Al’s State Street Cafe

It’s lunch time. You’re near south station. You want a sub the size of your arm. This is where you go.

Al’s is pretty much a staple of the downtown Boston lunch scene for subs. When you see people with subs in the long neon orange/​yellow bags, you know its Al’s for lunch. Both their hot subs and cold subs are great. Favorites for cold subs include the chicken salad and for hot include the steak pizzola and chicken parm. Can’t ever go wrong.
When you go to Al’s, you’re here for the value and comfort the food brings. A popular lunch spot in Boston, so lines can get hectic, but they’re very efficient in the back. Almost too efficient, so you better be quick and have your order ready to go as to not clog the line. The cold line has more of a civilized line, whereas the hot sub line is messy but they’ll yell out whose next when they’re free so don’t be shy since a lot of people in the area are just waiting for their orders.
Not a sit down place. But theres plenty of seating along the Greenway during the sunny days.

Amazing. Delicious. And quick! Just all around stellar. I go here all the time for lunch when I’m downtown– the food is delicious and the price is perfect. ($ 7 bucks for a humongous sandwich in downtown Boston!?) Being inside the place when they’re in the middle of a lunch rush is a thing of beauty– they’re a well-​oiled machine, popping out sandwiches and salads every thirty seconds. Even when there was 40 people in line, the longest I’ve ever waited is 7 minutes, which is insane. These people are good. The chicken salad is so tasty highly recommend it with banana peppers. I love this place!

Went to Al’s based on the reviews. Sandwich was «meh.» Service was rude. Probably won’t be back.

Great sandwich for a grab and go. I had the steak with cheese and peppers and couldn’t be happier. Quick nice and easy

Al’s is, in my opinion, the best sandwich and lunch deal in Boston. Their small sandwich is enough to share, plus a soda and chips for $ 8.50. I always get the chicken salad which is really good. The bread is fresh and warm and delicious. If you haven’t gone to Al’s, you should. Also, Al’s is a nice alternative if you’re down at Faneuil Hall for the afternoon and don’t want to spend a zillion dollars on tiny finger sandwiches in Quincy Market. It’s right around the corner, but always tourist free.

very good sub, great bread, love the atmosphere. one thing that threw me was the aggressive pickle usage on the italian. what would be a perfect sub, lost something because it was overwhelmed by dill pickles.
I’m back in Boston in a couple weeks and will go again and remember to ask for no pickles and extra hots…
To be continued…

Eaten here a couple of times, sandwich’s are huge, really tasty and good deals for the money.

Have gotten sandwiches for lunch at work on a weekly basis for the past few years. My favorite is the large Italian sub. I do not suggest finishing it at once unless you want to be in a food coma unable to work the rest of the afternoon. My move is to have ¾ at lunch and finish the rest around 4−5pm as a late afternoon snack. The quality of cold cuts is decent for Boston, but it isn’t boars head grade. Will continue to come back for lunch sandwiches! If you are from NY or NJ (originally from here), do not expect it to be the deli you are hoping for.

Nothing beats an Al’s sub! Huge portions (if you order a large, I made that mistake ONCE!), friendly service and super good food. There are so many options here for cold and hots subs, really anything you are craving, they offer. Customization allowed and they listen. Usually long lines but fast service and organization makes the wait fast. You always see the classic yellow sub bags wandering around the Financial District at lunch, so you know it is good when so many people carry that badge of delish.

Warning: I am a vegetarian, and I had two options for sandwiches: eggplant parm and vegetable. I don’t like vegetables, so I got the eggplant parm.
Overall: I probably wouldn’t come back for the food, but I would come back to say ‘hi’ and recommend them to my meat-​eating friends.
Specifics: My eggplant parm sandwich had delicious bread and good sauce, but the eggplant parm itself was not good, and there was not enough cheese to make me forget about that.
Positives: THE SERVICE WAS AMAZING! The place was clean, everyone was nice, and the bread was good. My friend LOVED her Italian sandwich.
Negatives: The eggplant parm wasn’t good, and not enough cheese.

I do work at a bldg across the street from the south st location, every other Friday I saw the line out the door at lunch time, I was intimidated! Then one day I said «screw it» I will see what the fuss is about.
Much to my surprise, I was in and out in approx 5 minutes, ordered the steak Bellino, it was the best steak&cheese sub I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a few, probably from every «house of pizza «in every town in eastern Mass.. Needless to say I
Now go almost every other Friday afternoon and am stuffed til sat am!!!
PS been to the other locations, all just as good! This is a don’t miss!

