Tripi, an Italian American Deli and Market in Ohio City, Opens Tomorrow, June 22

Tripi in Ohio City opens Thursday June 22. Credit: Douglas Trattner

Tomorrow, June 22, chef Anthony Zappola will open the doors to Tripi, an Italian American deli and market in Ohio City. The restaurant takes its cues from the city of that name in Sicily, which is where Zappola’s grandmother was born.

The spiffy storefront is located at 41 West, a mixed-use development at the corner of Lorain Avenue and W. 41st St. Customers can expect high-quality chef-driven foods delivered in a swift, efficient manner. It’s a system the chef has honed after five years of operating Lox, Stock and Brisket at the Van Aken District Market Hall, which is as busy as any small restaurant can be. Zappola also runs the Rice Shop and Le Stand at Van Aken.

The core menu consists of salads, hot and cold sandwiches, and ready-to-serve hot entrees, all prepared throughout the day with quality ingredients. Sandwiches like the sausage and peppers, chicken parm with mozzarella and tomato sauce, meatball sub, and hoagie packed with salami, soppressata, capicola, provolone and tomato arrive on fresh-baked Italian rolls.

“That’s the difference maker,” Zappola says. “You’re going to be getting a chicken parm sandwich 20 minutes after the bread comes out of the oven.”

Other options include rigatoni and sauce topped with a choice of meatballs, sausage or chicken cutlet, pepperoni rolls and sauce, and square-cut Sicilian pizza available by the slice, half sheet or full sheet.

Guests can also look forward to daily specials that could include arancini, prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches, mortadella and ricotta sandwiches, porchetta sandwiches and specialty pastas. A cooler will be stocked with grab-and-go items like caprese salads, antipasto plates, and heat-and-eat entrees of the day that might include dishes like lasagna, chicken marsala and chicken piccata.

A retail section will carry specialty items like dried pastas, canned imported tomatoes, olive oils, vinegars, jarred olives, hot and sweet peppers, giardiniera and tapenade.
An adjacent dining room offers seating for dine-in customers.

Tripi will be open Thursday through Saturday to start, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays being added in a couple weeks. Down the road, Zappola might add Sundays and Mondays to the mix.