Dominick’s Deli at Market on Lee

I recently set off on a quest to find good meatball subs. Dominick’s Deli was one of the places recommended to me, and then a friend was raving about the Papa and their sub rolls back in May. She and her significant other are regulars there. It seemed like a sign that I needed to check it out. I’m embarrassed that I live so close and didn’t even know about it until now. I’ve been back several times in just a couple of weeks.

Dominick’s Deli is a family run business on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights (next to the Kensington Pub) that features sandwiches, salads, and pizzas named after family members. Brothers Demetrios and Niko are co-owners who live in the Heights along with their families. Dominick’s is named after their grandfather on the Italian side, and the prepared foods and subs all have an Italian emphasis. I do love mortadella, and several of the subs feature it, as well as proscuitto, gabagool, Genoa salami and other Italian deli meats. Demetrios owns several businesses in the Land, including Oak Barrel in Valley View, Forage Public House, Chicken Ranch and the late Deagen’s Kitchen and Zina Street Food. Dominick’s Deli does business out of The Market on Lee. The Market has a small selection of carefully curated items from pantry staples to gourmet items out of refrigerated coolers. The brands at the Market range from national to hyper local – with an emphasis on local, small, family run businesses. I enjoy ordering i online for pickup directly on the Market on Lee website. Door Dash also offers online ordering, but it’s cheaper to order directly.

I recently got a craving for a meatball sub and asked my food group for suggestions. Dominick’s was one of the suggestions, and I’m so glad it was. This was a damn good meatball sub, and it was only the second one I tried. I figure most meatball subs won’t compare, because it was fantastic. The
crusty filone bread is special ordered from On the Rise especially for Dominick’s subs. It comes with or without sesame seeds. The rolls are split in half and topped with the toppings and then broiled to melt the cheese. The meatballs were nicely sliced and the cheese broiled to the sides of the container. The seasoning was also top-notch. I had to eat it with a fork, but probably could have used my hands if I really wanted to get messy.

The small Veney salad was super fresh as well. It features hydro greens, Locatelli cheese, Castelvetrano olives, Roma tomatoes, red onion, pepperoncini, house croutons and Dominick’s vinaigrette. I loved the olives. I’m a sucker for Castelvetrano olives. I also enjoyed a side of Niko’s Broccoli Slaw on another visit. The crisp broccoli was nicely dressed in the slaw sauce and had a good amount of cheese. There were some fun and tasty mix-ins (maybe cranberry?).

I had heard rave reviews of the Papa from my friend as well as Mitch from #40daysofsandwiches. Mitch claims it is one of their favorite sandwiches. It is the #1 ordered item on Door Dash. The Papa features prosciutto de Parma, Dolceterra pecorino brie, wild arugula, local honey, and toasted pistachios. I had high hopes, but wasn’t that blown away. I love brie, but just thought the sandwich was okay. The arugula kind of made it bitter despite the honey of it all.

I did, however, enjoy the tuna melt, which I ordered on another visit. The tuna melt comes with cheddar cheese, but you can customize the sub to meet your cravings. I will probably order it with mozzarella or provolone in addition to cheddar next time. I also added tomato for a bit of freshness. This was another sandwich that would have benefited from eating with a fork, but this time I dove right in and enjoyed the mess.

The sausage and peppers sub is also features sliced sausage, sauteed onions and peppers, and broiled cheese. Like the meatball sub and tuna melt it was a tasty, tasty mess with a generous helping of broiled cheese.

People on the local Cleveland Heights group also raved about the pizza, so I ordered one to check it out. I chose to build my own and ordered sausage, ricotta cheese and fresh tomato. It was good, but I honestly prefer Jet’s Pizza. I did enjoy the toppings, but it was a little more doughy than I would have preferred. I might try one of their four signature pizzas just in case I chose boring toppings though.

I tried the Pasta e Fagioli soup, and it was also good but kind of veered close to “too salty.” My friend hadn’t enjoyed the turkey pot pie soup because it was too salty and had a seasoning she didn’t enjoy. So buyer beware on the soups. The baby farfalle were a nice contrast with the cannellini beans. The farfalle had not broken down and were a nice consistency. Overall it had a good flavor.

The rice pudding was delicious. It had a great, creamy consistency and just the right amount of cinnamon on top. I could easily see me getting addicted to it. The tiramisu was very heavy on the amaretto flavor. It had a nice consistency as well, but I wasn’t expecting amaretto.

I look forward to exploring the menu more in the future.

Contact info:

Dominick’s Deli at Market on Lee
2256 Lee Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 417-2675