Go Eat This Muffuletta Sandwich Before It's Gone

We've been on a sandwich roll lately. Last week, we anointed the most iconic sandwich in Dallas, which required eating several sandwiches.

Then, staff writer Emma Ruby recently sent a tip over the hotline that Cenzo's special this month is a muffuletta and something about seeing Jesus.

Cenzo's is a pizza and sandwich joint in a refurbished gas station in the Winnetka Heights neighborhood of Oak Cliff. This little hipster haunt has cozy neighborhood vibes where an equal number of kids and dogs stroll through the door like they own the place. Red wine and local craft beers are on tap. In the kitchen, they're making almost everything from scratch, even the Caesar salad, another tip from the hotline.

We've previously written about Cenzo's fancy fried bologna sandwich with a nutty slather of pistachio butter and a nest of lemony arugula. We hailed it the best damn sandwich in Dallas.

The muffuletta is the March special (for $13.50) likely shimmying in with Mardi Gras and all that jazz. This New Orleans-born sandwich takes its name from the style of bread used. At Cenzo's, of course, that's where they start: by making the sesame seed-topped pillowy buns in-house.

"We toast the sesame bread with roasted garlic aioli (instead of oil or butter)," co-owner Chad Dolezal said. That's an elite tip: using an aioli instead of butter. It also works for grilled cheese sandwiches.

The lineup then goes Calabrese salami, mortadella, Swiss, provolone, Genoa salami and capicola. Juices drizzled onto my tray on my first bite, leading me to think the meats had been seared on the grill (like that fried bologna/mortadella), but Dolezal said the meats aren't seared (which would be a break from a traditional muffuletta). That liquid elixir, which I licked from the tray, was a mix of the garlic aioli and house-made olive salad (or giardiniera) that sits atop the cheese and meat like a crown.

The sandwich is about the size of a large burger, not the whole pie like they sell in Jackson Square in the French Quarter (or Jimmy's).

Time Out just named New Orleans the best food city in the world, and Cenzo's is repping it well here in the Big D.

But you've only got until the end of March to get one, and there's a limited quantity each day. Drive like it's stolen, and use your elbows.

Cenzo's Pizza and Deli, 1700 W. 10th St. Tuesday - Sunday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.