Joe's Italian Deli

"This sandwich shop in the Belmont neighborhood was founded in 1979, but despite its relative youth in the Bronx’s Little Italy, it quickly became known as the best place to get a humongous Italian hero, whether hot (pick chicken or eggplant Parm) or cold — using cold cuts both imported and domestic. Lined with picnic tables, the inside is the perfect place to pause and eat lunch during your neighborhood tour." - Emma Orlow, Robert Sietsema

"As with most of these heroes, the mozzarella is made on the premises at Joe’s, an anchor of the Bronx’s Belmont neighborhood. The “burner” part of the name reflects how much this sandwich owes to chile peppers, utilizing hot soppressata, hot capicola, and pickled chiles in a sharp vinaigrette. This is one hero you can’t chew your way through without feeling the burn." - Robert Sietsema

"Founded in 1979, Joe’s is a relative latecomer to the Arthur Avenue neighborhood. But step inside the deep premises and find a very old-fashioned stock of Italian groceries, wooden trencher tables for eating, vats of fried eggplant and chicken cutlets, cold cuts, cheeses — in short, all the fixings for what are some of the neighborhoods best Italian heros." - Robert Sietsema, Missy Frederick

"Hams and salamis hang from the ceiling, there’s a case offering more than eight types of olives, a counter where massive hero sandwiches are fabricated from a vast range of cold cuts, as well as hot items like chicken cutlets, meatballs, fried slices of eggplant, and fennel-scented sausages. Many deploy wonderful mozzarella made on the premises." - Robert Sietsema