Al's South Street Cafe

179 Essex St (corner of South Street and, Essex St, Boston
(617) 330-1002

Recent Reviews Order Online

Customers' Favorites

Chicken Pesto Sub

Chicken Salad Sub

Steak and Cheese

Chicken Salad

Hot Pastrami

Steak Bomb

Small Tuna

Chips

Made with mortadella, genoa salami, sweet capicola, provolone cheese, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Please specify toppings! Contains nuts. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread. (Mortadella contains pistachio nuts) PLEASE BE SURE TO CHOOSE YOUR TOPPINGS, remember this sub comes with OIL and BALSAMIC VINEGAR, unless otherwise noted.

Steak Bellino

Seasoned steak with grilled peppers and onions. Please specify cheese All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread. Please DO NOT order if you DO NOT want peppers and onions on your sub.

Chicken Pesto

Grilled chicken tenders smothered in our homemade pesto with tomato, melted cheese. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread. (contains nuts)

Oven Roasted Turkey

Delicious turkey roasted to perfection. Please specify toppings! All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Chef Salad

Our Insalada with provolone, swiss, turkey, ham, and hard boiled egg with oil and balsamic vinegar on the side. All our salads come with a piece of our fresh baked bread.

Chicken Arianna

Grilled chicken tenders, melted cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and smothered with buffalo blue cheese. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Hot Pastrami

Lean pastrami with Swiss cheese and spicy mustard. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

South Street Cafe Special

Extra lean prociutto, fresh mozzarella, basil, plum tomatoes, drizzled with just enough extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar on our fresh baked bread.

Al's Antipasto

Italian cold cuts and provolone cheese over romaine lettuce, plum tomatoes, red onions, with balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the side. All our salads come with a piece of our fresh baked bread.

Bag Lunches

Small Bag Lunch

10in, can soda, and chips.

Large Bag Lunch

16 inch, can soda, Chips

Cold Subs

Italian's Italian

Chicken Salad

Chunks of grilled chicken tenders, mixed with just the right amount of mayonnaise, and seasonings. Please choose toppings! All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Oven Roasted Turkey

Delicious turkey roasted to perfection. Please specify toppings! All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

South Street Cafe Special

Extra lean prociutto, fresh mozzarella, basil, plum tomatoes, drizzled with just enough extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar on our fresh baked bread.

Albacore Tuna

Top of the line albacore tuna with mayonnaise. Please choose toppings! All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Roast Beef

Made Al's way, lean slow cooked roast beef, American cheese topped with barbeque sauce, a touch of mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread. Please remember, this sub comes with LETTUCE, TOMATO, CHEESE, BBQ AND MAYO (unless specified otherwise, it will come with these toppings)

Honey Ham

Delicious honey ham. Please choose your toppings! All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Lady Cafe Special

Fresh mozzarella, sweet plum tomatoes, hearty basil, drizzled with olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. (VGT) All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Hot Gourmet Subs

Steak and Cheese

OLD SCHOOL STEAK and CHEESE Seasoned steak and melted cheese topped with your choice of toppings. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Steak Bellino

Seasoned steak with grilled peppers and onions. Please specify cheese All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread. Please DO NOT order if you DO NOT want peppers and onions on your sub.

Chicken Parmesan

Grilled chicken tenders topped with melted provolone cheese, marinara sauce, and a dusting of parmesan cheese. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Steak Pizzaiola

Seasoned steak topped with melted provolone cheese, marinara sauce, and a dusting of parmesan cheese. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Chicken Arianna

Grilled chicken tenders, melted cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and smothered with buffalo blue cheese. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Chicken Pesto

Grilled chicken tenders smothered in our homemade pesto with tomato, melted cheese. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread. (contains nuts)

Sicilian Steak

Seasoned steak cooked with roasted plum tomatoes and portabella mushrooms. Please specify if you would like cheese. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread. Please DO NOT order if you DO NOT want tomato and mushrooms on your sub.

