On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: Meat Shops, Delis [Edit]
Neighborhood: Northwest
Loading...
I don't know what to add to all the great reviews.... But I will try ;)
I went in with high expectations after reading the great reviews. But still I had not idea what I was getting into. Tiny little place. I almost drove right past it. Cute little place with kitchy decorations. I ordered the Italian No. 1, and I love that they have sweet and hot peppers. There is Momma Carbone chatting away while she is slicing the meat fresh for your sandwich. She was talking to one customer about how she tries to impart love in all of the items they sell. She is a fiesty one, and just was cracking me up. The sandwich was huge and delicious!
They also sell sausages, peppers, pasta, sauces, olives, etc.....
I swear I went back in time, entering this shop. This place could just as easily have been down the street from Floyd's barber shop in Mayberry, in Little Italy NYC, or my hometown in Wisconsin. Rosa and staff are real people, working to offer a real product at a real value.
While we were waiting for our orders to be taken and filled, Rosa was behind the counter and talking about how parents should build something to be able to pass on to their kids. Work towards something for the people you care about, make their life better, etc. Now, I've never met Rosa before today, but I can tell that she is a quality person, and the people in her life are lucky to somehow be connected to her.
This is the kind of place that makes me love Yelp. Finding the mom and pop shops that give you high quality and value, just because that's who they are.
What I ordered doesn't really matter, because I doubt you'll find anything bad. But, just for the sake of the review, I had a #2 combo, which basically an Italian sub (can't remember everything that was on it, sorry). Not one bit of it was processed food. Sausage that they made. The cheese was top quality. The bread crunchy and flaky on the outside, moist in the middle. For $6.25 or whatever I paid, a superb value.
Go there and try it. Sure, it's great to send business their way, but the favor being done here is for you. Honestly, it's worth your time and money.
this place is DELISH! i love to pick up sandwiches at lunch, I got my whole office hooked. my favorite is the italian sausage with sweet peppers, yum!
also a great find for quick, easy party food to please the masses. take home some meatballs and sauce put them in the crockpot grab some hogie bread and you've got a meatball sandwich bar. people will be talking about it for weeks!
if you like to make pizza at home, try the 6-in-one for pizza sauce, you won't be sorry.
I have yet to eat inside Carbone's, but made the best Italian sandwich I've ever had using a variety of meats and cheeses my husband picked up here. He got a kick out of the little old ladies slicing the meat and eating pieces at the same time. Perfectly spicy meats, delicious Provolone and even cheaper than in the grocery store! Can't wait to try one of their own creations next time I'm in the deli.
This place is great. I think it is one of the best hidden secrets of Denver. GO GO GO!!!!!
Haven't tried the sandwichs yet but the italian sausage was very good. They were pretty cheap too. Wish there was a place to sit and eat. will update my review when I try the combo #2.
Everything and more that has been previously written.........A slice of "flava" in NW Denver. After reading Hamilton's review, I had to check this place out.
Mama Carbone was there; we could barely see each other over the deli refrigerator case. And yes, I was given a piece of salami with cheese; Thank you Mama Carbone.
That was before the interrogation started: You gotsa kids? Hows many? Whatsa their age? Quote from Mama Carbone "Itsa best to only hava one these days. Boys, they get into lotsa trouble." It went on for several minutes. In her own way, it was customer-service, above and beyond my expectation. She quickly wins your favor.
I ordered the meatball and Italian sausage sandwiches. Delicious. They threw in some red sauce too, which was F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S.
Yes with a capital Y.
My parents grew up with Rosa's family and I have been going to this place since I was born. They have been in business for 30+ years and make the greatest italian sausage in town. They make great sandwichs ( I am eating one now that prompted my review) and you can't get service like this else where. Everything is fresh and made on the spot.
Beware this place can get crowded but believe me its worth the wait.
These sandwiches are GOOD. I don't think I have had any others in Denver that really compare. They are cheap and full of meat - yummy meats that they slice right there for each sandwich. This is probably the only place that I would take any of my east coast visitors - because us current and former east coasters know good sandwiches.
It is a classic place where it is hard to understand the people behind the counter but you just smile and nod and eat what they give you and it is delicious. I usually get genoa salami and provolone with lettuce and tomatoes and onions and mustard and mayo. mmm!
They have some Italian grocery items there and recently we bought a bunch of the Italian sausage that they make there and turned it into a pretty awesome lasagna.
Bonus entertainment with the minor domestic disturbances behind the counter.
You should go here right now!
The sausage party was just that...three dudes hanging out with their hands full of salami. For a mere $6.25, you can get a massive sandwich that would satisfy you entire daily recommended caloric intake. The cold cuts are outstanding - easily the best italian sandwich I've had in Denver. The shop is a delight, a complete throwback to a different era. Rosa is great, often mumbling about this or that, when she is not barking at her staff. I definitely will be back to try the sausage and meatballs.
