Guido's Chicago Meats & Deli — Restaurant in Scottsdale

First time here for lunch. Discovered Guido’s in a search for delis in the Phoenix area, and was drawn in by the 1,094 reviews = 4.7 stars. This is where expectations are high; and my review shows a slight disappointment as I run through my lunch that I had today.

Coming in was nice to be greeted and welcomed. There’s a lot on display, and in the deli freezers and cases. The restaurant/deli is clean, but a little cramped. And I couldn’t tell you who my server was as I had as many as four people checking in on me. That’s not all bad. I wasn’t doted over and annoyed. It would simply be nice to have one server. That’s just me, or do others prefer that as well?

I started off with their minestrone soup. It was uniquely good; packed with beans, vegetables, pasta, and the right amount of broth. It came out in a wide bowl, and two pieces of Italian garlic bread.

Before I was halfway through my soup my Italian beef & sausage combo came out. The bread was good. The sandwich might have been better had it been toasted. I went with the mild sausage. It was huge (two pieces) that had good flavor, and reminded me of an old Chicago favorite ‘Johnnies.’ As for the sliced Italian beef… it was a little overdone as some parts were tender, and other parts slightly dry. The cheese was fine; as were the peppers ~ I think I saw a combination of red and green peppers. The au jus was fine, and offered a touch more flavor when dipping the sandwich. I had half there, and took the other half ‘To Go.’ Saving room for dessert.

What would be lunch (or dinner) at an Italian deli without having a cannoli. The shell was nice and crisp. The filling was creamy, and delicious. Both ends covered in either chocolate chips or pistachios.

To drink I went with a fountain drink of Coca-Cola. Everything was fine. Then came the check. It’s a bit pricey to dine in here. Off of my memory the soup was $11.99… the combo was $19.99… the cannoli was $8.99… and the fountain drink $3.50. The check total after tax came to $48.05. Paying with a debit card they added a Technology Fee of $1.68. The part that irks me is the suggested tip that includes the tax and fee. How does the government tax provide a service to be included in the suggested tip? What’s more, ask the same question regarding the tech fee. I don’t tip on tax or fees. I tip on the check and service. I worked for tips, and I’m generous in tipping 20%+. Don’t insult me by suggesting a tip based upon the check + taxes & fees. Make no mistake, that’s an insult. And I drove over 20+ miles to dine here.

The food and service is good. Would it influence me to drive out of my way to dine here…? No. I’ve had some great dining experiences. One being Sherman’s in Palm Springs. I’d drive over 4+ hours to have lunch there. That’s the benchmark used for all delis. For now, Scott’s Generations and DeFalco’s are my choice to dine at. Guido’s will be considered on these two factors: my being nearby, and having...

To all of you who let me sleep on this spot I'm so mad at you HA! How in the world had I not been here before? It has all my favorites; antipasto, pizza, sandwiches, pasta...you name it. I am always down to drive anywhere to support a local spot and Guido's got it out of the park. We drove over on a whim from the west valley Tuesday for lunch. We walked in to a packed house with so many people waiting for tables. The place is small and holds maybe 50 seats inside. There are some tables outside as well, but it was a bit chilly outside so we opted to wait for an inside table. While we waited I took some time to look at all the items for sale from bread to pasta and sauce. It is a deli/meat spot as well with a walk up counter for to go orders etc. I was impressed with the smiles and hard work of all the employees we encountered. It was awesome to see the amount of regulars they seemed to know by name. There weee only two of us, but we'd watched so many food items delivered to other tables that we ordered so many things to try. We started with antipasto salad, but also ordered a sausage and pepperoni pizza, and two half sandwiches, one Italian and one hot sausage. Everything came out so quick and we nearly couldn't fit it all in the table ha ha. My favorite by far was the salad. The dressing alone was so flavorful and smelled heavenly. It was full of meat and crisp lettuce. Hot sub was just as good. Least fave was probably the Italian, but still good. Bread was good. Pizza had good amount of sauce and I loved that it was think crust. There was a good amount of toppings. We had to take some of the salad home because it was so huge as well as a pizza box . My only regret is not taking home a cannoli. I'll just have to come back. Our waiter was awesome. So friendly, gave great recommendations and we never had to ask for a thing. This place reminded me of a spot in Little Italy in SD where there's a shop in the front with a restaurant in the back. But this one incorporates it into one. Such a...

We flew in to Scottsdale for the Barrett Jackson auctions, toured 6 sites in the week covering miles and miles of beautiful cars and now it was time to catch the plane back to Maryland. Flying Southwest, great airline but thin on the menu... right? Out of the hundreds of choices for an in-flight sandwich, somehow we chanced in to Guido's. WHAT A FIND!!!! Not that I like seafood or anchovies but as we walked in we couldn't help but hear the boss confide in some newly arrived [probably regular] patrons that "we just got in some wonderful white anchovies..." I ordered a toasted Italian Sub, sans the onions and oil because hey, we'll be on a plane and close quarters being close quarters who needs onions and, slobs being slobs, who needs to be dripping oil all over the place? While they were making those the boss shared some of his fresh sausage... wow! Then he and I got talking about spaghetti sauce and, where I explained how/when I added oregano to mine, he chimed in "just got the greatest batch of fresh oregano... here... over here... ya have to try some." So I bought some instead! Wasn't sure if something looking a lot like you know what was going to ruin my chances w/ TSA but... hey, anything for the palate. Soon our subs were ready and off we went. At about 30,000 ft and approaching Kansas, we all rolled ours open and OMG... the bread alone is to die for. Like anything, garbage in, garbage out but Guido's starts w/ the fundamentals... the roll was to die for... then they added the great stuff... all fresh from their deli. We almost turned the plane back but they say that gets ya in trouble. I'm now looking at the Scottsdale calendar to see what other events are worthy of a visit... if not incidental to stopping by Guido's one more time... great staff, service and of course the food... what a great find Guido's is. ps. I've done a few loops around the planet... China, Australia, NZ, Europe etc., so not kidding... great stop,...