Nana’s Deli

I actually had lunch there yesterday just by a fluke. It was AWESOME! I had the veggie curry w/​brown rice AMAZING! my friend had the chicken curry sandwich on chibata it was also AMAZING! A cool little place that I am definitely going to make it a regular lunch stop!

Really was excited to try this little deli out after reading the reviews. I love easy sandwiches and this place has them. Tender chicken, flavored well, on delicious ciabatta bread, toasted with cheese. And a little salad and yummy pesto salad on the side. All for $ 8?! It’s a steal and I’m really happy to have finally visited.
Yes the garlic breath is true. But so worth it!

Nana’s Deli can do no wrong… exemplary food and service standards are satisfied here. This hidden gem is located in the small food court of the Topa Financial Center. When I worked in Downtown, my boss would take his office staff here frequently because he and his wife were addicted to the lunch items and did their best to support small local businesses. As a regular customer, I was able to interact with the owner a few times, and I found her to be a very sweet lady. I am grateful for her hard work and for serving one of the best salads in the world… CHIPOTLE CHICKEN SALAD!!!
I miss their salad sooooo much. You have no idea, especially on a hot summer’s day. I can just picture it now… a bed of crispy cold Romain lettuce, plump juicy tomatoes, and shredded carrots. Placed on the medley of fresh veggies is a mound of rich and creamy chipotle chicken that delivers a kick that will awaken your tastebuds. On the side awaits a thick sweet honey mustard dressing that perfectly complements the chipotle chicken and binds all the counterparts into a divine combination that will blow your mind. This dressing needs to be packaged and sold in every supermarket. I would stock up like no other. Lastly, there is the pesto pasta — the added bonus. This pasta is savory and adds balance to the salad because it is the only starch that is provided.
Caution: The pesto pasta will give you killer breath. So, if you are on a mission to scare your client or terminate a business deal, this will do. Total. deal. breaker.
Bottom line: As a local resident and Unilocaler, I also believe supporting local businesses is important. Nana’s Deli provides great service and scrumptious food, and it would be a shame if this place ever shut down. However, as a regular customer last year, I believe this place is far from shutting down because it was always busy. If you are on a casual date with friends in downtown, I strongly recommend this place.

They have the best homemade honey mustard dressing. I order the chipotle chicken sandwich on chibata bread. Clean food and homemade everything. Thumbs up!

BEWARE OF THE MEDIOCRITY AND GARLIC BREATH
I was in search of a sandwich that was different than usual– exciting, exotic even. Researching sandwich joints in downtown, I came across Nana’s stellar reviews. I read about their signature curry chicken wrap/​sandwich and got excited. Walked across town to check it out.
$ 7 got me a chicken wrap, small portion of salad and small portion of pesto penne. $ 1 more for a can of coke. Excited to dig in, I noticed (because the wrap was cut in half) that there wasn’t much too it– no crunch of lettuce, no tomatoes, no briny pickled items to contrast flavors. Just shredded chicken breast with a curry-​mayo sauce squirted all over it, a slice of processed cheese, and a few leaves of spinach. The mayo and cheese flavor over powered the curry after a couple bites and before you know it your stomach starts to turn. The side salad was absolutely necessary to break up the mayo overload. The wrap/​tortilla used is jumbo sized and is way too big compared to the little amount of filling– so you get a mouth full of tortilla in every stomach-​turning mayo bite.
Beware of the pesto penne if you will be within 2 feet of another human being. It is loaded with RAW garlic and absolutely offensive. I am usually the one to reassure my mother — who is garlic bashful– that «you can never use too much garlic.» Well today, Nana’s has proved me wrong. You can in fact use too much garlic, especially in its raw state. Someone please tell Nana that if you plan to pack a garlic punch in your pesto, it needs to be heated slightly to mellow out that garlic bite. I tried one bite and threw the rest away.
In all, the taste of the wrap was one note– no contrasting flavors, no crunch. If you can’t nail your signature dish then you can’t possibly be a 4 star establishment.
I sadly didn’t get the exciting, exotic wrap I was looking for.