What a treat. This market is very small, and there were people lined up to the door at 3PM on a Saturday afternoon, so I knew it had to be good. We had a long wait as three senior women appeared to be doing their weekly shopping, but that was OK. It was worth it. We split the #1 Italian Combo Sub which was huge and covered with several meats and cheese. The bread was fantastic, as well. They have a selection of salamis and sausage and bread and cheese for sale, as well. We took some mild sausage home to add to the homemade spaghetti sauce we're making - it's excellent, also. I'll be going back.
Love this place!!! Everytime it is Delish!!!!!
Ok, Similar to a previous review. This is pretty standard Italian deli that you find all over Chicago or New York.
I'm Italian from Chicago transplant to Denver. I went today with no expectations. The meat I got on a number one (salami, copacolla) was run of the mill. They don't put their best meats on their sandwiches.
I understand why it is so popular here in Denver and a lot of non Italians go there for the pageantry of the place. The reality is, however, (for those that know what I am talking about) the meat, cheese and bread is pretty standard.
Sorry to burst the bubble of people on this site that don't know anything else but all you east cost/Chicago transplants here will now what I am talking about. Don't go thinking you are going to get blown away. It is serviceable but don't go out of your way.
Best bet is to buy the good meats they don't give you on the sandwich and make your own.
You can't deny that this place has some serious charm. I've probably driven by the deli a thousand times, but I had no idea it existed until my fellow yelpers pointed it out. The building is very inconspicuous and easy to miss if you've never been there, now that I've been a couple of times, my eyes look longingly at the deli every time I pass with a full belly. The service is excellent, lots of samples (whether you want 'em or not), big sandwiches, and the hot sopresatta is incredible, as is the genoa. I heart salami. I can't recommend this place enough, it is that awesome.
This is a walk-in joint that is known, or should be known for their sausage...home-made, on the spot. But really, anyone who shares the love of Italian sandwiches to the degree of Joey Tribiani (remember the Friends episode where he tried to save his sandwich from a bullet) should come to Carbones.
All the fabulous meats are sliced in front of you, fresh, for each sandwich. The Italian family that runs it is super fun to talk to/banter with if you don't want to just watch them do so with each other, and you always know what you're going to get.
Excellent house-made sausage, cheap. Take it home and fry up some peppers and onions and you will see what truly good food is all about.
Denver's best Italian sandwich. No need to look beyond the combo #2 in my opinion. Please order yours with oil and vinegar, NEVER put mayo or mustard on these meats. You will thank me for the advice.
Two things keep bringing me back:
A perfect meatball sandwich
The old ladies continually asking me if I am married, and then why I'm not.
If you have some sort of subconscious need to eat and be nagged, I can't think of a better place than Carbone's.
WTF!!?? This place has been there the whole time and nobody told me? I'm pissed. I've been dying to find a real Italian sandwich somewhere, you know, the kind when they slice the meat to order and it's real Italian meat. Perfect. This place does it right. The only problem is, how do you decide between Italian Combo #1 and #2? So obviously you have to get one of each, eat half of each and save the other halves for later. Problem solved. This place is great!
You think the sandwiches are great? Try getting some of the sausage to grill at home - the BEST!
I wish Rosa Carbone was my mother! Seriously, Carbone's is a great Italian deli with the best sausage in town. Rosa's meatballs are great to keep in the freezer (since I've found them I've gotten lazy about making them from scratch) to augment my husband's incredible red sauce. Carbone's meats and cheeses are sliced fresh and the prices are very reasonable. The pizza dough is great. Come in stock up on all your Italian pantry needs (pastas, beans, polenta, tomatoes, peppers, cheese), get some amazing sausage and don't forget a sandwich (the combo is great, but my favorite is the meatball). I always leave feeling like I visited family and with a hand full of suckers for the kids.
Proscuitto sandwich.
That's really all I have to say, but this place is not only great for the food but for the awesomely dysfunctional Italian family that owns the place. It's like watching a European soap opera every time you get your food! And when you do get it (usually at astonishing speed for such a busy joint) it's everything you could hope for. Authentic Italian-American cold-cuts, hot hot peppers all on soft but crusty white bread.
If nothing else, just go to say hello to Rose, the matriarch of the Carbone family. She'll either rail at you about her "useless" grandchildren or give you sage advice on life and love.
But seriously. Proscuitto sandwich.
It seems silly to write a review for this place, because everyone already knows how great it is! You cannot walk into the tiny deli without sharing smiles with the people around you, anxiously awaiting the best sandwich you will have all week. My boyfriend and I go there on a regular basis for sandwiches- which are the best deal in town- and they are also home to the best selection of traditional Italian cooking ingredients in the neighborhood. Mama Carbone always gives me a hard time for ordering mayo on my sandwich, but it is her charming abrasiveness that keeps us coming back.
