Grand Italian Food Center

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This venue is closed.

Refusing to bow to trends has its retail advantages. Since 1954, Italian Food Center, an unadorned Little Italy deli and grocery, has been busy doing just what its name implies. Its 30-foot-long deli counter displays a dizzying range of imported or Italian-style salami, ham, sausages, olives and cheeses, such as the house-made mozzarella that's available unsalted, marinated or smoked. Also for sale are breads, pastries, pasta, coffee and gelato. There's a hot entrée of the day, sometimes two: Rigatoni with vodka sauce and linguine with clam sauce are well suited to patrons who observe fish-on-Fridays. But this shop is best known for hefty sandwiches, like the best-selling New Yorker (ham, salami, prosciutto, provolone, peppers and mushrooms) or the Fireman (smoked turkey, smoked mozzarella and hot peppers). — Karen Tina Harrison