A good place to grab lunch if you are working downtown. My favorite is the Tuscan chicken sandwich with all green salad. The pesto pasta has too much garlic and leaves me with garlic aftertaste for the rest of the day but is otherwise good. The prices are reasonable and it’s cash only. The wait can be long if you go 12 – 12:30 so I try to get there at 11:40 or so. I’ve also tried the Thai curry and it’s okay. Overall I like this place and will continue to go when I’m in the area. Yummy!

Yum! Their hot sandwiches are back. Don’t get me wrong, I like the low carb wrap, but there’s something nice about having a toasted bread and hot chicken sandwich. I’ve tried their sandwiches and wraps. All are great and come with a side salad and their pesto pasta. Warning: Their pesto is super garlicky (but it’s super good). If you have one bite, you’ll likely have garlic breath for the rest of the day.
The wait can be long during the lunch rush hour, but it is certainly worth the wait.

Great place to go for sandwiches and salads. Located in the Bishop Street tower of Topa Financial Center next to a few other lunch places. The line can get a little long but my order is usually ready in less than 10 minutes. Price is good for what you get, and you can choose the sides with the sandwich. I’ll usually get a Tuscan Chicken on Ciabatta with salad and a pesto pasta salad. Only thing is that since the pesto pasta salad is suuper garlicky and oh so tasty I have to make sure I don’t have a meeting right after lunch where I’ll subject unlucky people with my fantastically garlic laden breath. Oh if my breath could kill after!

Great pesto pasta salad! But very garlicky!
I’m so lucky Nana’s is at the base of my building! She’s my go-​to for a fast, but healthy, lunch! She is known for her salads and paninis, which are packed with seasoned chicken of your choice: tuscan, chipotle, sweet thai chili, or pesto! I’ve tried all but the sweet thai chili, and they are each uniquely good. Her salad is fresh and chilled, and the chicken is mixed to order. Every salad comes with your choice of dressing and a small side of her awesome pesto pasta salad. Be warned: don’t host any meetings because your breath will be veeery garlicky!
She’s recently expanded her menu a bit and I’ve tried her BBQ chicken plate. The chicken was equally as tender and juicy, and a nice change to the chilled chicken I’m used to.
She’s always super friendly and usually has her son or nephews working the register but they can definitely hold down the fort during the busy downtown lunch hour!

I’ve been a fan of this little eatery located in the TOPA Financial in Downtown Honolulu for the past 6-​years.
My review is based solely on their Hot Pastrami Sandwich with Pesto Pasta on Chibata.
This is by far the best pastrami sandwich that I’ve discovered in the Downtown area; unfortunately they often run out of pastrami late in the week (Thursday & Friday). Unlike their nearest competitor, Subway, their chibata bread really distinguishes this place from the rest.
You can’t go wrong for $ 7.00.
Tip: Call in your order before heading down as it can take a while.

On the ground floor of the Topa Financial Building, Nana’s Deli is a simple decent size plate lunch for all you downtown workers. I eat here on average 3 times a week. Nana’s food is fresh, especially her salad’s. Fresh greens and large portions. Her garlic pesto is too garlicky for my taste but her pesto chicken is great. the garlic pesto sauce is just right. Her Curry’s on Jasmine rice is great too, at times it may be watered down to my taste but I haven’t ordered much of her curry plates to review on them. She did start a loyal card service, however I’m not sure if her has continued it. This is a cash only shop. And tends to get very busy from 11:45 — 12:30pm, keep in mind she is usually the only one working.
Top Favorites:
— Tusan Chicken/​Pesto Chicken on Chiabata Bread with all side salad or with baked seasoned potatos
— Tusan Chicken Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

I want to eat here every day! :(I could, cause I work on Alakea but I’m totally saving it as a monthly treat! IF YOU LOVE GARLIC, you will love their Tuscan Chicken and Pesto Pasta! AMAZE-​BALLS. I love the sandwich deal, you get two sides and about a 6-​incher of a sandwich and it comes out to $ 7 flat. I know there are plenty of deals around downtown but this is my favorite. I love bread and their bread is just deliciously toasted and everything has so much flavor. OH YES, and it’s QUICK! So don’t be deterred by a line or if you’re running low on time to grab a bite :)

