The Bronx Deli - A Little Bit of Arthur Avenue in Oxford CT

10458…that’s the zip code for Arthur Avenue in The Bronx. Considered by many to be the Mecca of Italian food in the NYC area, people travel for miles to enjoy bakeries, delis and traditional red sauce restaurants. When you are 75 miles away, and looking for an Italian grinder, that drive is formidable.

Fortunately, if you are in the Seymour / Oxford area in The Valley, there is an incredibly delicious alternative, The Bronx Deli – A Taste of Little Italy, on Main Street (also known as route 67). Located in a nondescript strip mall with Dunkin’ and Oxford Pizza Palace (which serves some pretty good cracker-crust pizza), this unassuming deli serves some of the best cold and hot grinders without fighting the traffic on 95 and the Hutch to The Bronx. 

According to the website, The Bronx Deli is a family-owned restaurant, with locations in Naugatuck and Oxford. Adalberto DaSilva, both the owner and its chef, brings over twenty-five years of restaurant experience. His philosophy…offer his customers delicious items at affordable prices. A non-grinder sandwich is under $8 and even with the $1.50 grinder surcharge, this 12” masterpiece is under $10. With over thirty predetermined combinations, the menu offers 14 chicken cutlet, 6 Italian meats and cheeses, 6 turkey 3 roast beef, and 2 vegetarian options.

While almost half of the choices focused on fried chicken cutlets and Italian meats and cheeses, if you look carefully in a different section of the menu, you will find a few hot choices… sausage & peppers, chicken, meatball or eggplant parmesan, or a little pasta. Everything I ate, transported me to the Bronx, maybe because the bread is brought in daily from Arthur Avenue.

A few samplings…

The Captain #2 – Chicken cutlet, eggplant, mozzarella, roasted peppers, light garlic and oil. What a great combination. The chicken was freshly prepared, with a crispy exterior and moist throughout. There was only the teeny edge that was a little over-fried. The accompaniments were just the right amount without overpowering the chicken, and the bread was great.

Sausage and Peppers – Staring at an unknown S&P always makes me want to guess whether it contains hot or sweet sausages, or maybe a few of each, to tease the taste buds. Bronx’s combines hot and sweet into a single medium spiced sausage. This was a first for me. They are sliced and then grilled. Not only does Bronx hit a home run with the sausage, but they don’t skimp on the peppers, they add multi-colored sweet peppers. There was so much pride in balancing the mildly-spicy sausage with the sweetness and sweet snap of yellow peppers. The sausage and pepper grinder was lights out.

Eggplant Parmesan – It is always difficult for me to decide which to order, the sausage and peppers or the eggplant parm. The Bronx Deli version makes it easy. Order both. While eggplant parmesan is not difficult to assemble, it is a process that requires a little love, mission accomplished. The eggplant was soft and flavorful, and the breading was just thick enough. The real differentiator was the sauce, it was sweet and tangy and played well with the eggplant and the bread. And just a little, stringy mozzy to make it all hold together. They put love in the sandwich, and I loved the sandwich.

While Arthur Avenue offers a wide range of options for that culinary adventure, if you are looking for a little piece of The Bronx in The Valley, The Bronx Deli will transport your tastebuds to that magical grinder heaven.

The Bronx Deli

71 Oxford Rd, Oxford, CT 06478

(866) 604-6589