damnlines.comdamnlines.comA 1940s Astoria counter nicknamed "The Sandwich King of Astoria" for jumbo cold-cut subs like The Bomb, which The Infatuation says are "roughly the same dimensions as a newborn."
damnlines hasn't pointed a lens at Sal, Kris & Charlie's Deli yet. The most-wanted lines get a camera first.
The Infatuation's Italian-sandwich guide, which calls this shop a 1940s Astoria "sandwich king," warns that at the counter "you might have to wait but it's worth it" — no specific minutes or days are attached, just a flagged expectation of a wait. Culinary Backstreets goes further, crediting the deli's "oversized sandwiches, fair prices, and no-nonsense service" with having "kept locals lining up for decades," framing the wait as a long-running neighborhood habit rather than a recent viral spike.
None of the coverage reviewed — The Infatuation, Culinary Backstreets, or the deli's Wikipedia entry — mentions a reservation system, so the wait described by both outlets appears to be ordinary first-come, first-served counter service rather than a booked or ticketed line. The likely driver is prep time and portion size: per Wikipedia and The Infatuation, the signature 14-inch "Bomb" sub is loaded with Italian and American cold cuts, two cheeses, and pickled peppers, and is sized to reportedly feed several people at once.
Outside attention has compounded the crowd without changing the format: Wikipedia notes actor Michael Rapaport has called it "the best in the city" and visits several times a year, and USA Today's Ted Berg wrote that The Bomb is "remarkably delicious" — the kind of recurring media coverage that keeps a decades-old line going even though the shop itself doesn't publish wait-time guidance.
Patterns as reported by press and regulars — not measured by damnlines.
Reservations: None found — walk-up counter service only, per The Infatuation, Culinary Backstreets, and the deli's official site.
Walk-ins: Yes — counter service; no reservation system found in any coverage reviewed.
Per the deli's official site: Mon–Sat 5am–7pm, Sun 5am–3pm.
No outlet publishes an exact wait time, but both sources treat a wait as a routine feature of eating here: The Infatuation's Italian-sandwich guide says "you might have to wait but it's worth it," and Culinary Backstreets writes that the deli's fair prices and no-nonsense service "have kept locals lining up for decades." Expect a line rather than a rare occurrence, especially around lunch.
No — it's a walk-up counter deli, and neither the shop's official site, The Infatuation, nor Culinary Backstreets mentions any booking or reservation system. Ordering appears to be first-come, first-served.
Yes, it's walk-in only. The deli's official site lists hours of Monday–Saturday 5am–7pm and Sunday 5am–3pm, with no call-ahead or reservation option mentioned in any coverage reviewed.
"The Bomb," a roughly 14-inch cold-cut sub with Italian and American meats, two cheeses, and pickled peppers. Per Wikipedia it was "invented by accident when a customer told Charlie he could make whatever he wanted," and The Infatuation describes the shop's sandwiches as sized like "a newborn."
Sources: The Infatuation · Culinary Backstreets · Wikipedia · Sal, Kris & Charlie's Deli (official site)