DiBella's facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Food service |
| Founded | Rochester, New York, United States 1918 |
| Headquarters |
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United States
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Number of locations
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44 locations |
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Area served
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New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Connecticut |
| Products | Sandwiches |
Dibella's Old Fashioned Submarines is a sub sandwich restaurant chain based in Rochester, New York, United States. They have 44 locations across New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, and Michigan as of 2021.
DiBella's was founded in 1918. It first began as a family owned and operated Italian import store and delicatessen in the city of Rochester. Over the years, their prepared foods became more popular at the expense of their grocery items. As recently as 1998, the company's operations consisted of a single sub shop in the Rochester suburb of Henrietta (pictured); that same year, a second store was added in the nearby suburb of Greece.
From there, DiBella's opened additional locations around the Rochester area, then expanded into nearby Buffalo. In the late 2000s, they started expanding out-of-state, first to the Pittsburgh area, then to parts of Ohio and eastern Michigan. They have also opened locations more recently in Albany and Syracuse, and in 2012 the company moved into New England, specifically Connecticut and the Hartford / New Haven area. They have previously attempted to operate stores in Indianapolis, which has proven unsuccessful, as all three locations have since permanently closed.
There are rumors that the popular high-end grocery chain Wegmans, also based in Rochester, owns Dibella's or buys the chain's bread for their own subs. However, this isn't true. The reason for their similarity is due to Wegmans chairman Danny Wegman's fondness for DiBella's subs. He has implemented improvements to their deli counters after consultations with DiBella's.
The restaurants' decor are based on a 1930s/1940s delicatessen theme.
They have been voted "Best Sub in Rochester" for 8 years in a row by the readers of the Democrat & Chronicle and City Newspaper, two local papers.
DiBella's attributes their success to bread making that is based on old world techniques. The dough is formed, scored, and seasoned by hand, and stores bake bread at least twice daily.
