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Bernie's Sub & Pizza Shop
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
10 reviews for Bernie's Sub & Pizza Shop
10 reviews in English
-
Review from Chris M.
Henrico, VA
8/15/2011
I have lived here my whole life and Bernie's far and away has the best sub's in Richmond. Go in and order a whole Regular (always get the hot peppers!) and you won't be disappointed. Anytime I know someone has moved to Richmond I take them by Bernie's.
I do have to warn you...don't expect great decor. This place is a dive, but the food is delicious. -
Review from Matthew B.
Richmond, VA
I have to give this place four stars because I grew up here and like most customers, this place is a second home.
While the subs may not be spectacular, I absolutely love them and can't stop ordering them.
This is how this place works, and I've stuck to this method for years and years. I have NEVER, let me repeat NEVER, walked in and placed an order because I know that I'll have to wait at least 20 minutes. When they 15-20 minutes, they mean it. I always call before I go so that I can get there, pay, wait a minute or two and they have my food hot and ready for me.
I always order a whole regular with peppers, heated. Aka a 12 inch italian sub. Some days they skimp you on the meat and some days they make up for what they left off the visit before.
This place is a local institution and generation after generation, people continue to come here.
Take care & savor it up! -
Review from Mike M.
Albany, NY
3/24/2010
I came to Richmond on business and noticed a lot of small shops and places to eat so I thought I'd give some of them a shot. I found Bernies.
It's a very small place and looked like it could potentially be one of those "hidden gem" places that looks a bit iffy from the outside but serves delicious food on the inside. Well, in my case it was only partially true.
The place was fairly full (60% capacity), but it felt so congested since the place is so small and cluttered with 100 year old decorations. The line actually started at one of the tables a customer was sitting at, so I'm sure he must have enjoyed the fact that my arm was 1 foot away of his food for a few minutes. Okay, So the place is small - big deal. As long as the food is good and the people are friendly, that's all that matters, right?
I ordered a half turkey sub with everything minus onions from the impatient cashier at about 12:15, with only 1 other person in line in front of me. He then asks me if I like hot peppers, which got me excited because I absolutely love them. I thought that we may have finally been getting on the right track!
I noticed that they didn't take credit which is how I usually pay, but okay I have cash - I'll suck it up and pay with paper. He then gives me a number and I sat and waited.
And waited...
And waited...
I get my sandwich FINALLY at 1240, 25 minutes after I ordered it. How can it possibly take that long for a turkey sandwich? What were the five employees currently working doing? I wondered if they actually raised the turkey and grew the lettuce right there in the kitchen, since it was the only logical explanation for the delay. There were only a few small orders ahead of me - 1 to 2 sandwiches per order - so they couldn't have been THAT busy, especially with 5 people working there.
Okay, so maybe they are just having a bad day or something. So I get my sandwich in a bag, even though I said I wanted to stay, and unwrap it to find the following:
1) 2 slices of turkey
2) a few pieces of chopped tomato
3) hot peppers
4) some dressing
5) a garden of lettuce
Wow 25 minutes and I get a piece of bread salad garnished with a few scraps of food... I don't need a behemoths amount of food to be satisfied, but seriously? It frustrates me more because I thought the 25 minute wait meant I was going to get a fairly glorious-looking sandwich, only to have this disappointment thrown together on a piece of bread. It looked like it took 45 seconds to make, so what was going on for the other 24 minutes and 15 seconds?
Anyway, I'm pretty annoyed at this point, but I take my first bite and like I imagined, it was just a salad sandwich. I will admit though that the dressing and the peppers were definitely delicious (the reason for the 2 stars and not 1), but overall just didn't compensate for the rest of the place's shortfalls. I washed it down quickly with my 'drink', containing nothing but ice, and left.
I'm not sure how this place got good reviews; I felt like the place did nothing but cut corners on everything to save a buck and sacrificed too much quality to do so. I felt cheated on a quality lunch.
