Our Great City

Chicago, 1952--a young butcher named Tom, who worked for the A&P Grocery chain wants to start a chicken business in Homewood, Illinois. He gets help from his father and opens his Chicken Parts store only to find that there is little to no market for his product. His customers suggest he carry things like Corned Beef and Pastrami, Lox and Bagels, Knishes and Blintzes (all foreign objects to his father). So the young butcher takes a part time job at a Deli called The Seaway on the Southside of Chicago and learns the business. With the confidence and the knowledge he gathered Tom Weinberger, my father, turned his Chicken Parts store into the first of five delis on Chicago’s Southside.

I grew up at my father’s apron strings learning every part of the business that my father learned while working at the Seaway. In 2002, I opened my first deli in Grapevine, Texas. We met with moderate success. But like my father, I found what worked and what did not. Today we have two of the most celebrated sandwich shops in the Metroplex, Weinberger’s in Grapevine and Weinberger’s of Solana (in Westlake). Our menu boasts over 150 different types of sandwiches. We specialize in Chicago favorites, like the Italian Beef, Chicago Hot Dogs, and the Maxwell Street Polish. But our customers bring us sandwich ideas from all over the country, and we re-create their favorite hometown fare, with our own twist.

From the Oscar, (Toasted Jalapeno Bread, Hot Mortadella, Hot Cotto Salami, Hot Ham, Hot Pepperoni, Avocado, Giardiniera Peppers, Mayo, Lettuce, Onion, tomato, Provolone cheese, and Italian dressing) to our grilled cheese sandwich, there is almost every style of sandwich you can imagine. From meat eater’s delight to vegan, hot or cold, thick or thin…the possibilities of sandwiches are endless. You can even customize your own sandwich.

Once a year, we go a little overboard. March is our March Madness month, and just like the NCAA, we too have a bracket board. We take 64 sandwiches and seed them 1 through 16 in four divisions. The sandwiches battle it out until we have a Sandwich of the Year. The winners the past three years have been The Chicago Hot Dog (2007), the Weinberger Reuben (2008), and the Italian Beef (2009). This year’s #1 seeds are the Medinah, The Oscar, the Wicked, and the Mark Cuban.

This year we are offering the opportunity to ‘adopt’ a sandwich for our tournament. For a minimum donation of $50 to the American Red Cross you can adopt one of the 64 sandwiches. The proceeds will be donated to the Chisholm Trail chapter of the American Red Cross. Should your sandwich win the tournament, you will win a sandwich a day for 365 days, and we will create a new sandwich in your honor that fits your personality. The recipe of your new sandwich and a caricature of you will be mounted and displayed on our own Wall of Fame. We would like to invite everyone to come to our deli on Main Street and take part in this event.

So come on in and give us a try. Our hours are:

Weinberger’s Grapevine
611 South Main Street
Monday through Saturday 10 to 7
Sundays 11 to 3

Weinberger’s Solana
Monday through Friday 11 to 5.