Ippolito Italian Deli — Restaurant in Florida

Folks in Largo have been getting take-out subs and ready-to-eat meals from Ippolito’s for nearly 25 years. From their signature Calabrese sandwich to their breathtaking Chicken Cacciatori, residents of Pinellas County have been feeding themselves and their families with Ippolito’s family recipes for more than a generation.  The authentic recipes have been brought to us from Calabria, Italy via Ippolito Stanganelli’s mother, Giovanna – who still helps in maintaining the quality of Ippolito’s homemade dishes including their pasta dishes, classic Italian meals, and sweets from the bakery.  For lunch or dinner, you can order ahead or stop in and grab one of seventeen hot or cold subs including their Ragazzo Grasso aka The Fat Boy sub (a personal favorite) which is overflowing with imported Mortadella and roasted red peppers or their super popular hot Chicken Parm sub made with marinara sauce and topped with grated cheese.  And if you want a ready-to-eat meal that you can warm up at your convenience, you can get everything from stuffed shells packed with their own ricotta blend and topped with their home-made meat sauce, to stuffed peppers that are stuffed with ground sausage, breadcrumbs and imported mozzarella cheese to their savory Chicken Piccata made from scratch. I’ve always been a fan of their Manicotti which are shells stuffed with their own ricotta cheese blended with fresh herbs and smothered in red sauce. You could never grow tired of their variety of ready-to-eat meals as Ippolito is constantly replenishing their fridge with packages ready to go home listed on their menu as well as Italian meals that Ippolito occasionally makes to keep us coming back to try something new.  Their ready to eat meals have become an affordable alternative to dining in at restaurants or order restaurant take-out; which has become prohibitively expensive as the costs of things have elevated beyond reason. “Meals to go are going to be the future as an alternative to restaurant dining” proclaims Ippolito Stanganelli, the Deli’s sole proprietor. He has dedicated a significant amount of refrigerator space to ready-to-eat meals as they’ve grown in popularity over the years. He has an entire freezer dedicated to frozen pasta which you can combine with any variety of proteins and toppings such as meatballs, various sauces, and a variety of sausages.

And as meals-to-go have been a major convenience and savings for Pinellas’s locals.  Ippolito’s catering menu has provided an impressive alternative to other catering options within Tampa Bay. Not only do they have pans of traditional Italian Meals such as Eggplant Parmigiana, Fettuccini Alfredo, and Sausage and Peppers, they also have impressive Meat and Cheese Platters, Caprese Salads, and Antipasto to feed any number of people.  As popular as they are, its important to give them a few days’ notice if you intend to get their catering. And Ippolito himself reminds his customers that during the holiday season to give a few more extra days’ notice when ordering for holiday parties.  Among the most popular things ordered during the holidays are large cookie platters, which are all baked in-house by Giovanna, Ippolito’s talented mother.  Also, among the more traditional Italian holiday treats are Strufoli which is deep-fried sweet bread smothered in honey and stacked in a cone like a Christmas tree, and Baccala which is a dried salty codfish that’s a big Christmas Eve tradition among Italians who maintain the traditions of their motherland. You can always tell when its Christmas time at Ippolito’s because of all the colorful cookies, panettone fruit cakes, and other gift baskets that are perfect for carrying under one’s elbow when entering a...

I stopped by this charming little deli, eager for a good sandwich, and overall, I wasn’t disappointed—well, mostly. Let’s start with the good stuff: the meat. They don’t skimp! My sandwich was absolutely loaded with fresh, flavorful meat, making each bite hearty and satisfying. But then there was the bread…

Now, I love a good crust, but this one came with a built-in exfoliation service. It was soft on the inside, which I appreciated, but the fine cornmeal crust was a bit much. I even tried rubbing off as much as I could (see photo and that was after I rubbed off as much cornmeal as I could), but by the time I was halfway through, my lips felt like I’d just gone three rounds with a sandblaster. If I could bring my own bread and have them pile all that amazing meat and veggies onto it, I’d be back in a heartbeat!

But let me tell you, the cannoli—oh wow. It might just be the BEST I’ve ever had. I could eat one of those every single day and never get tired of it! Absolutely perfect. ♡

The shop itself was adorable, with shelves stocked full of goodies and a few cozy tables to sit and enjoy your meal. The deli counter and dessert case were small but mighty—they used the space well, and everything looked incredibly clean. I'm giving then 5 stars because everything was fresh and I am hoping the cornmeal was a one-time thing.

I might have to give their sandwich one more try, just to see if the bread was a one-time thing, because it really was a fantastic sandwich underneath all that cornmeal. But next time, I’ll be sure to bring...

Not a great experience. We arrived at 5:10 and were told that they could only make a simple Italian sandwich and nothing else because they shut down their slicing machines. This was 50 minutes before their advertised closing time!!! We weren't thrilled but we agreed and asked for hot peppers and oil and vinegar on our sandwiches. Unfortunately, when we got the sandwiches home, there was very little meat or cheese (maybe 1 and 1/2 slices on each half of the sandwich plus a scattering of lettuce and almost no tomato. A very dry, very weak example of an Italian sandwich. If you want to close at 5:10 and not serve any sandwiches, then state that somewhere publicly so people like me don't waste our time. With all of the great reviews, I had high expectations that this would be a great Italian deli but it just wasn't so. The quality of the meat and bread seemed good, but the whole experience was disappointing. If you were only going to offer us one choice of sandwich, you could at least have made it the...