This is where it is at. Not sure if this is a Boston kind of thing, but it’s not something I’ve encountered in other cities. You walk up and are intimidated by the line that seems to always snake out the door to the place. But then before you’ve waited 5 minutes, you’re inside and struggling to figure out what to order in time.
Then, you get up to the counter and are confronted by a row of sandwich guys who are that exciting Boston mixture of surly and friendly, who ask nonspecifically for the next order, not necessarily YOUR order. If you are making good decisions, you ask for the Italian and you make it a large because you will eat the hell out of the thing.
Then you kind of wind your way to the pay area, which is equally unstructured and seems to only be able to work based on the goodwill of patrons. You gotta WANT to pay.
So now I typed too much on the setup and not enough on the food. That’s because all it takes is one word: Delicious. And maybe a few more: They’re just really well-​made, hefty sandwiches. The taste is like being transported back to the 50s or the 20s or something black-​and-​white where there was none of the whole wheat organic nonsense, just fat, hearty, meaty sandwich.
Definitely make a detour here if you can, it’s pretty much perfect.

Of course I got the Italian! This place was worth the over 1.5 mile walk to get to from my hotel. Luckily I went off hours and was able to order right away because I can imagine that this place gets untra crowded. The food was on point and portions were huge. They definitely cater and it would be a great option. Please get the Italian… you will not be disappointed!

Okay, this place was good.
After completing our duck tour near the Aquarium, we were in starvation mode so we picked up Unilocal around the area and some cool, awesome Unilocalers guided us to Al’s State Street. We got there at around 11:30 and there was a line, but it wasn’t too bad. I wanted a warm sandwich so I went into the left line.
The place is extremely small. The kind of small where people are either running into you or apologizing for needing a snack off the rack that is directly next to you. There really is no strong layout, at least near the warm sandwich side. It’s every woman/​man for herself/​himself.
Despite all of that, the line went quickly. They’re yelling from behind their counter for the next person, take your order, and then there’s several people working swiftly to have your sub finished. I’ve never seen so many people behind such a small kitchen before work so well together. I think I ran into more people in front of the counter than any one person ran into anyone behind the counter. They definitely had less room to work in, too.
My sub was excellent. I think I got the chicken marinara or something like that. My friend got the chicken pesto. Two thumbs up, five stars, oh yes. Best sub I’ve ever had. Al’s does something right, not quite sure what that is. The bread’s good, the chicken’s good. It’s all good.
I’ll be sure to come back once I’m in Boston again.

Went with the Al’s State Street Café Special and the first Steak sandwich option. The Hot sandwich /​cold sandwich separation makes for awkward situations when people try to treat others, but we were able to get our issue sorted out, and enjoyed the sandwiches between some very interesting but oddly enjoyable bread.
Transaction Amount$ 17.00
Credit Applied– $ 2.00
Total Spent$ 15.00

The best sandwiches in Boston. And probably the fastest from order to grabbing. HUGE sandwiches, great value. Can’t eat a whole sandwich, I’ve tried many times and still can’t do it. The cheese steaks are to die for. I’ve never been to Pat’s or Gino’s in Philly but I’ll bet Al’s would rival them.
Wish they had more seats inside but no biggie. The best chicken salad sub I’ve ever had in a deli, not too much mayo, nice balance and tons of diced chicken. If they shredded it, it would be better, texturally speaking. The Italian subs are also very good, tuna is excellent. No fishy taste or smell.
Service is SO friendly, efficient. Mostly a financial district lunch crowd, don’t even think they’re open on weekends.

Line to the right is for cold subs and line to the left is for hot. At the least, have that decided before you walk in the door! We came on a Saturday, right when they opened so can’t speak to how quick the line moves but the guys were friendly and efficient. I had the Al’s Special with prosciutto, basil, mozzarella, and tomato and the boy had the chicken salad with lettuce and tomato. Boy, the smalls were a hefty sandwich (10″, perhaps a foot long?) so I can’t fathom how a large would look like.
I thought Al’s Special was fine, nothing special despite the name and definately not a huge fan of the bread they use. The boy seemed to really enjoyed his chicken sandwich and had no complaints about the bread so to each his own!

This place is awesome and the BBQ chicken sandwich is exactly what a BBQ sandwich should be. It’s a delicious, filling sandwich that will have you longing for a nap and reminiscing on its deliciousness. It’s made with fresh chicken breast, a delicious sauce, cheese, lettuce and tomato.
The large version of the sandwich is the only size to get in my opinion. It makes a subway footlong look like a piece of sandwich bread. It’s completely filled with the previously mentioned ingredients with no wasted bread.
The restaurant itself is a classic in and out kind of place. Line moves lightning fast and orders come out pretty quickly given how packed it gets in here. Note to self: make sure you know exactly what you want before going up to order, otherwise you’ll find yourself being viewed as a barrier to a line full of starving people!
Overall, one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had!

If you’re reading this then you should try this place cause it’s better than any other place around the area and cheaper too.
In fact if you’re still thinking about it you should look for something on the menu right now cause you go in, order, and pick up within a few minutes. If you’re not ready to order, then they’ll think you’re crazy.
BBQ Chicken was delicious and definitely coming back for more here.
Ask for peppers too if you like to light it up.
Also the large size is enough for two people! Or lunch and dinner.