Justin Leon had zero restaurant experience before he opened Lambo’s Deli. A musician who had worked in sales his whole adult life, Leon was enthralled by the bodegas and delis of the United States, where you can get a pretty good sandwich while picking up cat food or a soda. That kind of business doesn’t exist in Toronto. Seeking to fill that gap, Leon had his eye on Discount Mart, a convenience store at the corner of Dundas and Bellwoods. Seeing it for sale in the winter of 2020, he took over at the end of March, signing the lease for Lambo's Deli just as the pandemic began.
Fortunately, what he had in mind was very suited to the times. Gutting the space, tearing out all the old, yellow pegboard on the wall, he installed new electrical and designed an assembly line kitchen to maximize workflow. With social media marketing help from his girlfriend, Adrien Reynolds, and a fabricated name that implies Italian speediness, Lambo’s has become a go-to spot for squishy buns tightly packed with wads of prosciutto and soppressata, creamy from pesto or horseradish crema. Opened in October of 2020, Lambo’s sells an average of 250 sandwiches a day. Here, Leon tells La Cucina Italiana about the secret to his sammy success.
I had a kitchen boss who explained that a sandwich is not just a convenience food, but a composed dish. It ideally should have something creamy, something crunchy, and something chewy. What is your sandwich philosophy and what makes a great sandwich?
Textural contrast is definitely important. You want to have the right amount of moisture, the right flavor, the right amount of acid, fat, and crunch. All those things have to come together to create the ultimate bite.
It all comes down to fresh ingredients. The best quality. That’s the beauty of Italian cooking. Just get the best of the best, make everything in house, and really think about every bite and the construction of your sandwich. All the way down to the packaging.
Justin Leon started Lambo's because he couldn't find a good Italian sandwich shop in Toronto. Photo: Jocelyn Reynolds
Given that, what makes a bad sandwich?
When there’s no contrast in texture. It’s just not packaged right and it gets soggy and inedible. The worst is when you bite into a sandwich and the bread is too hard or it doesn’t pull right and everything’s falling out of the sandwich.
What about bread?
We can’t bake it in-house. We get bread delivered fresh every morning. Up until recently we were getting our bread from the Drake Commissary. We just switched over to this Italian bakery on St. Clair called Tre Mari. They’ve been there for like 50 years [actually 61 years!]. I’ve been working with them designing a custom roll just for us. It’s kind of a modified Italian sandwich roll. Except it’s not crusty. Sesame seeds on top. Light and airy on the inside. It has good structure but doesn’t have too much bite. It’s fun just tweaking little things. Trying to get it perfect.
Are you exclusively takeout or are you on any of the third party delivery apps?
We have our own in-house delivery service. We have bike couriers on staff. That all goes through our own website. We use an online ordering platform, started in Toronto, called Ambassador. And we also use Uber Eats as well. If it’s not very busy we’ll turn on Uber Eats. Or if it’s a rainy day. That gets our sandwiches farther. Our in-house delivery is limited because it’s just bikes.
Lambo's Deli took over a corner space on a street near a popular Toronto park. On a nice day, the deli's sales jump. Photo: Samuel Engelking
I’ve spoken with Ambassador founder Nav Sangha. It’s unusual in that he is a restaurateur. For your purposes, why Ambassador instead of Doordash and the others?
The level of service is incredible. If you have a problem, Nav calls you back. I really like the way it integrates into our website. There’s no extraneous information. I hate when you go to a restaurant website and there’s too much information. All you need to see is the menu and how to order. Ambassador is the best for that. Super streamlined. And fees. It’s way cheaper. It’s $99 (CAD) a month.
You’re right next door to Trinity Bellwoods Park, official outdoor gathering space of young Torontonians. How valuable is your proximity to the park?
It’s pretty huge. If it’s gonna be a sunny Saturday afternoon, it’s a noticeable jump in sales. If it’s raining, we take a pretty big hit. It’s highly dependent on who’s coming to the park. The business is so weather-dependent that I’ve become addicted to checking the weather. Multiple times a day. Because we have to adjust our bread orders according to the weather. I look at the amount of sunlight in a day to figure it out.
In the United States, there’s a preponderance of good food in convenience stores and even gas stations. Why doesn’t the convenience store with good sandwiches exist in Toronto?
Travelling to New York, and getting an amazing sandwich in a bodega or Italian deli, I always wanted to have that here. I have been asking myself that for years and I cannot find an answer. Even places like Hamilton have amazing submarine shops. In Toronto, maybe the price of real estate drove away those types of businesses. I don’t know. But that’s why I saw a gap in the market and I wanted to fill that gap. And we’ve had a good response.