Holy cow, as a downtownian of 4 years (8 if you count my earlier college days), I never knew that any of the places to eat in Topa even existed! Yesterday however, I said «I’m craving a good sandwich. Where do I go?» and my coworker suggested Nana’s Deli in the Topa building. Boy, did it not disappoint. Walking through Topa I was amazed at all the eateries and people there. But when I finally found Nana’s deli, I thought «this has got to be good» I mean, as soon as I got there I saw the universal symbol for good food everywhere… a long line. There was about 7 – 8 people waiting when I got there. Oh yea… this is going to be good.
I figured I’d be waiting a longgg time, so I got out the phone to distract myself. Surprisingly it only took about 7 – 8 minutes for me to order and get my food. Sweeet! Good food AND fast? Me likey.
The amount of food you get for the price is excellent. I got a pesto chicken sandwich all toasted and cheesy and hot and yummy, on ciabatta, with 2 sides (I chose the pasta salad and tossed greens) all for just $ 7. It was everything I wanted and soooo delicious. The pesto was easy to eat and flavorful and cheesy and all warmed through… delicious.
I can’t wait to go back and try some of their other things. They have a few other sandwiches, salads, and… Thai Curry? Can’t wait to try it! :)

Located in the ground floor food court of the Topa Financial Center building in downtown is Nana’s Deli. I came upon this place since my other eating place had a very long line. So this gave me a chance to try someplace different and see how the food is. This place has made to order sandwiches, pasta, as well as daily specials.
For $ 5 I ordered the daily special which was a spicy chili Thai chicken with jasmine rice.
This dish is not what I had expected. I was a little disappointed in that the chicken pieces were not even hot. It was like it was just taken out of the refrigerator and tossed in the sweet chili sauce. Basically it was cold chicken. The chili sauce had a kick to it and was slightly spicy but not fire hot.
For the price I received a mini portion size plate lunch which ended up being just right for me.
Overall the taste was okay but it would have been nice to have the chicken warmed up a bit.

Our financial advisor is in the Topa Financial Center and we have visited him many a time without even knowing that Nana’s Deli was right beneath our noses (literally) just waiting to be discovered. Enter Unilocal.I don’t know how I found Nana’s Deli on Unilocal,but I «stumbled» upon someone’s review for it a while ago and this is a classic example of how Unilocal has helped me discover some great places, that I would NEVER have found otherwise. Ever since I read that review, I now look forward to appointments I have with our Financial Advisor just so that I can eat at Nana’s Deli!
This place is simple, nothing fancy, nothing gourmet, they just make simple sandwiches, but they do a darn good job of it! My favorites are the chipotle or tuscan chicken. They use real chicken, not canned chicken and they mix the sauce into it fresh before they assemble your sandwich. The baguette is toasted and so you get a nice, warm, freshly made meal. The best part is the garlic pesto salad that comes with it — if you like garlic, you are gonna LOVE this! If you don’t like garlic, stay clear and opt for the green salad because we are not talking just a «hint» of garlic. We are talking scare off the vampires garlicky goodness!
Nana’s Deli also serves vegetable curry and other special entrees of the day, but I like to stick to the sandwiches. Can’t explain it, but they are just very addicting. There is a Subway a few booths away from Nana’s, and I can’t for the life of me understand why someone would choose a Subway sandwich over a sandwich from Nana’s!!! Do the right thing people, PLEASE, go to Nana’s instead of Subway and you won’t be disappointed!

I love the food here, but I always forget that it’s there! I’ve had their Pastrami Sandwich and Tuscan Chicken Sandwich — both really good and flavorful. With 2 choices for salads, I usually get one toss greens and the other their infamous pesto pasta salad… in all of it’s garlicky goodness! I love it! My coworkers may not like to talk to me after wards, but I’ll take that risk. At least I’m safe from (old school) vampires!
The couple that work here are both very friendly and they work fast! Although your order is made right after you order it, it never takes long and the times that I’ve been there for lunch, I’ve never had to wait longer than 5 minutes!
I’ll try to keep this place in mind the next time I «forget» to make my home lunch!