Hot Pastrami

Lean pastrami with Swiss cheese and spicy mustard. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Eggplant Parmesan

Breaded eggplant topped with melted provolone cheese, our homemade marinara sauce, and a dusting of parmesan cheese. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

South Street Cafe Chicken

Grilled chicken tenders cooked with portabella mushrooms and roasted plum tomatoes. Please specify cheese. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Chicken Barbecue

Grilled Chicken tenders and topped with barbecue sauce, mayo, melted cheese, lettuce and tomato. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Chicken Cacciatore

Grilled Chicken tenders and portabella mushrooms grilled with peppers, onions, and covered with marinara sauce. Please specify if you would like cheese! All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Vegetarian

Tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, and onions marinated with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, grilled, and topped with your choice of cheese. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Chicken Eggplant Parmesan

Grilled Chicken parmesan combined with breaded eggplant with our marinara, provolone and parmesan cheeses. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Steak BOMB

Our seasoned steak sauteed with peppers, onions and portobello mushrooms and American cheese. On our fresh baked bread. If you DO NOT want peppers, onions and mushrooms on your sub DO NOT order a BOMB.

Build your own Grilled Chicken

Our seasoned grilled chicken with your choice of toppings on our fresh baked bread. PLEASE SPECIFY TOPPINGS AND CONDIMENTS!

Meatball Parmesan

Meatballs cooked in marinara then topped with provolone and parmesan cheeses. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Teriyaki

Seasoned steak or grilled chicken prepared with teriyaki sauce. Please specify chicken OR steak . Please specify cheese and toppings you would like. All our subs are made on our fresh baked bread.

Salads

Greek Salad

Romaine lettuce, feta cheese, plum tomatoes, red onion and black olives atih creamy greek dressing on the side. All our salads come with a piece of our fresh baked bread.

Insalada

Romaine lettuce, plum tomatoes, red onions, our homemade garlic and cheese croutons with balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the side. All salad comes with a piece of our fresh baked bread.

Café Salad

Fresh mozzarella and plum tomatoes with fresh basil on a bed of romaine lettuce, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Chef Salad

Our Insalada with provolone, swiss, turkey, ham, and hard boiled egg with oil and balsamic vinegar on the side. All our salads come with a piece of our fresh baked bread.

Al's Antipasto

Italian cold cuts and provolone cheese over romaine lettuce, plum tomatoes, red onions, with balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the side. All our salads come with a piece of our fresh baked bread.

Caesar Salad

Romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese, homemade garlic and cheese croutons, topped with Caesar dressing. All our salads come with a piece of our fresh baked bread.

Caesar Salad wrap

Our fresh caesar salad all wrapped up, homemade croutons dressing and all!

Grilled Chicken Rice Plate

Grilled Chicken Plate with rice pilaf and our insalada. Choice of grilled, Pesto (contians nuts) , terryaki, buffalo, or bbq chicken Please choose chicken.

Greek Salad Wrap

Our Fresh Greek salad all wrapped up!

Add Ons

Chips

Soda

Take Home Chicken Salad

12 oz cup of our Homemade Chicken Salad made fresh daily

Al's Bread

A loaf of our fresh baked bread

Take Home Tuna Salad

12 oz cup of our tuna salad made fresh daily.

Cup of Our Croutons

12 oz cup of our homemade croutons, made fresh daily

Photos

+56 photos

+55 photos

Add a photo

Order Online

Grubhub

Ubereats

Doordash

Chownow

Ritual

Recent Reviews

I got a large chicken pesto sub. I figured for $2 more than the small I’d have a little leftover. I didn’t realize it would be as long as my arm! The bread was fresh with a nice crunch. The sub was so full it was almost bursting and it’s all white meat chicken. Pesto sauce was real tasty too and not over saturated. I feel like you should always get a large since it’s essentially an extra sub for $2 more. My picture is 1/4 of the sub and it looks like half of one...

September 2025

Al’s Cafés is an absolute gem! From the moment you walk in, you feel the warm, welcoming atmosphere that makes you want to stay awhile. The staff is friendly, attentive, and clearly takes pride in what they do. The food is outstanding—fresh, flavorful, and prepared with care. Every dish feels like it’s made with love, and the coffee is always perfectly brewed.

The location at 179 Essex Street is convenient and has a cozy vibe, making it a perfect spot...

September 2025

I love Al's subs. I get the eggplant parm every time. Alas, since opening all these locations, I keep getting the wrong order. Once it was a chicken parmesan, another time it was eggplant and chicken, and today it was a meatball sub. I'm a vegetarian, so every time this happens, I can't even eat it. And, they are so busy, they don't answer their phone, so I can't even get a substitution. So sad.

June 2025

More Reviews

Al's South Street Cafe

Customers' Favorites