Carmen's Deli — Restaurant in Bellmawr

On Tuesday Feb 1, 2022, I excitedly entered Carmens upon arrival from Florida. I was looking forward to one of their wonderful cheesesteak sandwiches. I noticed that they had double the size of their store or maybe they rearranged it but it looked expansive and clean. It was around 5 PM and I noticed that there wasn’t any other customers in there besides myself. I ordered two custom cheesesteak with fried hot peppers and onions, the roast pork sandwich and a panzarotti. I also ordered some extra Hot peppers and onions on the side. It came to $64. When the girl gave me my order she forgot the panzarotti. Thank God I noticed it and I reminded her. No problem so I go home expecting to eat a lovely dinner. Takes 10 minutes to get home and I have the food in an insulated cooler. Roast pork was disgusting, I couldn’t even eat it. There was very little pork for the money but that wasn’t the problem. There was so much provolone cheese and it was all chunky instead of one or two slices he had chopped up the provolone cheese into the roast pork sandwich and you couldn’t taste anything but extra sharp provolone cheese. I moved onto the cheesesteak and That too was a big disappointment. The meat had no flavor, there wasn’t enough of it, And I think they forgot the cheese. I had a Couple bites of it and decided to eat the panzerotti. The bread was doughy. The sauce didn’t taste the way it’s supposed to taste for a Tarantino panzerotti. I’ve been eating them since I was 16 years old and I am now 70, so I know what a panzerotti taste like I get one every time I’m passing a store that sells them. I cut it in half and shared it and ate half. It was very disappointing. I’m just never gonna go back to that store. This is a review of the cheesesteaks only and pork sandwich and panzerotti. I’ve always found their cold hoagies to be delicious. I don’t think I’ll return to that store because I don’t trust the people that are preparing the food but there is another Carmens inside of Del Bono’s bakery and I will never turn down the opportunity to have a delicious cold Italian Hoagie. I hope that when I do get one of their hoagies it doesn’t taste as bad as they’re hot food. I hate for someone to lose their job but that chef at Carmens on Browning Road should be replaced or they’re going to go out of business. I am not kidding I’ve been eating cheese steaks and hoagies my entire life and that order was among the worst garbage I had ever eaten (or tried to eat) I don’t know how you can possibly ruin a cheesesteak as bad as Carmens did. And I don’t even want to talk about the pork, that just made me wanna throw up. Next time I go to Dinicks for my pork, it’s right up the street, and I’ll just drive over to South Philly to get a good cheesesteak if I can’t get one in New Jersey. Anyone that reaches this review should take it to heart. $64 is a lot of money to waste on such poor...

Was very excited to stop by with my wife on Saturday, 5/23/20 as she has heard me rave about Carmen's hoagies but had never had one. Unfortunately, we had problems with both of our sandwiches. She ordered a special sandwich (basically a Reuben) but asked that the meat be split between pastrami and turkey. She even confirmed that she didn't want extra meat, just some of each. Well, we were charged $2.00 for extra meat! Carmen's mistake but I'll own it since I didn't check my receipt before leaving the store.

On to my sandwich. I ordered the Papa Ron (or Papa John as it says on my receipt), which is a specialty Italian hoagie ($10.75) that comes with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and balsamic. I unwrapped it at home to find that there was no basil. I called the store to let someone know that my hoagie was missing a very important ingredient and was told that they don't put basil on that hoagie. I stated that basil is listed on the menu. I was then asked if I would like to speak with a manager to which I agreed. The next person got on the phone and I explained that I have a Papa Ron with no basil. I was told that they stopped doing that a while ago. I then asked why it was on the website menu as well as the store's menu board and was told that it shouldn't be and she could ask the general manager to remove it from the board. It's 2 weeks after my visit and the website menu has not been corrected. (Famous Papa Ron served with hot capicola, Dilussa salami, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, oregano, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and balsamic vinegar on a Del Buono hoagie roll. $10.75)

Very disappointing that I purchased a $10.75 sandwich that is missing an ingredient and when I called to let them know didn't really seem to care. A simple apology would have been appreciated. Carmen's, your sandwiches are great (when they contain the right ingredients) but you need help in the customer service department and you need to correct your menus. I would have rated you 5 stars, but sorry, until you fix the problems, I can...

After 30+ years of being a customer, of hoagies that used to be the very best money could buy, it's time for me to say goodbye. I've given them more than enough chances since they sold out to Del Buono's Guy, and they get worse every single time I go.

I'm done with this place.

Despite 50 years of proven awesomeness, the Del Buono's guy that bought Carmen's a few years back decided that he knows better, and had to go and change pretty much everything about the place.

The best hoagies in the universe: GONE.

All the folks who used to work here, who knew how to make a phenomenal hoagie: GONE.

The old-school neighborhood deli vibe: GONE.

The glorious aroma when you opened the door: GONE.

And did I mention the best hoagies in the universe are now GONE?

It's all GONE.

Del Buono's guy went and screwed with everything, and now Carmen's is a pale imitation of what it used to be.

Sure, they're still huge (although not as big as they used to be), but quantity