Tony & Pete’s serves up sandwiches and community in downtown Dayton
In March 2020, two Dayton natives, Kathleen Roll and Justin Simmons, had a Chicago lease and plans to open a bar. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the opening, shutting the world down the same month. Fortunately, they were able to get out of their lease and had time to breathe and pivot.
“We just took a little time and refocused and decided throughout the time of the pandemic that we wanted to be closer to our families,” Roll says.
In July 2022, the husband-and-wife team who have a combined 25-plus years of experience in hospitality, opened Tony & Pete’s, a small sandwich shop that also serves as a neighborhood market with grocery staples, beer and wine, in their hometown of Dayton.
Tony & Pete’s is named after Simmons and Roll’s fathers (Tony is Simmons’ father and Pete is Roll’s father). “They’re both local Dayton guys and big sandwich lovers and big supporters of the shop,” Roll says. “We couldn’t think of two better people to name it after.”
Over the past two years, Roll says that the shop has gotten “busier and busier.” “Throughout the weekdays we see a lot of the same faces kind of day in and day out, which is awesome,” she says.
Now, Tony & Pete’s has 10 full-time employees, and Roll and Simmons are able to jump around from making sandwiches, greeting customers and managing the business.
One of Roll’s favorite menu items, and one she considers an “unsung hero,” is the White Collar, a mortadella sandwich with Parmesan, house vinaigrette, house spread (a mayo/mustard combo), arugula and pickled red onion. One of the top sellers is the Vegan Cold Cut, with marinated tofu, tomato, red onion, giardiniera, shredded lettuce, a vegan spread, chili oil and house vinaigrette. There are 10 other cold cut sandwiches available, three hot sandwiches, salads and sides.
The shop also sells grocery items like natural wine, Jeni’s ice cream, granola Foxhole Farm and Uncle Boof’s World Famous Pancake Mix, which they can “barely keep stocked on the shelves.”
Roll says they are particularly happy to be a part of the Dayton community. “I grew up in Dayton in the ‘90s and early 2000s,” she says. “For basically my entire life I’ve been watching jobs leave and buildings get abandoned. It’s been really hard to watch, but over the course of the past five years or so, there’s been this upswing in momentum in terms of development and life coming back to the Dayton area.
“I feel like now is the time,” she adds. “I like to see the lights coming back on.”
Tony & Pete’s, 129 E. Third St., Dayton. Tu-Sa 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Su-M 11 a.m.-4 p.m. 937-723-9261, tonyandpetes.com.
