Al Ducci’s Italian Pantry

With the news of the old owners selling I was excited to see what new life and a better attitude would do to improve a weak business.
What I found was the same store minus the old owners. Very little has changed. With so much room for improvement in terms of customer service systems and selection I am discouraged to see that opportunities are again being missed.
Maybe the third owner will get it right!

Arthur Avenue quality Italian deli! We stopped by on our way out of town to pick up sandwiches (ended up sitting in the self-​serve dining room which was still fast) and had the best post-​ski meal. Incredible Italian specialities and cold cut sandwiches. We couldn’t resist taking some of their pre-​made foods home for dinner too. Everything is homemade!

I was bummed last time I visited here. Whenever we venture to Manchester, my wife and I always stop here for a few slices of pizza and a soup. It’s a nice respite from hanging out in outlets while my wife shops around.
The person at the counter told me they no longer serve pizza… just the frozen stuff in the case. My heart sank… how can this be?
Since my favorite aspect of this establishment is no longer there, I had to deduct a star. It’s still a great place for your other Italian staples, but with out the pizza, it’s just not the same.

Grab a number to be served. Sit outside on the front porch. Love your lunch. Done. We had a nice pasta dish and a really good chicken cutlet sandwich. Who knew VT?!?

Pretty sure you couldn’t find a better Italian market in NYC. All the food is delicious and of very high quality. We’ve even taken cold eggplant parmesan picked up beforehand on a hike (with olives, piave, a baguette, and CANNOLI). Just have to say that the cannoli are something special, not at all like the kind that you might find in those Italian bakeries that sell pink leaf cookies where they are basically sugar paste on a toilet paper tube. Looking forward to dinner at their restaurant next-​door again soon!
–they bake their own bread: baguettes, Italian loaves, etc.
–they make their own mozzarella cheese (so good in summer w/​tomato on bread!)
–you can get a slice of pizza made w/​their own mozzarella
–they have homemade desserts and cookies like tiramisu and almond cookies, cannoli
–AMAZING PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP and other soup

WOW… we sought an italian deli for lunch one afternoon and it is always a hard sell since we make our own mozzarella. We order on Semolina bread – Fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers and mortadella with balsamic vinegar. Oh my, that was delish, fresh and tasty. Good buy although a bit pricey-​12 inch sub. sandwhich and lemonade doe $ 30.00 but it was worth it!

The place was a little chaotic, you have to pick a number to be served, everyone huddles around the counter, if you’re new to the place it’s difficult to understand what the process is and where the line is. I wanted soup. I was told they didn’t have any, although there was a refrigerator full of different kinds of soup. No one even suggested picking it up from there. I found them while looking for a drink, asked if they would heat it up. They did, but it was still cold and I had to go back to ask again. Service took frustratingly long. The seating on the patio can be improved greatly. The food however tastes fresh and good. A mixed experience on the whole.

Extremely friendly service. Great selection of cheeses. Must have the goat gouda.

My girlfriend and stopped by for a lunch while garden shopping in the Manchester area. I knew we would be looking for lunch so Unilocaled choices and chose Al Ducci’s. We were not disappointed and I am glad I did my research because I doubt we would have found it as a casual tourist driving around Manchester. We both ordered a panini but making a decision was certainly not easy! I had the tomato, mozzarella, basil and added roasted red pepper for an extra 50 cents. My friend had the same but with eggplant. It was fresh, bread delicious and crusty, the basil fresh and flavorful and the roasted red peppers incredibly sweet. We sat outside and enjoyed the day and the locals coming in for their goodies. The counter help was efficient, pleasant and helpful. We both went back to get dinner for home. I got the frozen pizza and bow tie/​tomato/​arugula salad. We grilled the pizza at home and it was very tasty, crust crispy and delicious. I liked the salad but my husband thought it was too garlicky. I would love to have dinner at the café some time. All the foods in the deli section looked wonderful and there is a small cooler and freezer with their items as well. I highly recommend this small out of the way deli.

We love this place. Love the prepared food so much! Oh, and the ricotta cheesecake /​really the best of anywhere I have had it!
Only negative is hitting Al Ducci’s when it may be filled with obnoxious New Yorkers or New Jersey people. It’s a tiny space and can be hard to maneuver when it’s busy. When you hit it during slow periods, it’s a joy to decided which wonderful food you are going to buy for dinner that evening. We recently tried the pesto and it’s addictive. Really, pretty much everything is additive here.
Can’t wait to return to shop and to dine next door.
Owners and staff are fab.

This is a great place for specialty Italian foods or having lunch. Of course, you can then buy prepared foods for dinner.
The owners and staff are always attentive, prices are reasonable. In nice weather you can sit on the porch, and in winter or in rainy days they have an informal dining room.

I went here the other day and had their 3 meat pizza — with homemade mozz!!! It was diving!!! Now I have seen only few places add quite this much fresh mozzarella to their pizza — most do just small dobs on it here and there, but this was fresh mozz covering the span of the entire pizza — the way that it should be. It was perfectly thin and crispy and you could taste the freshness of the tomato sauce. They have a little garden in the back so I imagine the basil came from there cause it tasted fresh from the garden, if not, they are getting it from somewhere with some kickin basil. The sausage was my least favorite of the meats on there cause it overpowered the other ingredients with its saltiness just a little, but thats not to say it was bad — just not my favorite. Overall, it was a culinary masterpiece.
It might seem a bit on the pricey side, but for the quality of product we were getting, I didn’t mind, and the taste certainly stood up to it. Just felt it was worth pointing out because some people just expect pizza should never be more than $ 12 and this was not that kind of pizza — but you have to understand the ingredients you are getting on your pizza too. These were not cheap ingredients, these were hard worked and well executed ingredients and it shines through with every bite.

I know how spoiled I am in regards to Italian specialty stores when I venture off the NY Metro line!
But to be fair, this spot is a decent alternative. Just too pricey (but this is the woods & it’s VT).
So, if you are in desperate need of authentic imported (or not) Italian specialty items like home made mozzarella, squid ink pasta, San Marzano tomatoes, Pecarino Romano, sporesatta, or lady fingers for your special tiramisu then this is it!
Good selection of cold cuts, cheeses, pastas, olives, bread etc.
The service is just OK.
They also serve pizza & hot entres which is NOT part of this review as I haven’t eaten here.

I just HAVE to upgrade these guys to five stars. What made me originally award only four, I’ll never know. Chalk it up to temporary insanity, I suppose. They have everything going for them: quality, customer service, value, everything! Please see my detailed review below and be sure to check out the pix I’ve posted here.
Just eating their pizza in and of itself is akin to breathing in fresh air after having nearly drowned. I could sit and virtually inhale that wonderful stuff for hours! Ditto the sandwiches and everything else they feature. Bravo, Al Ducci!

Let me start off by saying that I’ve never been treated so poorly in a retail establishment as I was in Al Ducci. This was our first time and when we walked in, were not greeted and were not even acknowledged after standing at the counter for over 10 minutes. All the while, two workers were standing dormant in the back.
A proper way to treat customers in wait is to say, «we’ll be right with you.» Instead, a nasty woman who I presumed to be the owner, scolded us for questioning where the help was, and nastily said she’d be right with us.
For a small establishment, I was appalled. I would expect that they would welcome new business with open arms — especially when their restaurant venture next door failed — and be courteous to all customers. Instead, we were treated as if they didn’t need our business, so we left and we will NEVER go back.