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Eastside Italian Deli, one of Los Angeles’s most celebrated Italian sandwich stops, is expanding west after decades in the Chinatown/Echo Park area. The 92-year-old restaurant and former marketplace will open a new location this fall in Los Feliz.
Eastside Italian Deli is a staple restaurant for fans of old-school LA Italian food. Known for its big sandwiches — think Italian sausage and peppers, eggplant parm, roast beef, cold cuts, and more — and rotating specials like lasagna, the red sauce specialists have become synonymous with a certain type of casual Italian restaurant still found across greater Los Angeles, from Bay Cities in Santa Monica to Pinocchio in Burbank. The new Los Feliz location will actually take over an existing Italian deli, Rocco’s on Vermont, which should make the transition all the easier.
The Angiuli family has owned and operated Eastside Italian Deli, once part of a collection of Italian sandwich spots and marketplaces across the city, since 1959. The original storefront on Alpine Street dates to 1929, at a time when the Downtown area had a much more robust Italian immigrant population. Current co-owner Vito Angiuli tells Eater that the new location will carry on the legacy of the original, with hopes of reaching a younger audience in addition to the stable of loyal customers (including many municipal workers from street sweepers to firefighters) that the Chinatown shop currently sees. So far there are no plans to dramatically change Eastside’s existing menu for the new location.
As for timing, expect an opening for the new Eastside Italian Deli at 1761 North Vermont Avenue sometime this fall, likely in early November. The incoming restaurant joins a handful of new entrants into the walkable neighborhood east of Hollywood, including a second location for popular burger-maker Goldburger as well as casual Brazilian hangout Nossa on Hillhurst.
