With its warm staff and dazzling array of inventive sandwiches, wraps and salads, Tony’s Deli has carved a special niche as a destination for hungry New Canaanites since opening on Pine Street in 2007.
East School students Meredith Sloan, Kiki Brainard and Carolina Welch of Girls Scout Troop 173 pose with Tony's deli owner Tony Gencarelli.
While Tony’s certainly has broad appeal, it specifically has forged a unique place with youth and high school sports programs. Take a look around the interior of Tony’s and you’ll see “thank you” posters from various Rams teams, from cheerleading to hockey to football.
“Tony’s is a New Canaan landmark,” NCHS senior Connor Buck told NewCanaanite.com. “Going back to youth football, after a long game our team would always go to Tony’s. Everyone loves them.”
A major part of Tony’s synergy with the high school kids in particular is due to some old-fashioned features they’ve instituted in recent years.
“They’ll deliver to the high school,” Buck said. “They know a whole bunch of us now personally. So if you go there enough they’ll set up a house account, like a tab, with your name. So it’s awesome.”
Despite owning another deli in Greenwich, Tony’s owner Anthony Gencarelli spends 90 percent of his time in New Canaan. He feels that the convenience and flexibility the house accounts afford the students is just part of the deli’s customer service.
“I love the kids in here,” Gencarelli said. “Some of the kids don’t have cash with them, so we say it’s fine to start a house account and pay on a weekly basis. I have no problem with that.”
Tony’s has also been known to name a sandwich after a student athlete or two. For example, one of the more unique–and popular–choices at Tony’s is the “Joe Co.” wrap (chicken cutlet, potato cones, bacon, cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato and honey mustard), reportedly named for 2011 NCHS graduate Joe Costigan.
NewCanaanite.com asked Buck if he had a sandwich named after him. The 6’5” 244-lb. Colgate-bound defensive lineman smiled and said, “I’m working on it.”
If it ever comes to fruition, it will undoubtedly be a big one.