13 Ohio Sandwich Spots That Have Been Feeding Communities For Decades
Ohio has this wonderful habit of keeping its best sandwich shops around for generations.
While chain restaurants come and go, these locally owned spots have been slicing, stacking, and serving their communities for decades.
Some started as corner groceries, others as family delis, and a few as simple lunch counters that just never needed to change.
What they all share is a commitment to quality, consistency, and the kind of customer service that makes you feel like family the second time you walk through the door.
These aren’t just places to grab lunch. They’re living pieces of Ohio history, where grandparents brought their kids, who now bring their own children.
The recipes might be old, but the sandwiches taste fresh every single time.
Let me walk you through thirteen spots that prove the best things in life are worth waiting for, and worth coming back to.
1. Izzy’s – Cincinnati
Walk into Izzy’s downtown and it feels like stepping into a Cincinnati tradition more than a century in the making.
The Kadetz family opened their first kosher-style deli back in 1901, and today the Elm Street shop at 800 Elm St, Cincinnati, OH 45202 still piles corned beef and pastrami as if there’s no such thing as a light lunch.
Regulars swear by the overstuffed Reubens and the famously crisp potato pancakes, served with a bracing pickle that hits you right in the nostalgia.
Office workers, courthouse staff, and families all squeeze into the bright, no-nonsense dining room, where the pace is fast but the welcome is warm.
It’s the kind of place where saying you’ve been coming here since your grandparents’ time isn’t an exaggeration.
It’s just how Izzy’s does lunch in Cincinnati.
2. Katzinger’s Delicatessen – Columbus
In German Village, Katzinger’s is less a deli and more a neighborhood ritual.
Since 1984, this brick-front shop at 475 S 3rd St, Columbus, OH 43215 has been the place where downtown workers, families, and visiting politicians line up for corned beef Reubens, big bowls of soup, and thick slices of rye that taste like they came straight from New York.
Inside, the counters are stacked with cheeses, cured meats, and salads, while a big pickle barrel tempts everyone who wanders by.
Kids get wide-eyed when their sandwiches arrive taller than the plates, and the staff banters with regulars like they’ve been coming in since the eighties.
Because many of them have. Katzinger’s is that rare place where you can grab a quick sandwich or linger over lunch and still feel like you’re part of the story.
3. Slyman’s Restaurant & Deli – Cleveland
Slyman’s doesn’t do subtle. Since 1964, this industrial-stretch corner at 3106 St Clair Ave NE, Cleveland, OH 44114 has turned out corned-beef sandwiches so tall they look physically impossible.
And yet somehow, Clevelanders keep finishing them.
The line usually snakes out the door at lunchtime: construction crews in neon vests, lawyers in suits, families on a pilgrimage, all waiting for that first giant bite.
Inside, the vibe is classic lunch counter – fast-moving, noisy, and friendly, with plates hitting tables as quickly as the grill can handle them.
Everything centers around that legendary corned beef: sliced thick, piled high, and tucked into rye with Swiss, kraut, and dressing until the sandwich barely stands upright.
Slyman’s has fed everyone from U.S. presidents to local regulars who treat it like a weekly obligation.
4. Kravitz Deli – Liberty Township
Kravitz Deli began life as a neighborhood corner store in 1939 and quietly grew into a Mahoning Valley institution.
Today, at its Belmont Avenue location at 3135 Belmont Ave, Youngstown, OH 44505, just north of Youngstown, the deli still feels like the kind of place where the staff already knows what you want before you sit down.
House-made corned beef anchors a menu of Reubens, stacked specialty sandwiches, and comforting soups that locals call their comfort food.
Old photos of founder Rose Kravitz and her family hang on the walls, a reminder that this isn’t some trend.
It’s a lifetime’s work. Generations of Youngstown families have celebrated, mourned, and marked milestones over those sandwiches, turning Kravitz into something much bigger than a lunch spot.
5. G & R Tavern – Waldo
In tiny Waldo, the G & R Tavern is proof that one great sandwich can put a dot on the map.
Since the early 1960s, this unassuming corner tavern at 103 N Marion St, Waldo, OH 43356 has been famous for a single, unapologetically simple star: the thick-cut fried bologna sandwich that Ohio road-trippers will happily detour miles to get.
Step inside and you’ll find wood-panelled walls, friendly bartenders, and a mix of farmers, truckers, and families who all agree on one thing.
Lunch means bologna stacked high on a soft bun with cheese, onions, and pickles.
It’s served on paper plates, with no fuss and no apology, and yet people photograph it like a celebrity.
For Central Ohio, G & R isn’t just a bar. It’s a rite of passage.
6. Brown Bag Deli – Columbus
Tucked on a quiet German Village corner at 898 Mohawk St, Columbus, OH 43206, Brown Bag Deli looks like the kind of little neighborhood spot you’d walk past.
Until you see the line snaking out the door at lunchtime.
The deli has roots going back to the 1970s, and for decades, locals have filed in for made-to-order sandwiches with playful names and serious portions.
Inside, the chalkboard menu is crammed with combinations: roasted turkey loaded with veggies, Italian-style layers of cured meats, and gooey grilled options pressed just right.
You’ll see construction workers, young families with strollers, and German Village residents all juggling their signature brown bags as they spill back out onto the brick streets.
It’s simple, it’s fast, and it tastes like the neighborhood has tasted for generations.
7. Joe’s Deli & Restaurant – Rocky River
On Cleveland’s west side, Joe’s Deli at 19215 Hilliard Blvd, Rocky River, OH 44116 is one of those places that seems to be busy no matter what time you drive by.
