O'Brien's Deli — Restaurant in Winston-Salem

This is a small place (6 or 8 small booths) in a small strip center, with a small parking area with awkward angles coming off a busy street. And those are the only small things about this deli - the food here is HUGE in freshness, taste, and portion size. In our best foodie lexicon, this is a: "Why in the heck did it take us so long to try this place."

As has been asserted, the Reuben Sandwich is the unquestioned star of this culinary production. It is available in "Mini" ($7.75), or a "Big Enough For Two" size ($9.35), and it is. The meat & cheese is Boar's Head, probably the kraut as well, and the kraut is well drained, preventing the finished product from being soggy. The Thousand Island Dressing is perfect, as is the rye bread, and the construction of the sandwich has no flaws. If this is not a perfect Reuben, one probably doesn't exist.

The Italian Sub ($7.75) is also very large, loaded with the usual meats and cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, with olive oil & vinegar, on an incredibly fresh tasting sub roll. They also add roasted red peppers to this sub, and it simply lifts a great sandwich to another level. If I've had a better Italian Sub, its memory is no longer available.

They've had a Cuban Sandwich ($8.35) on the menu for about four months now, and since we were already there, we tried that as well. Another home run! Filled with great tasting roast pork, that is more shredded than thinly sliced, ham, cheese, pickles,& mustard, on a perfect toasted & pressed roll. It seems pretty obvious that they are 3 for 3 with these sandwiches.

Tried the Macaroni Salad, which was also very nice - no attempt to get too fancy with it and turn it into "food messed about", so easily and routinely done - well cooked macaroni, mayo, a little celery, salt, & pepper, simple - and simply delicious.

Brought home parts of the Cuban & the Italian, along with a large slice of Tomato Pie (about $5.50), and 1/2 pound of Egg Salad ($3.75). You are probably not going to believe this, but they were excellent, as well. The pie is loaded with fresh tomatoes, and 4 kinds of cheese, sitting atop a nice firm crust. The Egg Salad is incredibly fresh tasting, chunky in texture, filled with both yolk and whites. Not a miss in the entire order, rare indeed.

These folks definitely don't "phone it in" - they provide friendly, efficient service with a smile, while producing excellent food at a reasonable price, all with a recognizable sense of pride in what they do. How soon we'll be back is all that...

I don't even know where to start. Service: outstanding Sandwiches: amazingly delicious Cookies: mmm yum

You walk in and every single person is super friendly. Also helpful with menu options. The reuben is 10/10 but my new favorite might just be the spicy Italian. When I find a restaurant I like I tend to order the exact same thing every single time I go. Either bc at one point I ordered something else and it wasn't as good or bc I'm afraid something else won't be as good. So I always stick to the exact same order. Not so for O'Brien's deli. Granted I've only been in the restaurant twice but yesterday was a Reuben and side Mediterranean salad. Delicious. I really enjoyed the cold pasta and I like that it's a little perfect side. Today was a spicy Italian hero with broccoli salad.

I'll be out of the country for a bit but as soon I get back I'll definitely be back and I'll try something else. My plan is to try it all lol. I'm lucky enough that I live less than 10 minutes away and maybe in the summer I should start walking so I don't gain another million pounds.

If you've not tried them what are you waiting for! Go try the food! Oh! My table neighbor had a salad that looked yummy so I'll be trying those too. Sandwiches first

If you've tried them once in the past (me) and wasn't impressed try again. First don't go in comparing this to some NY deli. It's not. But it's definitely the best deli in Winston and probably NC. (Remember even bread tastes different in NY so I don't care what deli you go to in NC of course it's not going to be the exact same.) That doesn't mean it's not amazing and delicious because it definitely is.

Now I'm looking forward to the Saint Patrick's day feast and some slow cooked corned beef. Calendar is marked so I don't forget lol.

In conclusion go try O'Brien's deli! Hours are until 4pm M-Sat (I think 11am for opening but double check that) and...

I have been in the restaurant industry for almost 30 years and have seen and done just about everything, good and bad. But the experience I had today at O’Brien’s was touching. I ordered a build your own sandwich. The way they have everything set up in Door Dash makes the process so easy. There are some other restaurants that need to take a lesson from them. So I got my sandwich and it was different from what I ordered. Nothing super huge but enough for me to call the store. Now, with Door Dash, you have to direct all issues through them. But my theory is that Door Dash didn’t make the food, so they won’t know how to fix it next time. So I always call the store first. Needless to say I have been argued with, demeaned, disrespected, and hung up on. It’s frustrating. But when I called O’Brien’s today I spoke with Alice and she was super helpful, understanding, and apologetic. I was stunned. She never once told me I ordered wrong or that it was my fault. I was very satisfied and happy for the great customer service. 5 minutes later a get a call from the CEO of the company. I believe his name is Josh(please forgive me if that’s wrong!) and he wanted to talk about my sandwich. I figured he was going to make a bunch of excuses, say I should have ordered better, and tell me to call Door Dash if I wanted a refund. Nope! He apologized, told me what happened, and insisted on letting him know the next time I ordered from them so he could make sure everything turned out perfectly. Wow! Not only is their food amazing but their people were amazing too. Thank you for that extraordinarily amazing experience. Thanks for caring. I look forward to my next...