Nardelli’s Grinder Shoppe

Once every other week my husband brings home Grinders from this shop for dinner.
The bread is always SO delicious and I absolutely love their stuffed mushrooms. 3 full grinders feeds our entire family of 5, often with leftovers to be eaten at lunch the following day!

This Nardellis location has lost me as a loyal customer. wont be coming back here thanks to your employee Dan. Someone should’ve taught him how to respect women. Going back to Zerios for lunch

I grew up in Waterbury and always loved the original Nardelli’s, before they franchised. This particular shop, like all the other new ones, makes VERY good grinders. Not as good as the original place, but better than any other chain you will find around (with the exception of the meatballs which are amazing at the oriinal location, but no better than subway at the franchise stores). This store is always clean, the staff is efficient, and they make good loaded sandwiched.

Stopped at this location for the first time. Man behind the counter was pleasant. The grinder (italian combo) was excellent. The entire establishment was neat and clean including the washroom. Very pleased with my experience.

Stopped here after a long drive and it was across from our hotel so that was a plus. Ordered two grinders as they call them, one Classic italian which was heavily pushed upon me and I was okay with that being that the employee hyped about their product. Second one being a chicken and proscuttio, I was not a fan of it being microwaved and pre packaged the microwave makes things too hot and sort of rubbery. The italian hero was good, nice house italian dressing was solid and bread was great.
Overall a good experience.

Came here for a quick lunch while on my way back home from an event in the area. I’d heard from several people how this is the «go to» place for subs (or in weird New England lingo, «grinders»), so off I went.
First impressions: Wow, huge selections of both hot and cold subs, both of which coming in two sizes that can be summed up as «large» and «extra large», they’re pretty sizable sandwiches, and should be enough to fill you! Prices are on-​par with most other sandwich shops I’ve been to. An… interesting way they do things here, is that all the sandwich fillings are laid out in these huge trays in a refrigerated display case, and they just grab a portion out of it, throw it in the microwave for a few seconds, and then put whatever toppings you want on it, such as hot sauce, lettuce, etc. Not sure how I feel about having my sandwich microwaved, but hey, I’m the out of towner here, maybe this is the norm.
The chicken subs in the display case looked a little on the under dressed side, so I opted for something 100% the opposite: the boneless bbq rib. A lady behind the counter asked rather curtly what I wanted and then vanished off behind the counter in a tizzy. She kind of came across as a little bit snippy, although maybe she was overwhelmed /​having a bad day. The soup of the day sounded tasty, so I got a cup of the cheddar broccoli as well. On the plus side, the food came out quickly, so the lines moved fast.
The food? Well, it was, in Unilocal terms, «A-​OK». Honestly, the rib sandwich tasted akin to the McRib from McDonalds, or a ‘beefier’ and better version of one of those On-​Cor riblet meals. Not sure what I was expecting from a microwaved rib meat patty. The soup was kinda the same, and while it was «good», it didn’t really strike me as anything exceptional — kind of like a pepped-​up version of Progresso or something. Would I come back for another try? Probably, although I’d likely stick to the tried-​and-​true classics, like an Italian or roast beef cold sub.

Been in here a few times. Sandwiches are ok, but what really upset me was stopping inn at 8:45, ordering a sandwich and sitting to enjoy it, and being told at 8:55 that I would be kicked out (those exact words) at 9:00.
If you can’t let me enjoy my dinner, I’m not going to overpay for your mediocre sandwiches.

Stopped here on our way to MA for a quick bite to eat after seeing positive reviews on Unilocal.The staff was extremely friendly and the sandwich (I got a half portion) was more than enough and tasted great! Certainly a better alternative to BK or Subway. I’d return if I was on the road and passed one but wouldn’t go out of my way to find one. Unless you’re into hunting down sandwich shops!

I typically enjoy Nardelli’s but with their growth their quality seems to be slipping. On the positive side, the two young men working the shop couldn’t have been nicer. The food, a chicken cutlet grinder and an eggplant parmigiana grinder. The chicken was with lettuce, tomato and mayo while the eggplant was traditional. The eggplant grinder was good, but too much breading and the breading is a bit ‘mealy’. The chicken wasn’t so good. The meat was dry while the breading was, again, mealy. I think I will have to stick with the cold cut grinders from this point on.

C’mon, Nardelli’s!
Your grinders are fantastic at every location but this one-​and it is the bread!
It’s almost like this location gets every piece of bread after the other locations have gotten sick of looking at it stacked on the back counter-​not quite stale per se but not… quite…fresh.
It ruins otherwise wonderful bite of meats and cheeses and veggies.

Stopped here on way to Providence. Never been to a Nardelli’s before. Nice option given the proximity to the usual fast food chains. Yeah, I’m looking you Burger King across the parking lot. Got the pulled pork and a large pickle. Sandwich was better than I expected but obviously not what you would get at a place that specializes in BBQ. The staff was certainly more friendly than I am used to. Seemed pretty clean and I thought the handicapped rail in the one sitter bathroom was nice.

