Ideal's Sandwich and Grocery — Restaurant in Durham

These are some of the best sandwiches I've ever had in my life-no exaggeration. The owners are graduates of one of the top culinary school in the country, CIA, and it shows in the quality of their food. Their bread is handmade everyday: focaccia, English muffins, etc. They also are very reasonably priced. Everything I've tasted there has been amazing: even their egg & salami English muffin blew me away. I'm used to egg and bacon but this was a similar mouth feel with a whole other layer of surprising flavors on an English muffin with a slight crisp on the outside and squishy pockets like a flavor sponge. It was also only $5! People stand in line here everyday and it's worth the wait but you better come early because they run out everyday. They also are closed on Wednesdays so check the hours of operation before you come. Check out their Italian grocery store while you wait. It's full of delicious options. Another thing I like about this place is the owner's ideals. They actually named this for Ian's grandfather who was named Ideal but I actually think they live up to their name. They have managed to build a restaurant that is amazing but that doesn't kill their family and workers. They have cracked a code in the restaurant industry by doing things differently in lots of really smart ways. Such as keeping the hours reasonable for their families, picking a location that isn't huge and is cheaper so that they aren't overrun by overhead expense. As a result of these choices they can pour their best money and efforts into the food and it is reflected in the taste and good prices. They are like "The Bear," but the opposite of all the cussing and drama, extraordinary delicious with a side...

Found Ideal’s while looking for sandwich places in the Triangle. It’s definitely a “hole in the wall place”. When I visited, there wasn’t a large marked storefront but I was able to find the place because of the bread in the window and a few tables outside with people eating their sandwiches there!

I got the Uncle Primo’s Chicken Cutlet on a pressed focaccia, an Italiano on a half hoagie, and chips.

While waiting for the food the store had a number of goods for sale. Pasta, garlic, onions, cold dishes, ready to bake meals, olive oil and more.

When I got the food there wasn’t a spot to eat outside the place. (Think this would be an improvement to get my last star) The Primo was tasty, the chicken was probably brined- it was juicy but deep fried. It wasn’t particularly crunchy but had good flavor and the melty cheese was goey and hot. The bread tasted good, it was a little harder than I’d prefer on the outside but once you bit thru it had a good bounce and chew. Just make sure to push the insides forward before you bite else you risk squeezing out everything out the back. But I won’t tell u how to eat your sandwich!

The Italiano- great! I’d recommend that if you like any type of cold cut. Had good freshness from lettuce and tangy peppers. The sesame hoagie was a good vehicle for the deli meats, maybe I’ll try the primo on a hoagie. Much prefer the hoagie than the focaccia personally but I’d give both a try if it’s your first time.

Pricing is on par with any small business sandwich shop so I wouldn’t be totally deterred. But then again I appreciate a good sandwich and I’d be willing to get...

It's difficult to get into Ideals and get a popular sandwich - your best bet is to get there before they open at 12 and get in line, which I get will be/is really frustrating for a lot of people. But holy - when you get that sandwich in your hands, it's like nothing else. This place ruined other sandwich shops for me.

@the 1&2 star reviewers: Frustration I totally understand, but if you are ANGRY with the shop for not having anything left at 2pm except something you don't want, you obviously don't understand how a bakery works. Bakers wake up at lord knows what time in the morning, make all the bread, then at some point in the day, the bread runs out because they can't bake an unlimited amount of bread in one morning, obviously. You ever been to a local donut shop at 1pm and they only have 2 options left and you don't want either of them? Same thing. Very common. You know what donut shop doesn't run out of donuts midday? Dunkin donuts, basically the worst "donut shop" I've ever been to cause none of the donuts are fresh or homemade. That's WHY they're able to keep all their donuts in stock all day, actually. Do you see what I'm saying? Ideals is not Dunkin, and why would anyone want it to be?

Ideals seems to be functioning as best they can with the amount of time, space, and staff that they have, and I can't wait for them to have the resources to expand so more people can enjoy their...