DiBella’s Old Fashioned Submarines

If you are a fan of subs and have not yet tried DiBella’s then you are missing out an a great sub experience! This is not your average sub shop experience. Enter in to a very clean restaurant with ceramic tile walls, tin ceilings, pictures of the old DiBella’s family on the walls and old time jazz music in the back-​round. Order your sub (choice of 3 sizes) hot, cold or grilled on fresh baked torpedo rolls and customize it to your taste with quality meats and an assortment of free veggies and condiments. Then take a seat in the leather (maybe faux leather) booths with big tables and enjoy! Oh yeah and don’t forget a fresh baked jumbo cookie for a sweet finish. This small franchise makes eating a sub on premises a much much more pleasant experience than any and all other sub places around.

This sandwich shop has a great menu from cold to hot Subs. The place is clean, the employees are friendly, and the subs are really well made. I am a big fan of DiBellas. It’s as good as it gets

I can’t remember now what kind of sub I ordered. I do know I ordered a medium and it was huge and tasty. I am used to a softer bread, so that bread seemed very hard to me. I didn’t care for the pasta salad at all, it just didn’t taste right. I placed my order from my hotel and it was ready in less than 5 minutes. High points for quick service.

A step above the chain sub shots. Prices are a little too high. Better than a chain sub shop, but far from a deli. There are too many local delis for me to go back here.

Great above average subs. You have to experiment and find the perfect combination that will really hit the spot. My husband and I always order: 1) the godfather on plain, meat grilled, provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mayo, oil and vinegar, and crushed red pepper 2) the meatball on sesame with grilled onions, provolone, black olives, crushed red pepper, and a little extra sauce… whenever I deviate from that order I am not a happy camper. So I suggest finding your happy place and sticking to it, it could turn into a very satisfying relationship.

This man kept on staring at me while making some dudes philly cheese steak. Pay attention to the philly cheese steak man wtf!!!

Great subs. The bread is always fresh. I’ve never been disappointed by DiBella’s. It’d be nice if they had an option to order online.

Came to Albany for sons graduation. Always saw numerous charges on my card.
Just had a sub, bread was freshly cooked and slightly crusty, pretty good.
They sandwich overall had a good taste, the thickness of the sliced meats needs work.
Macaroni salad a bit sweet and soggy.
Kids love this place.

This is what a sub shop is supposed to be like. They serve their food with pride, have knowledgable staff and deliver a great meal for your buck.
I went here and kept thinking, «this place needs to franchise» only to realize I was in a franchise spot!!! If that’s not a compliment to your typical franchise, I’m not sure what is.
We ordered four different subs and every one was amazing. Goodbye Subway, I will ask Jared why he eats your subs from now on.
Eat here. Enjoy. Thank me later.

First off the place reminds me of an old fashion dinner from the 1940s. The music, the art and the old fashioned neon signs give off that old timey vibe.
As for the Subs, they’re fantastic. The bread alone is a reason to go, it’s so warm and soft! They offer a wide selection of subs, my personal favorite is the cowboy. The thick cut bacon goes perfect with the chicken and BBQ sauce. It reasonably priced as long as you get no extra stuff on your sub otherwise you could be spending over 10 dollars. If you go to Suny Albany like me, use your student ID for 10% off. They don’t advertise this so you have to make an effort to show them it

never got to try the sandwich here because the workers closed their grill 30 minutes before the shop was supposed to close. .And they chose to tell me this after they watched me decide what I wanted to order for a few minutes.

Best subs I have ever had, hands down. Bread is amazing, cheese/​veggies are fresh. Lots to choose from if you are a meat eater. Atmosphere is great too, love the old tyme music and friendly service. Don’t fear the long line, it moves quickly! A must.

I love roast beef subs so on my lunch break went here. The roast beef was hard and had a plasticy texture, lettuce was eh, and cheese was just cheese. Nothing to write home about, except to not waste your time. Unfortunately took the sub back to work and couldn’t head back over to complain. I’d rather choose subway over Dibellas, I think that says a lot.

Don’t understand the hype. Sandwich is just a mix of a bunch of toppings on bread. And tastes like those toppings on bread.

