TOWN OF DEWITT – Salt City Sandwich is now open in Nottingham Plaza at the edge of DeWitt, serving up half and whole-size sandwiches on bread made directly from scratch.
Located at 331 Nottingham Road where the town begins to cross over into the city of Syracuse, Salt City Sandwich is situated between Domino’s Pizza and Bruegger’s Bagels.
The new business is owned by married couple Andrea and Chris DeVita, who together also run Salt City Bread on Cazenovia Road in Manlius.
The bakery plays a role at their sandwich shop, as it’s where the couple makes the hand-formed bread that they say sets their sandwiches apart, hence why the shop’s sign out front reads, “Really good sandwiches on really good bread.”
“Everything is made and shaped by hand,” Chris said. “I don’t have any machines that help me along the way except a dough mixer and the oven—everything in between is by hand.”
He said there are other bakeries that follow the same lengthy process, but they might not always use the resulting bread on sandwiches to serve in-shop like they do.
The DeVitas, who reside in Pompey, also make use of flour grown in Cazenovia and local salt courtesy of Syracuse Salt Company, while all the bread—the sub roll, the salted baguette, the rye, the white loaf, the butter roll—gets fermented overnight without any added sugar at any point.
“You wouldn’t think overnight would do anything but it does a lot to the bread,” Andrea said. “It allows it to be more digestible, so people who ordinarily might get a stomachache or just can’t handle bread as well, they have a better time handling ours.”
Using premium cuts of meat to create large, filling portions, Salt City Sandwich’s menu includes a classic muffuletta, a meatball sub, a Chicago hot dog on a poppy seed bun, a French dip sandwich, the Italian, the Cuban, the Caprese and a Reuben, as well as build-your-own options, one-day specials like beef on weck, and specialty sandwiches named after the DeVitas’ nieces, nephews and youngest son.
Salt City Sandwich opened Jan. 3 to start the new year and about two years and two months after the couple opened Salt City Bread in Manlius.
Before that they were home bakers selling their bread out of their house and supplying their products to farmers markets and cafes.
Their new business in Nottingham Plaza moved into the spot previously occupied by the sandwich and soft serve place A La Mode, which closed in 2022.
Andrea, who grew up not too far from there, came in believing right away that the space was the perfect setup for her and her husband’s new shop idea, so the interior layout hasn’t changed much aside from a taller counter height and a more blocked-off prep area.
Now one month into running Salt City Sandwich, Andrea said there are customers who have already become regulars and there’s plenty of support coming from the other plaza tenants.
“It’s been even better than we thought,” Andrea said. “We intended to have a soft, soft opening, but it wound up being a really big opening with a line stretching out the door.”
Andrea and Chris said it’s rewarding being able to work with each other and their other family members that help out along with the rest of the employees, many of whom live right in the nearby neighborhoods.
Going forward into 2025, there are plans for Salt City Sandwich’s hours to be extended on both ends so it opens earlier and closes later. It will also be providing catering and allowing for Grubhub orders.
Its current hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and it’s closed on Sundays and Mondays.