Chops Deli

September of 2014 I found myself working in Wilmington for the week. We arrived on Sunday and across the street from the Hotel was Chops.
HOLY SH! This place was freaking awesome! So much so, I ate there 3 times in 3 days!
First meal was the Shrimp Po Boy. and some Mint tea… Next meal was a turkey Reuben with regular sweet tea! I can’t say enough about the serving sizes, the quality of the meats and sides…
I will say though that our 3^rd waitress was less than stellar. I think my first 2 visits I had the «A» team, and on my last visit she was a rookie pulled from the bench. Oh well, food was still tops.
This is a place you need to have on your casual list. Why go to a frozen bagged food baby box restaurant when you can get fresh deli!!!

Chops downtown just remodeled. Still fantastic service delicious food but now they have an outdoor bartop. Also they opened a late night window. So instead of getting greasy sup-​par pizza you can walk up to their window and get an awesome fresh sandwich, and a snicker doodle mustache cookie.

This place has awesome sandwiches! I got the Monaco, which was delicious! Sliced lemon pepper chicken mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, and a pesto sauce. And at first I was thinking $ 9 for a sandwich was a bit much but this is top quality and you get a lot of food. Who I presume is the owner was walking around talking to every table, and he was a delight, very friendly and welcoming. Very casual atmosphere inside. Makes for a tasty, inexpensive, low-​key lunch or dinner. I wish they’d open one in Raleigh, although that’s a sandwich I could see myself driving 4 hours round trip just to get!

Stopped by here for lunch recently when everything else was packed. The food was really tasty and came out quick. They only complaint was I asked for no red onions on the Malbo, the waitress even delivered saying,“Malbo no onions.” Unfortunately, it was covered in red onions and those are things that the flavor sting lingers no matter if you pull off or not. I just switched with my friend who had the La Plata which was very tasty. I’ll definitely be back.

Amazing! We stopped here for lunch and split a sandwich which was delicious and plenty big for two. Yum!

Sandwiches were decent, we got the Palermo. Pasta salad was terrible, can’t believe a place that serves food has such a bland side. Spent almost $ 30 on lunch, won’t go back because there are so many good places to eat in the area

This deli is incredible. The sandwiches are to die for. The staff is very friendly. What a great place to eat. Thumbs up to the creators of these tasty eats. Don’t miss this place when your in town.

We visited Chop’s on Front Street a few days ago. Being our 1^st time there, I was eagerly looking forward to another great sandwich experience. It fell a tad short of expectation.
Having never been to Wilmington before, right out of the gate, it looked very promising. We stopped in on Friday right at lunch time, and grabbed a couple of seats, were immediately greeted by a waitress who took our drink order while we looked over the menu. My friend ordered a Reuben and I opted for the Tripoli.
Now comes the letdown. While the sandwiches were tasty, there just wasn’t enough to them. The menu descriptives paint a picture of a heaping pile of delicious… when you really get just a tease. It tasted good, but given what all the sandwich was supposed to come with, I was expecting great. The side order of potato salad on the other hand was sizeable.
On the positive side, the waitress was on top of things, the staff all seemed positive, and the place in general has a great vibe. Now I base my «sandwich satisfaction» on a simple question… Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Sadly, I would not… BUT, I am going to try and give these folks another try the next time I’m in town.

Awful. The sandwich sucked. Took way too long for them to make a sandwich. The soup was terrible. The waitress was nice, she did give us a discount bc of the mess up on our order.

Like what the fuck is going on with these sandwiches? They’re incredible. This place should be on the food network. I ordered Marrsellies Sando and it was great. Have had others but can’t remember their name. They were ALL good.

The food here is very creative and delicious, the prices are especially good for the portion size, the atmosphere is casual, and it’s in a great location. If I lived in the area I would be a regular.

What can I say that hasn’t been said before. If you are in the area its a must go place. It should be on Food Network if its not there yet. They have a huge menu for a deli and couple of sides which seemed popular. I loved how they have named the sandwich on some cities across the globe. We went a mixed group of people avoiding red meat and meat altogether and were surprised it catered to all. Me and my girlfriend ordered a Monaco which was on flatbread and it was by the best sandwich i have ever had. No joking. It really was. The chicken was well cooked and mozzarella they used was so fresh and it melted melted without being stringy. God! It was divine. My vegetarian friend ordered a pimento sandwich and I would have devoured that if I wasn’t full from my Monaco. I am already planning a trip to get to more of there sammys and shall try some mac n cheese I have heard is to die for.

If I could give more than five stars I would!!! I had the Amsterdam. Brisket and mushroom gravy with cheese just like a piece of heaven. This is a must try in Wilmington!

What a great place, I wish they would expand to the Charlotte area. Exploring downtown Wilmington, we stopped into Chops for a quick bite. The place is casual with several sandwich options. Brad, one of the owners mans the register and greets everyone that walks in. I think he is half the reason the place does so well. Cheery, helpful and just a cool guy. We split the Palermo an Italian toasted sandwich, it was full of flavor and enough food for two. Our lunch companions got the Malmo, Plymouth and daily special and all looked awesome. This is a great place if you want a legit sandwich that will leave you feeling satisfied. It’s really hard to find a good deli, but this place has it down to a funky, hipster, and fun science.

We used to come here on a regular basis, maybe at least once a month but, we moved out of Wilmington about a year ago and don’t make it downtown often.
This past Friday, we stopped in for a sandwich around 7 PM and ordered. We were both sadly disappointed when our sandwiches were prepared. It appear that they have kept their prices the same but, is seems that they have put about half the meat that they used to put in.
I’d be willing to pay maybe even a dollar more a sandwich if they would have kept the same amount of meats and cheeses in the sandwich’s like they used to.
We used to be faithful Chop’s Fans and now it appears that they have become just another deli making mediocre sandwiches so I’d rather take my appetite and craving for a good sandwich elsewhere.

Alright, alright, alright. I totally, completely, 100% agree with the all rage. Before I tucked into my Plymouth, I too was a skeptic. I mean, it’s just a sandwich, right? And the venue leaves something to be desired. And it’s filled with smoke. And the queue is out the door. And just when you can’t feel higher or mightier that you won’t succumb to the hype, you have a bite and realize that the sandwich you ordered is mind blowing. So there’s that.

Chop’s Deli is always on our «to eat list» when visiting Wilmington. When I’m traveling to a new place I always seek out: a local pint, a local, unique cocktail AND a fantastic sandwich. Chop’s Deli has the fantastic sandwich! They have two locations in the Wilmington area; one directly downtown and one about five minutes from Wrightsville beach (I recommend the Chop’s Deli downtown over the other for experience!) Walking into Chop’s Deli as a first, second and third timer can be daunting (not sure if it gets better after the third visit, we’ll see next time!) They have a huge menu above the kitchen/​register with 10+ sandwich choices. Since Chop’s is usually busy, it can be overwhelming to try to decide while holding up the line. Paper menu’s would be very helpful!
When you (finally) decide what to order, things move quickly. A bag of chips and their fresh lemonade or ice tea compliment the sandwich nicely but I’d skip the sides (jalapeño mac & cheese was underwhelming); the sammy is where they shine! I have tried the Constantinople and Plymouth sandwiches, with the Constantinople being the winner. Think corned beef, pastrami, turkey, all the cheeses – swiss and cheddar– red onion, roasted red peppers, Hand an amazing cajun remoulade with cranberry relish. God, it is good! The actual restaurant is a little outdated with carpeted floors and some interesting artwork on the walls [think Portlandia’s «bad coffee house art”] and a mixture of odd tables and chairs. It gives the hole in the wall feel that some might be looking for, but I’d rather just grab a chair outside and enjoy the fresh air from the river down the street. This is definitely a must-​stop shop on your tour of Wilmington, and if you’re a real planner, their website has a detailed menu and photos for every sandwich offered!

What can I say about Chop’s that hasn’t been said? Sandwiches have always come off as simple and boring to me and «Chop» has turned every damn one of them into a culinary masterpiece.
I just brought my father here who just retired. He spent the past 30+ years of his life in medical sales. What I’m getting at is, he spent over 30 years taking wealthy doctors to 4 and 5 star restaurants throughout the US. That truly wad what he did. Entertained at the finest restaurants and made the sale. He is now obsessed. While at Chop’s, he must have said 15 times «Wow, this is excellent!»
Sorry, I didn’t go into great detail of what I had and how the subtle accent of every ingredient played into making my meal excellent. Considering the amount of reviews, I am sure that should not be too dificult to find.

It is hard for me to not give them 5 stars since they are rated 5 stars. If I was rating based solely on food, 5 stars no doubts, but I don’t do that. Because most of their sandwiches are «Panini» pressed, there is a constant smell of over cooked bread and has a faint visual of smoke in the restaurant. We ate outside and thoroughly enjoyed the food.
The 4 of us got 4 different sandwiches and we all loved them. We would absolutely go back, plus the area is great and only one street over from the waterfront and NC Battleship.

Visited Chop’s on Saturday for lunch based on the Unilocal reviews. Ya’ll were right! This place is the jam. Located right on Front Street, we visited about 11 am on Saturday and just beat the lunch rush. Ordered the Plymouth and the one with pimento cheese (sorry, my memory.). They were fast, delicious and huge. The variety of ingredients and breads were great! My guy really enjoyed the mint iced tea and I loved the lemonade. They had orangeade too — a rare treat! We sat outside and people watched for a while after convincing two friends to join us.
The clear winner was the Plymouth. It was like Thanksgiving in a sandwich with green apple slices, cranberry relish, turkey breast and havarti. Holy crap this sandwich was good. We woke up on Sunday and made a beeline to Chop’s just to order this again. We will be back every time we’re in downtown Wimy!