Salerno's Via Dolce Cafe: "Sandwich Heaven" - A Neighborhood Cafe

Salerno's is a nice café popular among the people working in this area. There is not much room to speak of when going inside to eat. I've seen about 4-6 tables inside the café, with chairs to seat 4 people per table. The fact there is a very nice outer patio area with a roof and hedged wall columns with several open spaces is what makes this place special. No other restaurant or café in this area has something like that and people enjoy eating there as a nice change-of-pace eating area.

The setting of the café has a slight Italian feel in the way the tables, chairs and counter are designed. Looking at the giant menu above the counter, you will notice they have a large selection to choose from in eating choices.

For breakfast, you have your choice of the typical ham and cheese, egg, or sausage sandwiches in different combinations. Burritos can be made from these combinations as well. Omelets are also available with these combinations with bacon included.

Fro lunch, their menu gives you several categories to pick, which are: salads, pastas, pizzas, and various types of sandwiches. One word of warning, however; our group of 8 people ordered pizzas from this café to go and 6 of the 8 all had stomach problems afterwards. I don't know if this is only a one time thing, or if it's from an ingredient that didn't agree with us, but the experience is bad enough that the people with stomach problems will never eat pizza from them again!

The food item this place is best known for are their sandwiches. They serve cold, hot or grilled sandwiches and even offer combo deals with a mixture of sandwiches, soup or salad. When you look at their sign which offers what specials are available, you will notice most of them are sandwiches. Despite our bad experience with pizza, we keep coming back to Salerno's for their delicious sandwiches. Some of our group's favorites are the pastrami, philadelphia steak, and chicken parmesan sandwiches (all are served hot). These are usually on the specials portion of the menu and our constant picks. The meat is nicely heated, juicy and delicious. Our vegetarian co-worker commented on the one salad she orders all the time, which is the Caesar salad. It's served with romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese, homemade croutons and tomatoes with Caesar dressing.

They also offer coffee, fruit smoothies in their drinking section. I've tried the smoothie only once ("orange dream", which is a smoothie mixed with orange juice and vanilla) but didn't care for the taste. I noticed they do have professional smoothie mixers so it could just be I didn't like that particular type. I have yet to try another selection.

The prices of their food are very reasonable. The sandwich prices range from $5.95 - $7.95. If this seems high to you, please note the size of their sandwiches is fairly large and has lots of meat inside. The price of their salads is similar in price range. Pizzas are sold in small, medium and large sizes and are priced at $8.95 - 14.95. The pasta dishes are $7.25 - 9.75 each.

All in all, this is an excellent place to eat. The Burbank Center/Tower building area is ripe with many types of restaurants and groups of people circulate among the different eating areas for variety on a day to day basis. Salerno's is a common choice pick with our group and I would recommend it to anyone interested in trying out their hot sandwiches!

Salerno's Via Dolce:

A Neighborhood Café

3900 W Riverside Dr

Burbank, CA 91505

(818) 845-8115