I love hole-in-the-wall, no-frills places that serve one purpose, but do it well. And I also love places that are stuck in time, and have been the same for decades. And that is the beauty of Carbone's.
The inside of the shop is very unassuming - it's about as big as my living room, and consists of nothing more than a single glass deli case, a few shelves of dry goods, and a walk-in and meat slicer. There are no glossy ads, flat-screen TVs tuned to ESPN, or even soda dispensers. It's just sausages, olives, and a little board with a dozen sandwich choices.
The sandwiches - I got the Italian meatball, and it was the best damn sandwich I've ever had. The sauce: amazing. The bread: perfect. The mozzarella: absolutely fresh. The combination was absolutely perfect. And it was $6, plus a 50-cent can of Coke. Usually if I get a foot-long sandwich, I will stall out about halfway through the second half, but with this, I ate the entire thing and wanted to turn around and go back for another.
Rose is the woman who works there, and she will start talking to you, even if you try to avoid her. If you watch the movie Goodfellas, Marty S's real mom plays the role of the mom cooking them dinner, and Rose is exactly like her: very old-school and sincere, yet she might ask you far more personal questions than if you bought a meatball sub at a Subway. But it's cool, and it's always nice to see people rather than droids serve your food.
There's no place to sit, and there's just sandwiches, unless you want to buy a whole salami and gnaw on it in the car. There are no vegan or gluten-free options. There are no low-cal options. There are no low-fat options. It's just sandwiches, done right. Good stuff.
This place was a saving grace for an east coast kid with Italian heritage living in Denver. Trying to find decent Italian food in Denver is like trying to convince your girlfriend that it's not "cheating" if you're out of the state.
Carbone's is great. The food is solid, the people who work there are really nice, and its simplicity is its charm.
The old lady who works there is super awesome. I once went there just to buy some cold cuts for the weekend, but she "forced" me to try a meatball, and then when I was about to leave, she insisted that I take half a loaf of bread with me as well. For free.
I'll be honest, if this deli were on the east coast, I'd probably only give it 4 stars, but in Denver, it's about the best you're gonna get, so I'm giving them the extra one for doing something that seemingly nobody else in Denver can do.
Like going home and seeing my Italian grandmother. Great food served with a rash of guilt. Feels just like home!
This place needs to be in a T.V. show or movie. Very tasty sandwhich at a great price. Combo #2 is the way to go.
Some Yelpers I know claim that this is the best Italian sandwich in Denver. I naturally had to check it out. So, I stepped into this tiny, down-at-the-heels shop next door to The Original Chubby's, and I hear Rosa Carbone (I assume) yelling mostly incoherent rebukes at one of the hired hands on today's sandwich duty. This poor young woman really took a tongue-lashing from ol' Rosa--although the young woman, the other four customers in the shop, and I shared a few knowing glances that implied "I have no freak'n idea what this lady is talking about!" I did stiffen-up a bit at the thought that I too might be subjected to similar humiliation, so I mentally prepared my order for smooth and efficient communication. After listening to about three more minutes of verbal abuse from Rosa, the two middle-aged women in line hit the eject button. Now it was down to me a two older gentlemen, but there was no way we were going to let little ol' Rosa scare us out the "the best Italian sandwich in Denver." Next thing I know, however, Rosa is handing us some fresh slices of salami wrapped in a slice of wonderful Swiss cheese. Still rambling incoherently, these gifts seem to have been offered as a kind of half-apology. We took them and attempted to engage in a kind of small talk, but it was clear that Rosa would use any exchange to serve up more diatribes against the crappy help she has, her 30+ years in this place, and the state of the world in general. Or, at least this is what I could glean from the handful of phrases that I could successfully interpret. Rosa then fastened a steely blue eye on me: "Wha chu want?" I reply: "Number 2 Combo, please." "What kinda cheese?" I say, "Whatever you recommend." I see her shoulders soften a bit as, finally, a customer assents to an Italian sandwich with Provolone, instead of insisting on American-ifying it with some off-code cheese. I am a natural-born sycophant, so I offer, "I read on a website that you make the best sandwich in Denver." Bad move. "Whaaaat!!! I hope not! I don't want people coming in here and makin' more work for me. I already got too much work, and [indecipherable]." She finally shoots me a look that says "I will remember your sycophantic mug next time you come in here." I loved this little adventure, and "the best Italian sandwich in Denver."
"My son's, dey fight all da time, dey hate each oder, they would kill each oder if dey could, that's why we can't let them take over da store, because they would kill each oder with out us here. One he don't have da license and he can get it with some classes, but he too lazy. When dey bring da girls home and do nasty it is really disgusting and they are horrible horrible sons."
