Carmines Italian Deli

“My favorite thing to order is the grilled chicken with fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers on garlic bread drizzled with balsamic vinegar.”

“My usual is the penne vodka w breaded chicken parm or ill order a chicken sandwich on wheat bread w fresh mozz.”

“It's so popular that you will always see people double parking (usually cops or firemen lol) just to get their Camine fix.”

Carmines Italian Deli

Take-out: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Caters: Yes

Price range.

$ Price range Under $10

8 reviews

  1. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I can never eat Italian food anywhere else again. I had chicken soup and penne in vodka sauce… and oooooooommmmmggggggggg so good. I highly recommend both. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. My mouth is watering right now… maybe my eyes too because I miss it. I can't write anymore because this is just making me crave good pasta and I'm only going to get disappointed in California. I even went to get my favorite pasta in California after my trip to the east coast, but it just didn't taste as good anymore since my taste buds got spoiled by this place. What do I do with myself now

  2. Here's the scoop on this establishment. Its a small food eatery with about 4-5 tables. Most people call in the order and pick it up. There is no parking so people are always double parking on the street to pick up the food. you will see here fireman and police ordering all the time from this place. However, the food is here is very good, You really can't go wrong with any of the items from the menu. They have the whole Italian menu available. I usually get the chicken penne with vodka sauce and it comes in a generous size portions. The only complaint is the price, for the penne vodka its 12 bucks. You can't eat here everyday, once in while treat yourself. It get real crowded between 12-1pm so come earlier if you can or phone in your order. The other knock off I see is no parking, but hey this is Jersey City.

  3. I felt the need to update my review – I recently rediscovered this place after moving .04 miles (according to yelp!) away from here.

    I'm a huge fan of ALL their food, especially their chicken parm, deli sandwiches, and my ultimate favorite, their roast beef with gravy and mozz. Delish!

    I also ran into Carmine, the owner, while I was walking my dog and man, was he nice! So nice to me AND my dog! As most of my reviews will say – kindness goes a long way. Now I just have to remember to ALWAYS carry cash while I walk the dog!

  4. One of the best Jersey City has to offer for home made quality Italian food. Always made fresh, its worth the 20 to 25 minute wait. Order anything and I promise you will not be disappointed. My all time favorite– the grilled chicken topped with mozzarella, roasted red peppers and balsamic over fresh baked garlic bread. An absolute must! Order in advance, the place is cozy but tiny! The only downside, cash only.

  5. This place came highly recommended. I must try.

    I ordered the chicken parm and boy was it a big chicken parm. It had to be a 12" sub. The chicken was so fresh and plenty of sauce and cheese. He also supplied me with a bowl of fresh hot marinara sauce for dipping.

    I was in pure bliss. The flavors were just perfect. Nothing and I mean nothing in my sandwich  is process. I can literally taste all the fresh herbs.
    Reminding me of this experience brings a big smile to my face.

    Believe me when I say, I honestly tried my darn best to finish my sandwich. It was too filling.

  6. I was introduced to this place by a friend and fell in love. It's your neighborhood's Italian deli but with quality food. First, you should know, that this is a cash only place. There's about 3 tables in there so you can eat in, however I usually order and take out. They offer catering as well.
    For me, they close a little early as sometimes I find myself wanting to grab dinner from there but I can't because I never get home in time. They also don't open on Sundays I believe. Anyway, it's so good that I don't even care.
    My favorite thing to order is the grilled chicken with fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers on garlic bread drizzled with balsamic vinegar. It's just so tasty and fresh. All the flavors go really well together. I also always order the turkey salad to go with my sandwich. It's such a simple
    Meal but always leaves me feeling satisfied. The salad is made with iceberg. That's not really my choice of greens but the fresh mozzarella ball, the mushroom, olives, tomatoes, and turkey antipasto really makes the salad. I loved the mushroom so much that they sold it to me by the pint. The penne ala vodka is amazing as well.
    The people are super friendly and I never had a bad service from there. Prices may be higher than the average delis but it's worth the money. I highly recommend this place.

  7. When I was told I was going to be staffed on a project in New Jersey for a few weeks, my team let out of a groan of "Great… what are we going to eat?" We knew there would be some great local places, but finding some near our site proved to be difficult on the first day, until we busted out Yelp and saw this place. Sure, yeah, let's give it a try, probably can't be that good considering we've all been to Italy or would be going to Italy shortly but, hey, if it's decent, can't complain.

    We arrive to a double-parked street… double-parked by a firetruck. Apparently this is the place to go, and seeing that eased any fear of not finding good food. The restaurant has had double-parked cars every single time we've gone…and we've gone for lunch almost every day for 3 weeks straight. We just can't get enough, and it's made lunch-time the most desired time of day. There is no question as to where we'll be eating lunch – Carmine's is the only option anyone could ever consider.

    So, the food. I personally LOVE eggplant, so the eggplant parm was my immediate go-to. I figured I should get a medium, not a small, because I wasn't sure what the portions would be. Yeah, a medium is huge. A medium is barely do-able, even for some of the people on my project. A medium had me reconsider what food means when it's a medium versus a small. But when I took that first bite, boy was I glad I had gotten a medium, if nothing more than to revel in how wonderful it was. I've had that eggplant parm as a platter with pasta, by itself with bread, and on a sandwich, and I can honestly say I could eat it every day for the rest of my life with no regrets.

    However, a girl's gotta have some variety every now-and-then, so I ventured to try a deli sandwich of Italian meats and mozzarella. If I didn't love the eggplant parm so much, I would've been sad for not trying this combination early. The Italian meat is pretty standard, always good, but nothing shout-out special, at least not compared to the mozzarella. I got a medium sandwich, removed the bread, and created a meat-and-cheese platter for myself, savoring every last bite of mozzarella I could get. I've strongly debated buying a pound of it one day to take home, it's that good.

    The only downside is that there is limited seating for so many people, but the vast majority (including my team) tend to get it to-go. Also, game changer – you can call ahead!

    So seriously. Try this place. I went to Italy a few months ago, and I love this place. One of my coworkers went to Italy last week, and he loves this place. If you want a hearty lunch or if you even remotely like Italian food, try this place. It. Is. So. Worth. It.

  8. The only negative thing about this deli is the fact that it's in a crappy part of Jersey City but it's around the block from my grandmother so I've had to go there a few times but I always loved the food and the service
    It also kind of stinks that it calls on Sunday but I guess everybody needs a day off
    Great fresh mozzarella,  soups and specials of the day & good sandwiches
    A great lunch place to stop in and bring a bunch of food back home so that you don't have to cook

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Monday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Tuesday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Wednesday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Thursday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Friday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm