Santini’s New York Style Deli

Not a good cheesesteak. They messed up my order, too. Uh, yea. Fries were decent enough though. Service was uninspired and with the influx of dining options in this area, this one can surely be skipped.

I’ve had the Greek salad, the shrimp salad and one of the calzones, all very good. Nice place to stop and eat or get quick take out (but homemade) after a long day or week.

I’m a New Yorker, born and raised so you can only imagine how I happy I was… at first… to find a Santini’s here in McLean where I live.
I’ve ordered the Italian grinder four times now… and four times I said «No hot peppers» and all four times I get a sandwich slathered in hot peppers.
Here’s the problem with this place… nobody who works there cares about anything and it shows in their general conduct and behavior, and, adding to this mess, except for the guy behind the cash register, nobody there speaks English. So telling them «No hot peppers» means absolutely nothing.
Well that’s not true. It means «We learned to make the grinders one way and that’s it. You get what we serve you.»
How do I know? Because I asked the guy who took my order why they can’t get simple instructions straight and he said and that was his answer.
The last time I found hot pepper on the sandwich, I drove all the back to the store to complain and the guy says «Well you can just scrap those off when you get home»
No, I can scrap this dump off and order grinders someplace else.
It’s really shame, this place could been a contender but it’s just another soulless fast food joint and the owners obviously don’t understand what it takes to last in the McLean market.

Worst taco salad of my life. The lettuce was iceberg and it was shredded. It’s all watery and the tomatoes are mealy. The chili is gross. I just took four bits and threw it away. The o lay good the here is really the wings. Don’t eat anything else!

Can’t go wrong with santini’s. They have wide selection, good food and fast service.

Being from NY, I stopped by to try a bagel –lox and coffee. Counter person could barely understand me. I asked for plain bagel with a schmeer & lox. What I got was a toasted bagel with nothing. Definitely not NY style. Don’t recommend if u are expecting NY style.

Visited last Wed around 7PM.
1. staff needs to clean tables occasionally. we sat at the bar for about 90 minutes as families came and went… by the time we left, most every table was dirty, cups and napkins all over the floor etc. We sat at the bar and I requested a cloth to wipe it down. The attendant could have wiped it but instead handed me a wet cloth.
2. if you sit at the bar, don’t expect to be able to order a beer. you have to go back to the register and deal w/​an attendant who is about as interested in serving you as the man in the moon.
3. food not bad
4. food is priced at McLean level… add 15−20% to what you’d pay in Vienna or Arlington
5. process will confuse first time guest. You order from a guy near the door. then slide right to pay… the register guy has no idea what you ordered, I guess they trust you. Then when the food is ready a server wanders around asking if you had the steak and cheese.
Overall: people in McLean are always looking for convenient places to go while running errands or after a kids soccer game or little league… as long as food and service are not horrific, the place can make it.

Santini’s is one of the best sub/​pizza shops in the area. I always go for either a slice of pepperoni or the Bogey sub, both are deelicious. Onion rings are also, right on, nice and crispy.

If you like NY sports teams, this place might be for you. There are NY sports logos everywhere, from the lights to the panels on the bar.
As a Boston fan, I definitely did NOT come here for that. My husband gets this place for breakfast/​lunch sometimes.
I had the Godfather with a side of curly fries and a traditional Dr. Browns soda. The Fries were great, fresh and hot. The sandwich, which is a version of the classic Italian w/​out mortadella left much to be desired. Its supposed to come with oil and vinegar on it, mine was soaked in it to the point of being inedible. And also, if you see that a sandwich has ‘hot peppers’ on it beware that they live up to their descriptor and then some.
As Im rarely in this area, I doubt Ill be returning.

Guy who runs place and takes payment is the most rude person I have ever encountered in the restaurant business. I would not go back for over a year, but then tried it again and observed him being rude and arguing with another an older lady who had been given the wrong to go order – they actually never took her order because of confusing ordering system and lack of attention by this guy. Too bad he is there most times I drive and look in window and keep driving because of him. Steak and cheese is awesome. Wish he would move on so I can go back.

Stopped by for a quick bite while running errands. Wasn’t too hungry, so ordered a chili for dine in and sat at the bar. Food was a 4 star as the chili was hot, meaty, a bit spicy, had a good amount of cheese and onions, and came with two packets of crackers. I had to wipe down the counter at the bar myself and the waiter never came back to check on me, so that’s one to two stars.

It was my first time here today. It was very busy! But the staff held down the line pretty well. I waited, ordered and by the time I got to the register to pay, my food was ready. Had a chicken salad sandwich and got a chicken tenders kids meal and both was great. No complaints here! Will definitely be back.

What a great place with a bit of everything you could ever want in a deli! Great breakfast, good coffee, and they apparently even have a small beer and wine selection! Other nice attributes include a bar, TVs EVERYWHERE, nice chairs and tables, and CLEANLINESS! There’s a patio outside for you to enjoy people watching while you eat as well (although, it’s pretty cold outside right now).
The staff seem VERY nice and personable which is fairly different from most NY-​style delis. Not a pretentious vibe at all from Santinis!

An absolute nightmare of a disorganized eating experience.
How the heck do you order? There’s a line, there’s people milling about, then there’s a line for phone in orders. But that’s the only one labeled. And that phone — for phone in orders — doesn’t seem to ever get picked up.

I am a huge fan of Santini’s! First, the staff is super friendly and always do a great job making the food. Simple process: order, get your drink, pay, have a seat, they bring out the food in less than 5 minutes usually. The menu is huge and I have not had a bad sandwich there yet. My personal favorite is the Bogey with extra hot peppers. It is wonderful!!! They have four different types of fires… all great. I have not had the pizza or calzones yet, but everyone I know raves about them. If you go at lunch time I recommend getting there prior to noon… it gets pretty busy. It is a weekly staple for me!

When it comes to food reviews, it’s interesting to see how everyone’s reviews are tinted by their expectations. It could be that I came in with no expectations except a decent sandwich that wasn’t considred highway robbery, so my review is coming out pretty good.
My food rating can be broken out as follows:
Service: 5 (I ordered for pick-​up and they made it pretty fast)
Food: 4 (Just ordered a Cheese steak and Italian Sub with curly fries. No this is not gourmet food or 5 star dining, but I found the food delicious all the same.)
Price: 3 (they certainly give you a good portion for the price, but I ended up spending $ 26 for 2 sandwiches & 2 curly fries, which doesn’t meet the one $ criteria in my view)
Atmosphere: 4 (nice to have a big TV & NY memorabilia)
Cleanliness: 4 (I found the place spacious & clean)
#Protip: Don’t go when you’re starving, because you see the menu and you want food & lots of it! I ended up splitting the large cheese steak and curly fries, given that it was so much food! Didn’t get to try the Italian sub, no room! Of course if you’re a guy, perhaps it’s just the right amount!
I’ll definitely come back and try other items on the menu to see if it continues to meet my review!

Okay– let me start by saying I really wanted to like this location of santinis and I was excited when I saw one would be coming to McLean.
As far as this review goes regarding service, I don’t like it. The employees are not friendly. They don’t have to act like they’re your friend but aiming to be pleasant can go a long way.
As far as the food goes–
1. Offer a smaller portion for fries
2. Don’t charge what you charge for a cheesesteak unless you plan on putting some meat on it! I’ve given it a few chances and each time the amount of meat has varied. It’s always been an unfair amount for the price.
3. Why is your pizza so salty?
4. Clean the eating area tables!
Overall, it’s overpriced in my opinion but if you’re going to eat santinis, visit the Reston location– Nicer staff (sort of) and more parking. Good luck parking at the McLean location.
If I’m ever drawn back to this location for some reason I feel like I’m going to regret it soon afterwards

This location opened a few months ago so it is somewhat new. Anyways, I decided to check it out because I heard good thing. I got the pizza formaggio and it is one of the best! Its a white pizza without sauce and the blend of cheeses were just right. I got a medium and it came with 6 very thin slices, so I think next time I’d get a large because medium wasn’t that is big. I tried a slice of my friend’s cheese pizza and it is pretty standard, but the formaggiao hits the spot. It’s before I forget, they have cannolis and cheesecakes which were both spectacular. The cheesecake is coming from Junior’s Cheesecake in NY. I got the devils food cheesecake and it taste EXACTLY like the one in NY– super rich & chocolatey and creamy!
Onto the service, they could use some improvement. First, they make you order to someone else, and then you go and pay. This seems confusing to me. Not to mention, they take a while to make your order even if its just simply an order of fries or a slice of pizza. The parking here is also quite limited so that may be an issue if you’re going here at peak hours.

The food at Santini’s is good, but the process they have in place for ordering and receiving food at this location is awful (hence the 3-​star rating). Even when things aren’t terribly busy, they make things more complicated for themselves by having people place an order with an individual employee off to the side before paying for that order at the register. Then, that same person that took the order is responsible for delivering the food to your table, which leaves a lot of room for error in delivery.
From a process improvement standpoint, if they were to operate like every other delicatessen in America and have cashiers devoted to taking orders and accepting payment all in one step, they would have higher turnover and make much more money. I definitely noticed other customers in line feel the same way, and it sounds like other Unilocalers have raised similar concerns.
Additionally, I’m not sure why they offer both bottled drinks for sale that can also be found at their soda fountain. The coolers take up valuable real estate at the front of the restaurant which reduces the amount of space available for people to wait in line…

I’ve been there a few times now and I can’t find too many complaints. Service is definitely 5-​stars. The Godfather is awesome and the Chicken Philly is awesome! The only thing is that it’s a little pricey especially since you have to pay for fries or chips separately.