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The Saverino sub sandwich at Saverino's is stacked high with Genoa salami, mordatella, hot capocollo, provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, and thinly sliced red onions and pepperoncini. Photo by Dorene Cohen.

Saverino’s has been serving the Redlands community for years from their west State Street location close to downtown.

The Saverino sub sandwich at Saverino's is stacked high with Genoa salami, mordatella, hot capocollo, provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, and thinly sliced red onions and pepperoncini. Photo by Dorene Cohen.

One culinary area where the West Coast can’t compete with the East Coast is the Italian deli and market. Just the smells emanating from Salumeria Italiano in Boston’s North End and Di Palo’s Fine Foods in Little Italy in New York along with their prodigious number of Italian food products for sale make it difficult for even San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle to reach their heights.

This brings us to Saverino’s Deli & Market in Redlands, which is, hands down, one of the best Italian sandwich shops in the Inland Empire. With respect to products for sale, they come up somewhat short, though they do carry a few pastas, logs of provolone and Romano cheeses, Italian sausage, Sicilian green olives, Bellino cannoli shells, Ferrara biscotti and, best of all, chocolate dipped macaroons and large black and white cookies imported from New York City.

Customers also can take home sweet ricotta cheese-filled cannolis prepared on the premises as well as first-rate tiramisu with alternating layers of mascarpone cheese and cocoa powder.

But let’s return to their sandwiches, which keep the hungry customers pouring in during the lunchtime rush. The soft Italian rolls are 9 inches long and every bit of the length is needed to hold the ingredients in both the Goodfella and the Pavarotti. The Goodfella would be right up DeNiro and Pesce’s culinary alley.

At 8 inches long, a plump finely ground Italian sausage containing fennel seeds is topped with a mountain of grilled sweet peppers and onions, and homemade marinara (a little more sauce would be nice). A sprinking of lower sodium provolone completed this gargantuan sandwich.

The Pavarotti (didn’t know he was a cheese steak lover) would be the type of sandwich you’d find in South Philly, only bigger and better. The meat was exceedingly lean and tender with nary a piece of fat to be found.

Saverino’s has been serving the Redlands community for years from their west State Street location close to downtown.

Of course, there was much more cheese than in the Goodfella, and the sandwich also contained the grilled onions and peppers and the excellent marinara (again, more sauce needed). This is big enough to share, as if any self-respecting Italian cheesesteak lover would be willing to give up half of their sandwich! Even Pavarotti would have been sated.

You can opt for hot plates, which include a piece of garlic bread as an accompaniment. We chose the Italian sausage and meatballs combo, whichblessedly had enough of that excellent marinara to cover the meat, topped off with melted provolone to boot.

Flavor wise, the lasagna was quite good. Layers of ground meatballs and ground Italian sausage were interspersed with layers of seasoned ricotta cheese and wide pasta noodles all tied together with the aforementioned marinara. I always like vegetables, particularly spinach, incorporated in my lasagna and a thin layer of porcini mushrooms is also a nice addition.

I’ve saved the best for last. The Saverino, a gargantuan cold sub sandwich consists of thick layers of Genoa salami, mortadella and hot capocollo along with sliced provolone, lettuce, thinly sliced red onions, sliced pepperoncinis and tomatoes. Don’t even think about asking for mayo and mustard.

The interior of the roll was drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Italian seasonings (garlic powder and oregano). If you like it spicy, ask for a sprinkling of hot pepper flakes). I had to nibble around the outside of the sandwich first, because the ingredients were overhanging the roll and the sandwich was so thick that I would have had to unhinge my jaw to get the whole thing in my mouth!

This is another sandwich which could easily be shared. The only thing that could have improved this classic Italian sub for me would have been to substitute soppresata for the mordatella — just a personal preference.

By the way, when you walk into Saverino’s, your sense of smell will tell you that you’ve come to the right place for a true Italian sandwich eating experience.

Also, a tip for takeout: if you order a hot sandwich to go, ask them to wrap the sandwich completely in aluminum foil or butcher block paper and tape the ends together before placing in a Styrofoam box. It will prevent the contents from spilling out of the roll, as happened in my case with the sausage and cheese steak sandwiches when I opened the containers when I got home. If you’re eating in, they do provide one piece of aluminum foil to wrap a half sandwich to go if you can’t finish the entire behemoth in one sitting.

David Cohen is the former co-host of the PBS show “Table for Two.”

Where: 617 W. State St., Redlands.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Prices: Sandwiches $9, entrée hot plates $9.99 to $10.49, salads $7.49 to $9.49, desserts $2.99 to $5.99.

Details: All meat is from Boar’s Head. Catering available. Italian sodas and iced tea available. Family owned and operated.

For more information: Visit saverinosdeli.com or call (909) 335-6000

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