Tagliaferri's Delicatessen — Restaurant in Novato

Tagliaferri “Tags” is an old school Italian deli. They sell imported Italian food and wines and have a deli counter where you can get fresh made sandwiches. I have been a customer for over 20 years and I’m not even a local. I always make it a point to stop by to grab a sandwich when I’m in the area. It opened in 1997 by locals, father and son. is still going strong simply because they got darn tasty deli meats, delicious bakery sandwich bread choices, hot comfort Italian food done right, yummy bakery desserts, and imported food and wine.

The sandwiches are fantastic. My faves are the meatball, custom #1 (which reminds me of a typical Italian sandwich), and custom #12 grilled eggplant and artichoke. The meatballs texture are light and bouncy but with a substantial heftiness. The #1 is my #1, classic tried and true sandwich. The eggplant and artichoke is just a flavor bomb. Heck, I have had no sandwich I did not like from here. It’s all good! The prices are comparable to other delis. The size of the sandwich is hefty. Beautiful. I usually grab n go, but sometimes I eat there since they have some indoor tables. But when I go within a hour to closing time, the indoor seating area is usually shut down.

So if you want to order anything from the deli counter, the ordering protocol is grab a number from the red number dispensing machine on the counter and stand in line. If it is not busy, they will not call out numbers and will take customers in line order. So grab a number to be cover your bases. If you want to buy items not from behind the counter, purchase those by standing at the front register. Want to avoid the rush, they take online orders and call ins. But buckle in during peak lunch hours.

Customer service is great! To add, they do not use gloves but can you request them to when making your food. No attitudes. They’re...

Food is terrific, but the customer service is spotty and less than desirable. I was told not to come back today because I left on account of the old man behind the counter was SO RUDE! He asked for my number ticket and I told him they were out of numbers or the ticket dispenser was jammed - which it turned out to be. He totally blew his stack. Looked like he had been drinking too much the night before. Who needs that? I work close by and have loved coming here and bringing new friends here, but really? I was having a big party this weekend and needed many things - but I went to Whole...

I know this place has many followers so my review may be viewed as unfairly negative. However, I have gone to this place three different times and either received: old stale rye sandwich bread onetime, a slice of rotten tomato another time, and a poorly made mozzarella salad. The first two times were take out as I was going on Hikes and didn't discovered that the food was crummy until I was far away. The last time I complained about the mozzarella salad and the owner was arrogant and unfriendly and could have cared less...