Is DeSimone's De-Best? CLOSED

DeSimone Deli and Bakery

2279 North Tustin Ave.

Orange, CA 92865

At a recent food event Griffin, from Griffin Eats OC and I were talking about Cuban sandwiches. I have had some good ones here in OC, but nothing that compares to the ones I have had in Miami. Both him and my Mom had mentioned seeing a sign on a deli across the street from the Village at Orange, (which will always be called the Mall of Orange to me). Anyways, this sign as you can see in the above picture is still up, and proclaims that they have the best Cuban sandwich in OC.

I am always very skeptical of places that have signs proclaiming that they are the "best". I have had my expectations let down too many times. Does anyone really believe that Knowlwood's really makes the worlds best burger? Numero Uno is the number one pizza around? Staying with pizza, this is a little off topic but I think it needs to be said. Any place that says it is real New York pizza, is usually 99 percent of the time not like New York pizza. So, when I saw this sign I was a little skeptical walking into the place, but let's see how it worked out for us.

DeSimone has two locations, this one in Orange and another in Huntington Beach. They do have very limited hours. They are open until 6pm on weekdays, and 5pm on Saturdays. They are closed on Sundays. Even with these limited hours it is very convenient for me to drive by here on Monday afternoons on my way to my parents house in Yorba Linda. I was one of two customers in the deli on my recent trip here.

The inside of this deli and the menu does not really distinguish itself much from other delis in the area. There are about five tables inside the restaurant and two patio tables situated outside. The menu is all pretty standard for a deli. What sets DeSimone's apart is that they bake their own bread everyday. Along with that, they also roast their own turkey breast, seasoned pork roast, pastrami, and roast beef daily. That's a lot of work for a small, two location place to handle. So let's see if we can taste all the hard work that goes into this sandwich.

The only sandwich that I got on my trip here was the Large Cuban Sandwich ($12.90). This 16 inch sandwich was cut into fourths, which was good because I was sharing it with my Mom, Dad, and Sister. This Cuban had roasted pork, ham, Swiss, butter, mustard and pickles on it. The bread was crusty, without being too dense. It had just the right amount of chew to it. The meats inside were very well done. The pork was the better of the two, with a great meaty flavor. The supporting cast of the sandwich also came together here. They had the right amount of mustard, cheese, and pickles on this sandwich. All the ingredients really made this a very well balanced sandwich, which I feel is the key to a great sandwich.

After the four of us scarfed this sandwich down, we all thought this was one of the best in OC. The sign did not lie this time. I guess I have learned that I have to be more trusting in the future. Some of you may scoff at the $12 price tag for this sandwich, but this was enough to feed two people for sure, and maybe one of me. The quality and taste of this sandwich makes the price worth it. I would like to try other sandwiches off of their menu to see if they are just as good, but I do not think I could come here and not get the Cuban sandwich. This sandwich does have to rank right up there, with not just Cuban sandwiches, but all sandwiches in OC.

Out of five baseballs, (because the national sport of Cuba is baseball, and because the season officially wrapped up recently), five being best to zero being worst, DeSimone Deli and Bakery gets 3.5 baseballs.

For more information on DeSimone Deli and Bakery, click here: http://www.desimonedeli.com/Home_Page.html