Jason P.

If I had to name the best national grinder/sub shop chain operating in the Greater Hartford area, I'd probably say "Why do I have to do that?" But after you convinced me that I had to, I would say DiBella's. If my Quick Internet Research is correct, DiBella's has 46 locations in states including New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. I live near the DiBella's in Newington, but I believe they also have CT locations in Hamden and Wallingford. I'd like to say I'm a DiBella's expert because I've lived in two of the states with DiBella's locations, but sadly, I can't back that up. But I have eaten DiBella's numerous times. My most frequent order is The Godfather on a sesame grinder roll with provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, banana peppers, black olives, mayo, seasoned oil and vinegar. The meats are Genoa salami, capicola, and spicy ham. If you want, DiBella's will grill the meat. I'm 50-50 on that. I went grilled today. Only places with access to the very best Italian bakeries have better grinder rolls than DiBella's. DiBella's bakes their bread on site. The rolls have great weight, crusty outer texture and soft inner freshness. And I love the toasty sesames. For me, no national or large state chain is within throwing distance of DiBella's grinder rolls. The other ingredients are great as well. The meats are high quality. The vegetables are fresh and crisp. The condiments are also good. My one pain point with my sandwich today, was that the meat was sort of rolled up on one side of the roll, and the toppings were on the other side of the roll, so that there wasn't an even distribution of toppings and meat when I bit into the grinder. This happens at a lot of places, and I'm not a fan. In any event, I've got to downgrade for sandwich construction. In terms of the grinder components, I give DiBella's high marks. I don't like it as well as the best area independent Italian sandwich makers, but it is my favorite chain. Four Stars

Kathy W.

Good sandwiches, and I suppose they could have been 'free' if I was dishonest. One guy taking the orders, a bunch of people making the sandwiches, and no one to take your money at the end. They all seemed pretty confused as to how checkout was even supposed to work. Once we got it figured out, my lunch date and I enjoyed our cold tuna salad and hot chicken Philly. This was a rather pricey lunch and the toppings weren't evenly distributed. The bread is really good, though!

Kelly H.

Covid-19 era: Come here if you aren't cooking, don't feel like dining in, but don't feel like fast food. The bread is excellent and their subs are way above Subway. Hot or cold, these sandwiches are meaty as can be. After the prep line, side salads, obligatory chips, fountain drinks, and dessert cookies are your last minute decisions before checkout. If you're passing through, the dining room is huge! The Godfather is loaded with meat, and a large means two meals, the cheese steak is excellent, and they can be as heavy or light as needed. My then-four year old would only eat ham and Mayo, but the sandwich maker never rolled their eyes. For a good quick sandwich (or wrap, though their bread is so lovely I've never picked one), and comfy seating, this is probably your best stop if your passing between Meriden and Hartford.

Ian L.

Everytime I've gotten food from here at this Dibella's Subs on the Berlin Turnpike I have never been disappointed. I always felt full after my meal and I don't even need anything on the side either! Their buffalo chicken grinder is delicious, full of sauce and not messy either. The philly cheese steak grinder was full of flavor, cheese and decent quality steak. Service is quick as expected and I never really had any issues with staff not being too friendly except once a really long time ago but never again! Solid grinders for a solid price. Using the app and ordering online was super fast and easy as well. You get a whole super offical looking form with your pick-up order as well haha.

Tanna D.

We got a set of coupons for subs and decided to check DiBella's out. We stopped in around 1 on a Sunday afternoon. The staff gave us a warm welcome and were happy to help us. Since we had coupons one for a free small sub and one buy one get one we each selected a sub of our choice. I got The Godfather and the hubby got a Dagwood and we shared a meatball sub. The meatball sub was excellent! The meatballs tasted fresh made and were gigantic! We stayed simple and only had provolone cheese added. The Dagwood consists of Turkey, ham, and corned beef. He added roasted red peppers he couldn't stop talking about. The godfather is a classic Italian sub with Genoa salami Coriccola and spicy ham I added a bunch of veggies. The combination of the spicy and salty was outstanding. The restaurant had a constant stream of patrons and the space was fresh and clean. We will be back

Samantha M.

I stopped here tonight after stopping somewhere else that was online only. I was surprised by the choices here. They make their bread fresh every day and I was able to get a very good veggie sub. The bread was nice and crisp on the outside, Chewey on the inside. The veggies were delicious. I will definitely be back!

Mark N.

First, I love subs and trying new places. There was nothing wrong with DiBella's and also nothing great. My sub was good, and what's ironic is my least favorite part was the bread. They make a big deal over being a maker and making their own bread but my "plain" roll seemed more like a pretzel roll;dense, and not what I would pick for an Italian cold cut combo - which is what I ordered (The Godfather). My GF has a Cheesesteak. I liked everything about The Godfather except the roll - nice meats, right amount, and dressed nicely with roasted and sweet peppers in addition to the usual. The cheesesteak was on a sesame roll which was softer, and I liked it more. A nice, real Italian roll would have been better on both in my opinion. Like others said the steak was NOT chewy and stringy, I liked that - but almost too soft and mushy like it wasn't meat (but assume it was!). Overall a good sandwich shop with lots of seating and good service. Also very clean - but won't be driving out of my way to go here very often as I like Jersey Mikes better and they're much closer.

Steven M.

It's been roughly 7 years since my first trip to a DiBella's and I've been trying to love this place ever since. I had some time to kill before a tattoo appointment down the street so I decided to stop in for a quick meatball sub. The place was pretty dead at 10:30 in the morning so it was the perfect opportunity to get in and out quickly. The restaurant itself is very nice for a sandwich shop and features a pretty easy line process. The staff was friendly enough and before I knew it I was in and out with a warm sub ready to get eaten.....in my car because im weird. The sandwich itself was decent, but like my previous visits that's all it was. People absolutely love this place and I keep trying to order new things so I can join in on the love but yet again I was simply left feeling it was just alright. The meat was decent, the bread was decent, the sauce was decent, and overall it was just a really decent meatball sub. Overall, I have nothing negative to say about this DiBella's location and it's a solid place to stop for a quick lunch. The employees were nice, the service was fast, and the sub was pretty alright. Although this place might not be for me, it very well could be

Edward L.

This grinder place isn't cheap but nothing these days is. I ordered the cowboy my wife the roast beef. Both were on plain bread. I loved the taste of the bread I would almost order just a roll to eat it was so good. A couple of sodas it rang up to a pretty decent price tag. But it was worth it.