Dilly's Sandwiches Verified listing

Dilly’s Sandwiches is the blink-and-you-will-miss-it sandwich shop on Viking Way in Lakewood Village from husband-and-wife team Brein and Rory Ann Clements. And this little gem is already becoming a lunchtime staple as well as a post-school activity hangout, with parents and kids alike loving the fact that they have a no-frills, uncomplicated, straightforward, Jewish deli-inspired sandwich shop.

Dilly’s Sandwiches feels like the sandwich shop Long Beach has always needed. Dilly’s doesn’t focus on one culture or another. (We hear and see you, Olives, Angelo’s, Beach City, Santa Fe Importers… All of whom focus solely on Italian or barbecue or…). Dilly’s direct approach to sandwiches is for sandwich lovers. And, since opening in 2024, there’s no better extension of this dedication to the Sandwich Lover than their new menu items.

There’s a stellar ham and cheese sandwich, stacked high with honey ham and potato chips before their house-made jalapeño pimento cheese is slathered onto bread slices, and it is all squished together. It’s a salt bomb, wonderfully balanced with the slightest hint of sweetness: the honey ham and candied, pickled jalapeño made in-house for the pimento cheese.

But perhaps no sandwich is more unique or wonderfully balanced than The Carrot. Whole carrots, dusted with salt and oil, are blasted until al dente in a roaster, paired with chunks of bright, umami-soaked kimchi and plenty of cheese in a talera roll. It is an unexpected ball of tart, plenty of salt, creaminess, and the tiniest bit of sweet. It is a wonder of a sandwich.

Written and photos by Brian Addison.

For Brian Addison's full feature on Dilly's, click here.