J. Parrino’s Queen City Deli

J. Parrino’s Queen City Deli brings a big city deli feel to Springfield. See what makes it so delish.

By Dylan Whitaker Photo by Kevin O'Riley

J Parrino’s Queen City Deli reminds me of a sandwich shop you would see in an episode of The Sopranos, minus the fat guys in jumpsuits. As you walk in, you’re faced with a little market area that has some dried pasta and pasta sauce along with things like Zapp’s chips. Don’t know what Zapp’s are? Then go try them. The restaurant space then flows into a glass cooler where you can purchase an array of to-go items, such as olives, meatballs, sausages and cheeses. Then you get to the register, where you place your order.

J. Parrino’s has a fairly large menu with a couple of soups, four appetizers, seven salads, 12 sandwiches and 12 pasta dishes. They also have beer and wine, a nice bonus. My wife, Anna, and I had to grab a menu, take a step back and peruse all the yummy options. My eye caught The Burnes, and Anna sniffed out the pastrami on rye.

The seating in the dining room is very casual with a couple high-top tables and some regular tables. The service was super-quick and really friendly, even after I asked them to turn the music down.

The Burnes, which I was told was the second-most-popular sandwich on the menu behind the Italian beef, is simply beef tenderloin on garlic cheese bread. Listed at $10.97, it sounded a little too simple for the steep price tag. As it was placed in front of me, I was thinking to myself, “That’s it?” But the smell from the half-inch-thick grilled tenderloin started to creep my way, and like a shark sensing blood in the water, I attacked!

The tenderloin is so juicy and tender, it really just melts in your mouth. The French bread (which is made fresh at the Artisan’s Oven) is just phenomenal: Golden brown on top, crispy outside edges around the entire loaf and a nice, fluffy center. The garlic cheese blended with the buttery tenderloin and the wondrous bread really make this simple sandwich. After eating it, I realized it’s simple because The Burnes needs no improvement.

Anna is a big fan of pastrami, so when she saw the words “piled high,” J. Parrino’s had her. The pastrami sandwich comes from the New York–style part of the menu. The sandwich’s price was also a little high at $9.57, but it literally was piled high. It was actually piled so high that Anna ended up having to cut individual bites with a knife.

The pastrami sandwich was served warm on Jewish rye that was pillow-soft. The pastrami had a great salty flavor with a nice kick of pepper. It was incredibly tender and not chewy at all. The spicy deli mustard was so good, you could feel the horseradish flare with each bite. The sandwich was enormous, but I was nice enough to help her out and finish it, so she wouldn’t feel bad.