41-year-old Bay Area deli makes hard-to-find subs

It’s hard to imagine a time when Ann Murphy wasn’t inside a deli.

The Bay Area native was all of 9 years old when she started helping out at her parents’ first Alameda deli, P&G Italian Deli. Now, at 66, she’s carrying on the legacy of their second business, Domenico’s Italian Delicatessen, which has been a fixture in the community since 1982. It’s the kind of place where customers are considered friends and you can still get a nourishing lunch for under $10.

Today, Ann’s sons, James and Michael Murphy, are layering thin cuts of deli meat and slices of cheese inside sweet French and sourdough bread rolls. Though the lunch rush just ended, customers walk through the doors at 1407 Webster St. every few minutes to scan the menu of nearly 40 sandwiches, housemade pastas and cannoli. Ann greets them with a warm smile and gentleness that lets them know they’ll be taken care of.  

“I like coming to work,” she said. “I’m a people person.”

The Alameda deli specializes in Italian sandwiches, but not everything on the menu is strictly Italian. Turkey is the meat of choice for customers, and at Domenico’s, it is roasted daily. Crews cook about two to three turkey breasts in-house and then slice the tender meat into thick cuts that will go into hot or cold subs. One of the most popular sandwiches is a hearty turkey, bacon, cheese and avocado sub.

Another top seller is an exceptional — and hard-to-find — roasted lamb sandwich. It all starts with a nearly two-hour roast until the Worcestershire sauce-marinated lamb is cooked to a tasty medium rare. The flavorful meat is cut ultra-thin and then fixed onto a Dutch crunch roll from Richmond’s Maggiora Baking Company, along with the works: mayo, mustard, pickles, pepperoncini, red onions, tomatoes and lettuce. A slice of cheese is an extra cost but takes the sandwich to the next level. At $9.75, the lamb roast is a bargain deal for a 6-inch sub.

That’s the order I place when I get to Domenico’s. After speaking with Ann about the top sellers, I was curious to try the lamb sandwich since I haven’t come across many delis that make it. I take a large bite of the toasted sandwich and taste the delicate layers of tender lamb, Swiss cheese and yellow mustard. It’s nothing like I’ve ever tasted before. I zone out for a moment to enjoy the combination of flavors from the garlic powder, oregano and paprika rub. 

“People love it because you can’t get lamb everywhere,” Ann said.

On any given week, the Domenico’s staff sells about 120 lamb sandwiches and nearly 2,000 subs overall during the lunch rush. Ann couldn’t be happier about that, especially when she thinks back to her parents, who opened their deli in the early 1980s when they found themselves “bored” during retirement.  

When Ann was 9 years old, she’d catch a bus from her school in Oakland and head to her parents’ first Alameda business, P&G Italian Deli. For many years, the shop was operated solely by family members, which meant that Ann wore many hats. She helped clean dishes, ring up customers, and make macaroni salads and sandwiches.

“That’s where I grew up,” Ann said. “When my parents started out, they didn’t have a lot of money, so they put in all the hours to make ends meet. My parents worked hard. We never took vacations or did anything like that. This was our life, but I enjoyed it.”  

Long before Domenico’s opened in Alameda, there was P&G Italian Deli on the opposite side of town at 1514 Park St. Ann’s parents, Dominic “Domenico” Cucchiara and Letizia Sacco, opened the shop in 1966, and in 1979, they decided to sell it so they could retire. Three years into their retirement, the couple felt restless. They resurfaced from their short break to open Domenico’s.

“They decided after being bored for a little bit to go back into business,” Ann said.

In 1983, Ann and her late husband James opened their own Oakland sandwich shop, the Brown Bag. It was tinier than Domenico’s but had a similar menu of sandwiches and pastas. When Cucchiara and Sacco decided to retire for good in 1989, Ann and her husband took over the family business and sold the Brown Bag not long after.

They mostly kept things unchanged, save for a few new additions, like the famous roasted lamb that Ann’s husband added to the menu. As the story goes, James Sr. wasn’t much of a lamb guy, but he was intrigued to craft the gourmet sandwich after a customer approached him with the idea early on. About five years ago, Ann’s son James added an Italian roast beef sandwich that’s been especially popular with folks from the Midwest.

“You can’t really get it in a lot of places out here on the West Coast, so when we get people that come in from Chicago or the East Coast, they get really excited to order that,” Ann said.

For many longtime customers, Domenico’s has been more than just a deli. Ann is like a mother and friend to the throng of regulars who make their way to the decades-old business. When her favorite customer, Bernadette Scully, swings by, the two are thrilled to see each other. A photo of Scully’s dog, Maggie, hangs on the wall behind the register. Scully also carries a photo of Maggie featuring Ann. She takes a moment to scroll through the photos on her phone and flashes me the photo with a big smile.

“That’s why I love coming here,” Ann said. “My customers are my friends.”

The restaurant walls are like a Murphy family album, with photos of Ann’s parents and her five children on full display. There are photos of her daughter Michelle, a former Raiderette, who smiles at the camera with silver pompoms in tow.

Ann said she feels honored to continue the family business into its next decade, especially with her two boys by her side. She often feels like Domenico’s is one of her children and hopes it will continue on to the fourth generation. In 2020, her son Jeff opened a Domenico’s Italian Deli outpost in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he’s carrying on the family tradition from more than 2,000 miles away. He even has his own version of a roasted lamb sandwich.

Ann’s father will be 94 in October, and while he no longer visits the shop due to illness, Ann sees him regularly at his nursing home and often brings him a Domenico’s sandwich. She gets emotional when she speaks of her dad as she thinks back to his strong work ethic and business savvy. After a moment, Ann collects herself and says she credits her father for showing her the ropes from such an early age.

“I’ve just followed in his footsteps,” Ann said. “I always tell him, ‘We had a busy day. We did good.’ This is my life. … I know he’s proud.”