Family-run since 1994, this Rocky River landmark blends classic deli sandwiches with Middle Eastern touches, reflecting the family’s Lebanese roots.
The menu is huge, but regulars will nudge you toward the corned beef, gyros, towering clubs, and crisp-griddled panini.
Servers move quickly between booths with overflowing plates, topping up coffee, and greeting regulars by name.
Kids nibble pita and hummus while grandparents tackle sandwiches so big they need a knife to manage them.
Joe’s feels like an extension of the neighborhood, the place everyone suggests when the question is simply “Where should we meet for lunch?”
8. Jack’s Deli & Restaurant – University Heights
Head east from downtown Cleveland and you’ll eventually hit Jack’s Deli at 14490 Cedar Rd, Cleveland, OH 44121, a classic Jewish-style deli that’s been feeding the Cedar-Green corridor since around 1980.
Inside, glass cases glisten with cured meats, smoked fish, and old-school deli salads, while the menu reads like a greatest-hits album: corned beef, pastrami, turkey clubs, tuna melts, patty melts, and more.
Locals come for matzo ball soup on gray winter days, towering sandwiches at Sunday lunch, and black-and-white cookies to take home for later.
The dining room hums with multigenerational families: college kids back in town, grandparents seated at their usual table, everyone reaching for the pickle plate.
Jack’s isn’t chasing trends. It’s preserving a style of deli you’re lucky to still find.
9. DiSalvo’s Deli & Italian Store – Kettering
Next to the beloved Mamma DiSalvo’s restaurant in Kettering sits DiSalvo’s Deli & Italian Store at 1383 East Stroop Rd, Kettering, OH, the family’s old-world grocery and sandwich counter.
For decades, Dayton-area families have come here to stock up on imported pastas, cured meats, and cheeses, and to grab hot and cold Italian subs piled with capicola, salami, provolone, and house-made salads.
Behind the counter, staff slice meats to order and wrap sandwiches in paper the old-fashioned way, sending customers back out onto Stroop Road with armfuls of food.
It’s the kind of place where you can grab a quick Italian sub on your lunch break and also quietly assemble everything you need for Sunday dinner.
In Kettering, DiSalvo’s is both a pantry and lunch spot, woven into family routines for generations.
10. Main Street Deli & Arcade – Findlay
Downtown Findlay’s lunch rush has orbited around Main Street Deli at 513 S Main St, Findlay, OH 45840 since the late 1980s, long before it added an arcade and nightlife scene to its resume.
By day, it’s all about creative deli sandwiches with fun names, homemade soups, and baked-in-house cookies, served to courthouse staff, students, and office workers who’ve been coming here since childhood.
By night, the space morphs into a lively hangout, with the old deli soul still intact beneath the neon and arcade noise.
Order at the counter, watch your sandwich piled high, then grab a table by the window to people-watch on Main Street.
Ask around town and you’ll hear the same refrain: we’ve always met at Main Street.
That’s the kind of loyalty decades of good sandwiches can buy.
11. Wilson’s Sandwich Shop – Findlay
Just down the road at 600 S Main St, Findlay, OH 45840, Wilson’s Sandwich Shop is the older sibling in Findlay’s sandwich story, a 1936 original that still glows with vintage charm.
The sign, the counter, the simple menu of burgers, dogs, and sandwiches all feel lifted from another era, and that’s exactly why locals love it.
Breakfast, lunch, or a late-day craving, Wilson’s has a steady stream of regulars who’ve been coming since they were kids, often now bringing their own grandkids to try the same chili-topped burgers and simple, satisfying sandwiches.
You order at the counter, slide into a booth, and before long a no-frills, perfect diner basket arrives.
In Findlay, Wilson’s isn’t fast food. It’s hometown food, the kind that reminds you why some things should never change.
12. Thurman Café – Columbus
Thurman Café at 183 Thurman Ave, Columbus, OH 43206, is technically a burger joint, but in Columbus, nobody doubts those towering creations earn it a place on any sandwich list.
Opened in 1942, this narrow, brick-front tavern in German Village is home to the legendary Thurmanator, a burger-meets-sandwich fever dream stacked so high it almost needs structural support.
Inside, the walls are covered with memorabilia, the music’s loud, and the wait can be long, but nobody seems to mind.
Families, students, and out-of-towners all crowd into the dim dining room, laughing as plates arrive loaded with buns barely containing the mountain of meat, cheese, and toppings.
Thurman has been feeding the neighborhood for generations, proving that sometimes the most memorable sandwich is the one you need two hands and a game plan to tackle.
13. Schmidt’s Sausage Haus – Columbus
A few blocks from Katzinger’s and Brown Bag at 240 E Kossuth St, Columbus, OH 43206, Schmidt’s Sausage Haus shows how German Village has been doing hearty sandwiches since long before the neighborhood became trendy.
The Schmidt family has been in the sausage business for well over a century, and the current restaurant in German Village has been a destination for bratwurst, Bahama Mamas, and sausage sandwiches loaded into crusty rolls for decades.
Tourists might come for the giant cream puffs and the as-seen-on-TV fame, but locals know that a simple grilled sausage on a bun, smothered in onions and mustard, is the real star.
Wood beams, polka music, and big communal tables give it a festive feel, but underneath the atmosphere is a very simple idea.
Good sausage, good bread, and plenty of it. For generations of Columbus families, Schmidt’s has been where you go when you want a sandwich that eats like a full meal.