Fino's Italian Deli & Catering — Restaurant in Memphis

So my wife and I are both really big Fino's fans. We both went weekly throughout middle and high school and it was one of the bigger bonding points between us when we were first dating. We were initially very excited that it was being brought back a second time, but I regret to say that we have yet to have a good experience.

We are both strong Turkey Club adherents (although we have eaten and enjoyed everything on the menu many times).

My first time back I went solo for lunch to give it a try. It wasn't bad, but the cut of the bread was taco style like Bogies and there was too much meat so there was almost no marinade/veggies. Not bad, but disappointingly bland.

The second time I went I asked for extra marinade/veggies, and this was better (also it was a normal sandwich cut, which was definitely better). However, this time I picked up the sandwiches for me and my wife to take to the Shell and there was no mustard or mayo on it. I remember they would always ask if we wanted that at the counter previously, but I hadn't thought to ask for it and we didn't have any. My wife was very disappointing this time, but it was a small, easily corrected issue, so I was happy everything else was right.

The third time we went is why I'm writing this however. I just picked up 2 turkey clubs on the way home for lunch today. I was very specific, trying to make sure that everything was exactly right. I asked for mustard, mayo, Swiss cheese, and extra marinade. I said I wanted this on both sandwiches, exactly the same. We got one sandwich with mustard/mayo the other without, Provolone cheese (fine, but not what I asked for) Skimpy marinade with 0 onions, and it was on SOFT BREAD. I hate the fact that the soft bread even exists, but there is no way that my order could have been interpreted to have requested it. Further there were these little chucks of slimy pink fat in the meet that I have never once seen at Fino's before that were disgusting.

I have been out of town for work all week, came home the night before last and my wife had to run an event for work from 7:00AM-11:00PM. We both had big weeks and it's hard to express in how disappointed we were. My wife and I both really enjoy food and both strongly agree that Fino's is the best sandwich shop to have ever existed. We have friends who say they have gotten sandwiches that were fine, but we've really been burned hard.

The new ownership appears to have a staff who don't know anything about the product we love. The food isn't horrible or anything, its just not very similar to the place we grew up loving. I'm sad and I'm worried that the Fino's we loved is gone and has been replaced by something you might find...

The star rating is preliminary for now. Fino's, one of my favorites for many years, re-opened under the ownership of esteemed chef Kelly English about two weeks ago. Today, a Saturday, they were slammed at lunch, and it just wouldn't be right to rate them until they have a chance to get it together. It was pretty much chaos. The sandwiches took nearly 30 minutes to come and were not bad. My half Agosti was about two bucks more than before and had about two-thirds the salami. My son's whole, also about two bucks more, was about right; both appeared to have been hastily assembled by sandwich makers who were under the gun. A price increase was appropriate in that the old Fino's sold these great, generous sandwiches for ridiculously low prices. Just please make sure the meat is right, however. I missed the fountain drinks. I had read the old staff was offered their jobs back, but these were all new faces, hence, with the crowd, the clunky performance. Will try them again in a month and hope for the best.

So, as promised, we returned after a month. Things were much more normal. Mainly, the crowd was just slightly above average for a Saturday afternoon. The staff seemed to have it under control. My wife's hot roast beef was incredibly generous. My agosti was good. We both thought the bread was a little off still. Hers, she said, was too soft and soaked up the gravy more than she liked. These things are so subjective, and it's hard to compare without a side-by-side opportunity. Bottom line: we will put Fino's back in our regular lunch rotation and hope for continued improvement, but it seems good already. One further observation, as a customer I resent when the media food writers -- food promoters really -- are so buddy-buddy with the owners/chefs that the readers they should have foremost in mind get overly...

My favorite menu item was the Italian Green Salad, a really simple salad but the tomato onion dressing made it phenomenal. I went in last week, now that a third owner has taken over, hoping it would still taste like the salad that I love...sadly I was disappointed. The restaurant looks amazing, the staff was courteous and it was bustling with customers. I placed my order and waiting anxiously for my food. Wheny my number was called, I walked up and the packaging was different, that's was unexpected but okay. Clear plastic bowl with a tight fitting lid, okay cool. But then I saw it... The tomato onion dressing was in a two ounce container.. just two ounces! Gone were the big pieces of tomato and chunks of onion. Fortunately I asked for extra dressing when I ordered. One container had a sliver of tomato and the other container had two slivers. One of the gentleman noticed my confused look and sorta smiled. The other young man assured me it was the same recipe. What I had was a bunch of moist lettuce stuffed into the bottom of the plastic container with a few black olives, tiny shredded pieces of salami and small bits of cheese on top. Disappointed and sad because it was not the fresh salad with huge Chuck's of onion and tomato I fully expected. I was not satiated! I didn't think it was possible to screw up a simple salad. @kellyenglish, lose the cutesy container, use fresh, crisp green lettuce and increase the container size of the dressing. Chunks of tomato and onion -...