My advice, come here and order a sandwich if you need a loaf of bread and a side salad for dinner. -
Review from Tater L.
Keller, TX
2/15/2009
I used to walk home from elementary school as a kid and eat at this place.
Ok so i was kind of a fat kid.
Then I moved.
I lost weight - got my life under control - moved back - and now eat here with a frequency unbefitting of a member of the national heart health association.
I have a little trick. I just stick my fingers down my throat when i leave and boom - no calories.. and very little mess if you BYOB - you know - bring your own bag. ( see edo squid )
Ok - thats all BS.
These subs rock.
Ive been eating here for 25 years.
since i was a little little kid.
Ive gotten the same sub every time.
Italian ( 6 inch ) ok - 12... who are you to JUDGE ME!!!!!
I get it with everthing... & extra sauce...
its always packed. If you get there and the line is long...
go outside... grab your cell.. and dial 285-2777 -
Place your order.. and tell them its for "dine in"
this means your going to eat it there....
DS!!
and boom! you go straight to the front of the line.
Who loves you baby!!!!
( YOU DO TATER LONESTAR!!) everyone says at once..
swing by - youll see - these women make a mighty fine sub.
by the way i havent seen Bernie in a while...
Hope your good buddy! -
Review from Peter G.
Richmond, VA
2/10/2010
My folks have lived up the street for years, and this place is great.
I order the italian, or turkey and cheese with everything- including hot peppers.
I've never had pizza but have heard it is good.
This very well might be my favorite place to get a sandwich.
Call in ahead because you might have to wait awhile. -
Review from Michael W.
San Francisco, CA
8/2/2011
I've been eating at this place for 20 years. It's the only place I make sure to stop by every time I come back east to visit my family. It's a delicious and sloppy sub, the way subs should be. When in doubt, just get the special of the day.
-
Review from Diana H.
Malibu, CA
5/3/2010
Quite simply the best subs on the planet. I wish I could have them mailed out to me. I need to find out their secrets.
-
Review from Kevin A.
Richmond, VA
3/8/2010
This place and Coppola's are neck and neck for the best italian sandwich in Richmond. Which one I choose just depends on where I am when I get hungry. I've never even had anything else on the menu here and most everyone else in the place seems to stick to the italian as well. The dressing and bread are perfect, get everything on it. I'd recommend going at an off time because this place gets crushed at lunch. The people who work here are some of the friendliest in town and seem to know most of the customers by name.
-
Review from charles J.
Richmond, VA
9/15/2009
been getting the regular w/ hot peppers there for a long time...like fiften years. excellent sub.
only reason i didn't give it 5 is because they still got the same interior as they did in the 70s when they opened, but its still cool with me because they make the subs great.
bernies should have surgeon generals warning about addiction on the door. they're are bernies addicts who have been going thrity years or more...i know several of them. my dads been an addict forever. i think they hold meetings. i tried to quit once, but why? now i just run an extra three miles the day i eat bernies...thats how good the subs are.
bernies does not take plastic, but that should be no reason to stop you. there are two atms in the shopping center and its worth the walk. -
Review from Paul C.
Richmond, VA
4/10/2010
Mike from Albany is exactly right about this place. I just had a very similar experience. If you first eat at Bernie's after you've hit puberty and have had a sandwich of substance you are bitterly disappointed in the food. Notice that all the positive reviews of this place are from people who grew up in Richmond and are reminded of the times when daddy paid them some attention by taking them to a cut rate sub shop. It is extremely small which makes it crowded and claustrophobic when only a very few tables are being filled. They don't take credit cards and they aren't incredibly friendly, especially if you don't know their procedures. I waited at least a half an hour for a 12 inch Regular sub with 2 pieces of salami, one piece of cheese, some tomatoes and a pile of lettuce. It also had oil and vinegar and the sandwich dressing that you can buy at Kroger. I don't get the love of this place and can only guess it's more nostalgia than actual enjoyment. Go to Subway and get more sandwich for less money. (~$8 for a whole sub).