Lunch from Nana’s Deli is one of my favorite. Nana’s Deli is located on the first floor of Topa Financial Plaze in Downtown. They have sandwiches, curry, and salads.
My usual and favorite on their menu is the Tuscan Chicken Sandwich on wheat. It’s a toasted chicken and swiss cheese sandwich. The chicken is tossed into this lightly garlic sauce. IT’S SOOOOO GOOD! The sandwich also comes with a choice of two sides. You could choose from a pesto pasta, green salad, or potatoes. All of this for about $ 7. Pretty decent for lunch in Downtown.
I would totally give Nana’s Deli a 5-​star review, but their service is inconsistent. There’s always a short line of customers. The waiting period for the food could get up to 20 minutes. Out of an hour lunch break, 20 minute wait time is ridiculous. The owners are very nice. Most of the time, they try their best to keep the wait time short but they still need to figure out a better way serve their growing lunch crowd quicker.

I tried their tuscan chicken on chiabatta. I was expecting it to be spicy for some reason, but it wasn’t. Overall the sandwich was delicious. The chicken was tasty and the cheese made the sandwich so creamy. The meal also came with a choice of two sides. I had the salad and the potatoes. Truthfully I wasn’t a fan of either. The sad was a little watery and the potatoes were a little cold so it was far from being great. Decent price for a delicious meal… you’ll definitely see me back again soon!
This place is located in the TOPA building.

Tried Nana’s Deli for the first time today on my lunch break. My friend would always rave about this place so I finally decided to try it out especially cause I was craving for a good salad (trying to be a little healthier ha). I seriously would of never known about this place if my friend hadn’t told me about. I didn’t even know Topa had all these little restaurants and shops on the bottom floor. I’m so used to eating at Fort St Mall but I’m glad to have other options now!
Anyway, I was being indecisive on what to order since everything sounded good but the owner helped me out. I was about to order the Tuscan chicken salad but the owner told me that their special today which was a crab avocado salad was the last one left! Right away I knew that I had to get it. especially cause I love crab AND avocado. Lucky me. I got the last one: P The salad was already made and he added a little bit of pasta (that tasted like wasabi?) and tobikko eggs on top of the salad! I also ordered a small cup of corn chowder which was like $ 1 more I think? I forget… but the total came out to $ 10 which is was a pretty good deal. The salad was very fresh and filled with lots of lettuce & topped with a big piece of avocado and big pieces of real crab! The owner recommended the honey mustard dressing and yes he was right! It complimented the salad well and everything was delishh! I really liked the pasta too. I think I just found my new sandwich and salad place :) Although I do love Heidi’s soups and salads… I think Nana’s outbeats them. I have yet to try their sandwiches though, but definitely will on one of my lunch breaks :)
Oh and they are super friendly and personable! A big plus! I will be back soon ;)

This is located in downtown at the Topa Financial building (old Amfac building), Bishop Street Tower.
They have a nice business model — pick a sandwich meat, three choices of bread (baguette, ciabatta and forget what else) and choose either pasta + green or green + green (double serving of the side salad). This reminded me of the old Queen’s Deli nearby which served great sandwiches (mahi pesto and turkey reuben) but is no longer in business. It was recently a Blazin Steaks but I think they’re out of business too. I think I remember 2 other places biting the dust there (next to Quiznos on Alakea and Queen). Defintely the black hole tenancy for a small food business!
Back to Nana’s. I tried the tuna, baguette (I saw a La Brea Bakery bag), and pasta + green. To my surprise, the tuna wasn’t cold tuna on cold baguette, which would have been perfectly fine since that’s what I was intending, it was a tuna marinated in some light tomato sauce that made it appear a little like spicy tuna, and toasted. That’s some added value — I had to check my box to make sure it was the right order.
The wait was bit long, about 5 – 7 minutes (I guess I’m used to Subway’s 2 – 3 minutes), but she (I assume, Nana?) was the one making all the sandwiches while the other employee was taking care of the register as well as fixing the salads — and she was juggling about 4 orders at a time. The lady was super nice though as she apologized for the wait.
It was a nice touch to have the sandwich and the pesto penne pasta (whoo like Jamie W. said, garlic attack!) and side salad together, for only $ 6. Quite a deal and much better than going to Quizo’s for a toasted sub. I’m going to have to come here more often which will probably make me also go to Komala Curry more too, next door. Darn you cross promoters! Good job Nana.