This is easily the best American cheese shop I have ever been in and it is one of my favorite places in Dallas to visit every time I am back home in the city for a few hours or days.
The parking situation is just terrible if you aren't close enough to uber in from your hotel/office; have someone else drive you; or just walk over from the Equinox for some post-workout cheese like a real Charlie Kelly would do ... cuz that's how I found this place originally, no shame. The parking situation is a few spots out front off Oak Lawn but those are the worst since you need to wait for a traffic lull to back out onto the busy street (Cliffs notes: you will be waiting a long time until someone finally takes pity on you, stops, and holds up traffic for you.) Your other option is park round back where there isn't enough room to maneuver if some hick with a huge monster truck parks behind you. This is Oak Lawn, your kind are not welcome here, truck people.
Parking situation aside once you get in here, it is glorious heaven - if you like cheese. If you are lactose intolerant this might be like Tina Belcher's twice-warmed over fires of Hell Jail.
They have all the fix-ins besides the cheese if you are buying a lot of cheese to host a wine and cheese type of party; or just any kind of special occasion that merits wine (pretty much every occasion besides your son's little league baseball game) and nice cheese (every occasion.) They also have the wine, but I get my wine at the Trader Joe because I buy in ridiculous bulk when I find something I like. Because you can pour wine into a soda can and that's a pretty smart move since you don't need to deal with a wine glass, so you can take the wine to-go in a can of Dr. Pepper anywhere you would take the can of Dr. Pepper. Frank Reynolds was a smart man.
A review of just their cheeses would be a whole separate review by yelp's limiting character counter on reviews but suffice it to say whether you kinda like cheese okay a bit or you have a Ph.D in cheese, you can find something exhilarating in their glass display case.
But what makes it one of my favorite places in Dallas are the made-to-order artisan sandwiches for lunch. The sandwiches are only $8.50 and come with a small side salad.
Their sandwiches bring out my inner Liz Lemon trying to locate her annual teamster sub. I take sandwiches seriously, and so does Scardello. They do not fuck around with the art of sandwich making. Subway might call their employees sandwich artists, but Scardello has what I have independently determined to be sandwich artistés and that is obviously hella better with that accent mark there, it is French.
The boys behind the counter do not rush preparing the sandwich. They do it one at a time. It's nothing like the Subway assembly line where they do it as quickly as they can to get rid of you. Here the boys pay particular and close attention to each ingredient and carefully add them in and pile them on like they are playing a game of Operation. The kitchen prep area is all out in the open. They have nothing to hide about their food or food prep, so I like how much they stand behind what they do. It's so easy to fall in love with Scardello as a biz.
The Sweet Italian is my absolute fave. This sandwich alone could stop World War III if we only give it the chance. The thinly sliced prosciutto and the decadent burrata are an excellent pairing to channel all of the elegance possible out of the realm of the savory. The fig confit is fabulous to bring the sweetness like a hooker with a heart of gold. You have not had a sandwich until you have eaten this sandwich. All hail the glow cloud, through whom made Raptor Jesus and the Sweet Italian possible.
If the Sweet Italian doesn't float your boat because the prosciutto scares you off after all those episodes of The Sopranos that took place at Satriale's, the Mountaineer is another strong choice to bring you down to flavor town. This is one of the best grilled cheeses ever.
I try to reserve a five star yelp rating for a biz that truly deserves it as the model of everything that makes me happy in life, like Scardello.
Now don't mind me as I Charlie Kelly gnaw through some cheese before I go on a date. How much cheese is too much cheese? read more