Fedele's Deli

75 Lake Avenue, Hilton
Visited July 15 & 18, 2011
Written by Tyler




If a sub shop isn’t going to bake its own bread, the least it can do is bring in and serve the best bread in the area, which is exactly the case at the new Fedele’s Deli in Hilton.

Several restaurants have come and gone through our hometown, so we were interested to see how Fedele’s – which opened in June in the former Forest Hill Catering location – stacked up.

Drew and I gave it a shot one day during work. I ordered a grilled chickend sandwich, as usual, and he ordered a Buffalo chicken sub.

My chicken itself was nothing extraordinary, but being served on a Martusciello’s roll makes any sandwich delicious. The sandwich went from being ‘average’ to ‘good’ solely because of the bread.

Drew’s sandwich was much the same. It was simply chicken tenders, some wing sauce and some ranch dressing. It was nothing you can’t get at any sub place (though still tasty), but the addition of a Martusciello’s roll made all the difference.

Joe was so excited when I told him there was a place in Hilton serving Martusciello’s bread that he went to Fedele’s for dinner that night himself. He ordered an Italian assorted sub, which he was pleased – though not blown away – by.

I got Fedele’s again with my family a few nights later. I ordered the same thing, but got it topped with wing sauce. I couldn’t wait to have what was sort of a hybrid of what Drew and I each got the first time.

But you can imagine my disappointment when I opened the box and saw my sandwich came on a generic sandwich roll, rather than a Martusciello’s roll, making for an incredibly generic overall sandwich.

Fortunately for the others, their subs came on Martusciello’s bread. My mom and sister split a ham and cheese sub, and my dad had a steak sub with mushrooms and mozzarella.

My dad seemed to enjoy his. The chunks of steak were very thick compared to comparable subs from other places, and the sub was loaded with mushrooms.

Fedele’s puts more meat on its subs than Subway, but not nearly as much as DiBella’s. My mom agreed with me after eating hers.

If you’re a bread lover, like me, you will like Fedele’s. The contents of the subs are no better or worse than similar places, but the use of Martusciello’s bread – widely regarded as the best in Greater Rochester – puts Fedele’s subs a cut above the rest in Hilton.

A restaurant can’t have too high of a grade if that’s the main thing that stands out, but I see potential in Fedele’s. The owners seem very enthusiastic and frequently update their Facebook page.

The menu is relatively limited – cold subs, hot subs, a few fryer items, a few salads and a few items off the grill – but there are daily specials, which appear to change on a week-to-week basis. In other words, it looks look a lot of experimentation with different menu items is going on, and maybe some of them will catch on full time if popular enough.

Oh, and Friday is dessert day. According to Fedele’s Facebook page, the Oreo cheesecake sold out yesterday.

Again, I see some potential here. Fedele’s might be on to something. God knows we could use a little variety in our food out in Hilton.

Ratings

Service/Atmosphere: I haven’t actually been inside yet, but it seemed like the food was ready soon enough.

Food: Not much different than a typical sub shop – until you get to the bread. We’ll definitely have to try out some of the daily specials soon, because those just might be what gives Fedele’s a little variety, relative to other places in Hilton.

Value: Prices are right about where they should be, and match the portion size well.

Overall: Needs to have more than amazing bread brought in from somewhere else to make it great on a larger scale, but this place is brand new and has a lot of potential. I’ll be back soon.

Grade: B-