I had the special turkey club and Oh My Goodness! Turkey, bacon and cheese already melted together before it’s toasted on a scrumptious grinder roll. This might be the best grinder I’ve ever had! The selection of meats and sides are outstanding.

I got the Italian Combo with Everything and I explicitly specified without olives, to which the person behind the counter said «okay, no olives». I still got olives in my sandwhich, so I couldn’t really finish it because I’ve always had a gag reflex to the taste of olive. I didn’t found out until I got home and unwrapped the sandwich. However, their cheesecake burrito and macaroni salad was pretty good.

I’ve tried Nardelli’s several times and want their food to be good, but the quality of the meat just isnt there. Last time I went we ordered a couple of standard sandwiches. I got the house special which was a roast beef with some lettuce in their homemade italian dressing. It sounded and looked wonderful but when I got it home and started to eat it I couldn’t take more than 3 bites. The beef was so dry and tough, and there was little peppercorns everywhere that were breaking my teeth.
I wouldnt write a review like this unless I was sure but I won’t be going back here again. This is the third and last time I got a disappointing sandwich from them, I think ill stick to more standard or local sandwich places.

Great sandwich and great service. Was my first time there. Will be. Regular now for sure.

We were driving back home and stopped here for a quick bite. While the selection is broad, I found it odd to see the meats sitting pre-​made and «packaged» in their selection area. Then when I ordered my grinder, the meat was put in a microwave like at the «fast food version» of this place. Geez, I should have just gone there.
I found the grinder to be way to much bread compared to the amount of meat I had.
The service was friendly and prompt, but I wish I could say it was better than that other place. But it was disappointing.

I have gone to the original Nardelli’s for years. Grab a sandwich when passing through Waterbury, it’s heaven. However, when it moves into your neighborhood, you start to go more often and when the shininess wears off, you start to see the flaws. I agree with Jason L., who commented on the lack of consistency. When it’s good, it’s great. When it’s sloppy or bad quality or doesn’t match what you ordered, it’s gross.
I also agree on the microwave comments. It’s weird. Even Subway invested in ovens. Years ago!!! Subway also has already-​hot meatballs. Get where I’m going with this? I’d sort of rather eat a cold chicken cutlet than a microwaved one. At least half of the sandwiches Nardelli’s serves should be hot, but do not lend themselves to the use of a microwave. I feel like I need to start ordering cold cuts — even though it’s not really what I want — just to avoid the microwave.
I also think the bread is too thick. I like a good filling to bread ratio and find myself with a pile of bread carcasses after eating a sandwich here. Make smaller bread, and charge me less. The prices are sort of outrageous for what you’re getting. Which is a great transition to the most outrageous part of my last visit… having already paid and collected my sandwiches, I was basically chased by an employee on my way out. Why? Because I had asked for cheese on my sandwich and didn’t realize that it cost extra and that I needed to inform the cashier about it, so I had them screaming at me that I didn’t pay enough and I had to go back and pay 75 cents for my cheese. Really? Then do me a favor and have the person who takes the order tell the cashier what to ring up, because obviously us idiot customers can’t handle it. I prefer to pay for my meal all at once and not be chased out the door over 75 cents. Especially when two sandwiches, no chips, no sodas, no add ons (except, obviously, the cheese) had already run me almost $ 18. Now I’m embarrassed, annoyed, and digging in the bottom of my purse for change, wondering why I even bothered going here in the first place… just trying to scrounge up that cheese money so that I don’t have to put 75 cents on my credit card, and so I can get the heck out of there.
Even after my angry rant, I do see one positive aspect of this location — plentiful parking. I steer clear of the Middletown location (even though it’s closer to my house), due to the ridiculously small and tight parking lot.

Medioce grinder place. I ordered the buffalo chicken which had a decent kick, with good Italian bread, and veggies that seemed fresh. It was a pretty big grinder for the price.
The problem is, the chicken itself had no flavor due to being prepared in advance and then thrown in the microwave. Also the blue cheese sauce was flat and tasted like it came out of a jar. I would be shocked if they made it in-​house.
Bottom line: if this place is going to advertise being authentic/​historic/​Italian, the first thing they need to do is get rid of those microwaves.

I have a love /​hate relationship with nardeillis. I want to like it, when it’s done right, it’s excellent.
However, consistency is the downfall here. One day you get a sandwich made perfectly, the next it’s soggy, dripping with oil and vinegar.
Also, Tony said they were looking into quick ovens back in 2011, guess that never came to fruition because I still see those mood killing microwaves staring me in the face when I walk in.
Plus the platters of food in the open air and uncovered cannoli are unsettling. Makes me just want to sneeze…

I’ve been here more times than I can count now. I work just one exit away and this place will be my new regular.
Everything about it is just great. The friendly service, the prepared foods, the desserts, and of course the grinders!
So far I’ve tried the Italian, Turkey, pulled pork and bbw rib grinders (with the perfect blend of everything of course). The rice pudding has become something I must grab upon checking out. Also the Potatoe salad is very good.