Compared to Quiznos or Subway this place is a gourmet deli. DiBella’s puts together fresh and reasonably large submarine sandwich’s in a timely manner. Overall DiBella’s is great. The subs are savory, the employees are polite, and the «old school» décor is fun.

A solid 4 star. Kind of pricey, better than subway. had their meatball sub and was impressed with how good the meatballs were. I wish it had come with a side of spaghetti! tons of space, good place for lunch. I’d recommend it if you want good quality and don’t mind paying for it.

Best sandwiches I have had in a while…
Squeezed in with the fiancé, 10 minutes before closing and service from the staff was EXCELLENT (and that says a lot).
She had The Cowboy and I had The Grandfather. Both were terrific. Ended up switching halfway thru because they were so great.
Only complaint was that the pasta salad was pretty skimpy size-​wise. Flavor was good though.
Definitely would recommend. Planning to come back after tomorrow’s lacrosse tourney. A+

This is the best of the chain style sandwich shops. It is indeed better than Subway or Mr. Subb but that’s not saying much as those options are basically dog or cat poop.

Service: About 35 inept children work the counter at any given time and it takes roughly 8 years to get a cold sub. If you order a hot sub bring your travel pillow and just power nap in one of the booths.
Atmosphere: Probably the best thing about DiBella’s is the large dimly light room with comfortable booths to sit in while you shovel down the human arm sized roll that is their large sandwich.
Bottom Line: Great booths for sitting, OK subs for eating.
Good for a chain but almost any real deli would be a better choice.
Good alternatives would be Via Fresca, Roma Foods, Cardona’s Market, or Luigi’s Deli across the street.
However none of those places have the sweet booths so you’re on your own on this one.

Summary– a damn good sub with lots of great options for toppings and some cool bread choices.
Food– 4 Stars
The Dagwood was better than the cheesesteak I had last time. Their Cheesesteaks are simply under seasoned in my opinion. I would stick their cold stuff.
I like it that they offer some good and interesting bread choices and three different «hot» peppers as well. The everything has kind of a hard crust, almost stale. I am not sure if that’s because it’s everything or if I am the only one who ever orders it.
Atmosphere– 4 Stars
Feels like sub shop to me. Clean too.
Service– 4 Stars
Guys and Gals that take my order are nice and they bring your sub over.
Value– 4 Stars
A lot of sub with real ingredients for pretty short $$$.

I went to college in Western, NY. This meant cold, nasty weather for 9 months of the year.
On the plus side, it also meant that as poor students, we would sustain ourselves with the all-​mighty «Wegman’s Sub».
What made the «Wegman’s Sub» so fantastic was that they got their bread from a local Rochester sandwich institution called DiBella’s, which has been in operation for almost a century.
Now a rapidly expanding sandwich chain, we conveniently now have a few Dibella’s sub shops in the Capital Region.
The novelty may be gone, but the quality is not. I still prefer getting my subs at Wegman’s over the Dibella’s restaurant because prices are cheaper and Wegman’s seemed to use more and better quality cold cuts.
However, DiBella’s is a step up from the lackluster Subway, Quizno’s, the hideous Central, New York JRECK chain and much better than our semi-​beloved local Mr. Sub in many ways:
1) The bread. Made fresh every day, this crusty, salty bread is unparalleled by the chains.
2) The service. I came during a busy lunch hour. The restaurant was completely full and there was a line. I was in and out in less than 5 minutes. They staff was quick, efficient, and friendly. When was the last time you could say that about a Subway?
3) The taste. All the ingredients tasted fresher and had more flavor. If you don’t believe me, sample a «Godfather» and compare that to Subway’s «Italian Mix».
4) Quantity. Dibella’s packs on more meat and cheese per sandwich, and has a greater selection of toppings.
I feel guilty coming here instead of the better deli of Fiorella’s across the street, but fond memories of Western, NY keep bringing me back to DiBella’s time after time.
And although I have a reputation for avoiding chain restaurants at all costs, I can’t help but to frequent DiBellas’s.
3.5 stars. Better than all other chains.
4 stars go to my favorite local sub shops like Andy’s, Cardonna’s, Ragonese, Fiorella’s (across the street), Deli and Brew, and Sorrentino’s whose quality for the same price is vastly superior.