Little Italy · Chicago · Since 1960
The original Fontano's — on Polk Street since 1960, and still making them to order.
1058 W Polk St · Mon–Fri 9–6 · Sat 9–4
Painted on the sign out front
Fontano's has never been only a sandwich counter. The sign out front still says what this shop has always been — an Italian grocery, a meat counter, and sausage made in house.
Where it started
The Fontano family has been on this block since the 1930s, when Vincenzo and Maria Fontano ran a grocery and butcher shop just across the street. In 1960 the family turned it into a sandwich counter — and word about what was coming out of the back room got around fast.
Sixty-plus years later this is still the original shop — the same corner of Little Italy, the same counter, the same sandwiches the name was built on. The grocery and the meat case never went anywhere either.
You'll find Fontano's name in other places around Chicagoland — this is the original, at 1058 W. Polk St.
Address
1058 W Polk St
Chicago, IL 60607 · Little Italy
★ The original Fontano's location
Phone
📍 Open in Google Maps