Graziano Brothers has been in business since 1912 and are known for their Italian sausage. It was founded by Francesco and Luigi Graziano who immigrated to America in 1903, then worked for the Great Western Railway and finally settled in Des Moines to start a grocery business. Now the small grocery is in an area known as Little Italy. It looks like a large business from the building but it’s a relatively small indoor space that’s packed with shelves of Italian products. In the back of the store is the deli counter where lots of people were standing with no sign of where to order. It’s the midwest, though, and people are friendly so conversations start. In a short while one of the staff behind the counter nods to who’s next and takes their order as well as a few folks behind and then leaves to go make the orders. With a number of people waiting for sandwiches it was hard not to get in the way of the shoppers with baskets but all was congenial. There are no tables inside or out so all orders are to go or eaten in your car, but there is a lot of parking. The latter is what we did, which isn’t the best for photos or neatness but the sausage sandwich was worth the trouble. Give it a try when you’re in the area.
Set-up
Food
The Italian Grinder contains sausage with fried peppers, mozzarella and sauce. The red sauce held the smaller chunks of sausage mixed with lots of cheese and peppers. The bread was a lightly toasted bun that held up to the large amount of filling. It was delicious and I could see why so many standing in there had the same sandwich ordered.
The Knuckle Sandwich contained coppa, hot soppressata, pepperoni, hot pepper cheese, sliced pepperoncini and Italian dressing. This was on the same bun yet much harder to eat as some of the thin sliced meats were tough to bite through. Also it was not cut in half as it was supposed to be. Also I would have preferred a bit more dressing to moistens the ingredients and add flavor. Don’t get me wrong, it was fine but not nearly as good as the Grinder.
A lot of people are surprised when they learn Des Moines has a solid Italian history and presence. And just about every Italian restaurant there proudly proclaims that they use Graziano sausage.
I’ve never eaten at Graziano’s but I’ve bought store items. Their hot Italian sausage is HOT!
Thanks! They do make a tasty sausage. I’ll have to look for the spicy one!
Just out of curiosity, what brought you to DSM during Relays Week?
Didn’t know about Relays Week. This was a month ago and we went cause we’d never been and could get a direct flight. We’re trying to explore mid sized cities and a direct flight is a persuasive feature.