The older Italian mother was obviously Mrs. Carbone, and if you could understand a word she said to you behind the counter, you are in store for some family gossip, some attitude, and a great time.
The Italian store has been open six days a week for over 25 years, in what couldn't be a better location right smack on 38th street, right near the Italian Highlands neighborhood. Italian sausages, pepperonis, ground meats, bruschetta, mozzarella, other cheeses, spaghetti noodles, pre-made pizza dough, frozen hand made ravioli, hand-made lasagna thick noodles, imported olive oil and balsamic, Italian cookware, cheese graters, and Italian sweets... To top it off, the store makes incredible Italian sandwiches with fresh Italian meats and cheeses.
Don't come here expecting a sweet waitress with a short skirt, high cheekbones and an Italian accent, you are dealing with hair nets and aprons, meat slicers and plastic gloves. This is a deli, so no seating is available anywhere in site and this is not the place for large groups, unless you want to have the line go out the door.
Everyone else is giving Carbone's 5 stars, but I am just not getting it.
I went in last month and despite being the only customer, the three people working there never acknowledged me, asked me what I wanted or anything else. I felt I must have been invisible. I left and still no one seemed to care.
I tried again today. Waited ten minutes behind one other customer and ordered a meatball sandwich.
I am so unimpressed. The meatballs tasted mostly of salt and were not hot. Bread was squishy as any Subway roll. No crusty character at all. Provolone was not melted as a result of cold meatballs. Sauce seemed to be canned.
Most of the cold cuts are not made by them. I noticed some sopressetta from Canada. Frozen pastas and gnocchi are also all made by other companies.
Yes, the older lady is a pip, but so what. Sandwiches are no better than Quizno's. I had a better meatball sandwich at Louie's in Stapleton.
I've heard their subs are to die for. I went in to get some slices of salami to snack on. I asked if I could have a few slices of mild and a few of the spicy. I got a Dr. Pepper and a lovely low-carb snack for less that $3. I can't wait to go back with an apettite.
This little meat shack is very well known by the local neighborhood. There was definitely a line of people waiting to get freshly grated Romano cheese, others were there to pick up pasta but the majority were there for a sub and or salami.
Great Traditional Italian Deli!!!
I've tried both the homemade, Sausage and Meatball sandwiches. MMMMMMM! If you don't have time to make it yourself, this is your place! The sausage with spicey peppers was my favorite. You can get a variety of Italian Market goods here as well.
It's like another yelper said being from an italian-american family I am used to being fed and yelled at so Carbones is perfect, each time I have been there Rose was behind the counter yelling at her "good for nothing son" while fixing me a "#1" sandwhich If I was forced to remember what's on it I would say prosciutto mortadella and capicola never the less delicious. Honestly though the sandwiches and the entertainment should just be a snack while waiting on your sausage order. Their sausages are hands down better than anything store bought, come Christmas time we buy bags of it pounds and pounds of homemade sausage all coiled up. This is truly a landmark and well worth the drive.
nom nom nom meatball sammich nom nom nom
denver's best italian deli. i'd almost say best sandwhich in denver, not sure why i won't. but walk in and walk out with fresh sliced italian meats, easy menu, no bullshit, no fluff, no dried cranberrys or truffle oil nonsense. the old italian lady behind the deli counter is as real as it gets. i once went in and she began talking (as she will and that's why i love her) as though we were as familiar as any of her regulars about her family in sicily (actually that's an assumption, i'm not sure where her family is in italy cause i can barely understand what she saying) and how she'd hadn't closed for busines in a decade to go back to italy to see them. and the shop was closed a couple days later for a week.
that's what this place is, it closes once a decade so they can fly to italy to see family.
should this place ever close, i will lose a significant yet dwindling hope that denver will ever be a real city.
Cabones is a gem of the highlands area. When in the deli you feel like your in some sort of movie. There is a sweet older Italian lady that serves up the most tasty Italian sandwiches and the dynamic between the people behind the counter can often be amusing. They also carry plenty of authentic Italian goods.
Hello! When you enter Carbone's you feel like you are in Boston, New York or New Jersey. This place is an institution. I heard it might be sold. Boy if it is I hope it maintains its unique character. The sausage is the best in Denver (in my opinion). They make wonderful sandwiches as well. Take a look behind you when you order at the counter. If you don't buy pasta, cheese, ravioli, canned tomatoes or Italian cookies then you are not a true Italian Food Lover.
Neighborhood: Northwest
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Northeast
Category: Grocery
Neighborhood: Northwest
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Northwest
Category: Italian
Lakewood, CO
Category: Meat Shops
These are places I specifically went to after…
Then live like a king and walk away so stuffed you…
Where to drop a Hamilton for lunch. Aaron Burr can…
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
