Paisan's Old World Deli & Catering — Restaurant in Reno

I have been a customer of Paisans for MANY years, possibly two decades even. I don't recall exactly when I started going here but I do know that I never had a complaint about the food until today.

I have many times not enjoyed their dull and unfriendly service but today was the final time I will visit this place. I cannot count how many times I have REFERRED people here - probably over 100. Not again.

Went in today for the usual as per below, staff was asked for extra olive tapenade on the sandwich and a dish on the side.

We received no extra on the sandwich and no dish on the side, we usually pay $3.99 for it. Instead, I was given a tiny cup hidden in my sandwich which has never happened... usually it's just in the bag...

I called the deli and talked to the manager or owner, my first complaint ever... explained the matter (sandwich was dry, didn't have extra tapenade and we missed the $3.99 dish) etc.) and he was rather grumpy and unfriendly, but said he would fix it if I wanted him to - so I said sure, we will come back.

So back in and he says I got what I ordered... which is false. I did not get the dish of tapenade and there as no extra tapenade on the sandwich, in fact barely enough to taste.

The sandwich was DRY and had barely any sloppily shaved turkey on it, lettuce was black on the edges and warm, it was NOT the same food we have been getting for many years. Normally, these sandwiches come on beautiful pillowy focaccia with lots of meat and heavy cheese - they are wonderful. NOT ANYMORE....

Anyway, all he would do is provide a tiny cup of tapenade for free and charged us for the full side, $3.99 which is fine but it's not the same tapenade and REFUSED to fix the sandwich at all. Just flat out refused.

I got what seemed like butt end bread that was thin and sorta rubbery, extra chewy, not the soft beautiful pillowy focaccia they used to have. The turkey was sparse, not nearly as much as usual, the lettuce looked old and wilted and gross.

The olive tapenade is NOT the same either, it is VERY oily and CREAMY now, which makes the flavor profile entirely different. It used to be very dark like Greek olives and seemed very fresh, not blended into a creamy puree like this new product is. I actually poured some on the dry sandwich and oil was spilling out.

Everything about the food is different, the focaccia is thin and not as good ar all and I hate the new tapenade it has way less flavor.

I am not only disgusted with the attitude he had on the phone but the fact that he REFUSED to fix he sandwich and make it better. In fact, he said I could put the extra tapenade on myself in the car. Thanks so much, I didn't even get a spoon to do so.

RUDE and I will NEVER return again either. It's a shame he didn't just redo the sandwich after my 20 years of buying food there and fix the matter entirely, instead of giving me an attitude and then refusing to fix the food. His neglect as a professional to uphold his word to FIX THE FOOD, has led to this review so I hope it was worth it.

Google won't allow me to...

The Best Sandwich shop in the Reno/Sparks area. Why? Because they offer gluten-free bread. At this restaurant, you are given a choice of which gluten-free bread you would like. Imagine that! If you are not gluten-free then you have no idea. Yes, other shops have gluten-free bread and I can only describe the bread as not very good or often stale. But not here. The bread is outstanding.

Imagine my surprise when the waitress asked what kind of Gluten-Free bread I wanted. Oh my goodness. I was overjoyed and excited. I asked her which bread she would recommend for an egg salad. She highly suggested the Rosemary Focaccia. All the staff was friendly and knowledgeable. I loved looking at all the choices in the deli counter. In fact, this restaurant reminds me of the incredible Bagel shops in New York City. Yep, they are that good.

I chose Rosemary Focaccia due to her recommendation. The focaccia tasted homemade and fresh. The bread is so flavorful, crusty on the outside and so tender on the inside. I got the egg salad sandwich. It was spectacular. I got it with everything except cheese. Hints of rosemary and the egg salad blended so well together. It was a huge sandwich. I can't rave about this sandwich enough. As I think about it, my mouth is watering. There is no skimping on fillings here. The sandwiches are huge.

My husband had an Egg Salad sandwich on a Dutch Crunch roll. Dutch Crunch used to be my favorite bread for egg salad. But, I can honestly say, I didn't miss having this bread. He loved his sandwich as well.

We got fries with our sandwiches. We asked for them to be extra crispy which is exactly what we received. The fries went well with our sandwiches.

They have a large inside dining room with more tables outside. The restaurant and bathrooms are clean. Every so often someone came around to clean and wipe down the tables and floor if needed.

We can't wait to go back to this restaurant. I would especially like to thank them for giving those of us who are gluten-free a choice in sandwich bread. Thank you!

Incidentally, if you are looking for a caterer, I highly recommend...

The food here is AMAZING.

I was working across the street at the hospital for a week and I wasn't aware of this awesomeness until I talked to one of the nurses. Her face told me everything I needed to know. And she starts telling me more. She's having them cater her wedding bc she loves the food so much.

I ran over there so fast and cursed myself for not eating here every day I was in town for work. I fell in love with the meatball sub. I love meatball subs in general and she told me that it was amazing and that's all I needed to know.

But I was not prepared for how awesome this was. They don't cut the sub in half or make a u-shaped cut to put the meatballs inside of the bread. They hollow out the inside of the bread and put the meatballs inside so they're encased in the bread and have no way of falling out. OH MY GAWD. WHY ISN'T EVERYONE THIS???? It was the most perfect sub with the most perfect delivery. I was in love.

I came back the next day to get the beef sandwich per another nurse's recommendation and another winner. Oh man. This is my last day in town and I almost wept because I couldn't eat here again the next day. But I will be back at the end of June for a few days and I will be eating here...