's."? No. ... Did someone acknowledge us with a simple "Hello."? No. The first words that were voiced by an employee (quite loudly) were, "Hey! You can't sit there! You need to move!"

Shocked by the employee's sincere rudeness, I looked at the employee in disbelief. I then glanced at my mother-in-law, thinking, "Is this guy serious?" As the employee continued to yell, "You need to move! Customers need that area to line up. You can't sit there." without a response, I told my mother-in-law to get up and move to another table.

I was utterly floored. Based on this employee's awful interjection, I contemplated leaving. But since this was my wife's idea, I bit my tongue and proceeded to order. I figured, maybe the employee was having a bad day?

Nope. He was just callous and unwelcoming to everyone. It made me wonder how a store survives with this kind of guy behind the counter. The sandwiches were good, but not good enough to put up with someone like that.

We're never returning to Dino's.

If you made it this far and want to know who I'm talking about, it's the elderly black man who dresses the sandwiches. (And by the looks of things, it's the ONLY THING he does... That, and bark loudly at customers. The other employee was hustling back and forth while he just stood there at...