Mochi’s Deli is the Park Road sandwich shop Charlotte is waiting an hour for

There is a sandwich shop on Park Road where people are waiting close to an hour for lunch, and most of them seem fine with it. https://queencitymagazine.com/directory/mochis-deli/ opened in the Dilworth Crossing Shopping Center at 2216 Park Road on July 7, and two months in, the line has not gone away. Axios Charlotte reported last week that customers are waiting nearly an hour for the deli’s New York style sandwiches, and the co-owner told the outlet that some people have waited more than two hours.

That is a lot of patience for a chicken cutlet. Here is what is going on.

What Mochi’s Deli is

Mochi’s is a takeout deli in the New York mold. Big sandwiches, made to order, priced in the $10 to $12 range for most of the menu. The shop’s own site describes it as a classic New York deli brought south, with everything cooked fresh and stacked high. There is no dining room to speak of. Axios describes it as all takeout, with the little seating that exists reserved for people waiting on their orders.

The two co-owners are Terrence Manfredonia and Jared Watroba. Manfredonia worked in a New York City deli before this, according to Axios, and he is the one behind the recipes, the sauces and the menu. Watroba is the co-owner who has been talking to the press about the crowds. He told Axios the reaction has been “pretty unreal.”

The Andrew Loves food blog, which reviewed the shop in early September, says the deli partners with a local bakery for its bread rather than baking in house, and calls the parking lot uneven and full of potholes. Our read: that is about the only complaint anyone has managed to come up with so far.

The menu, and what it costs

The heart of the menu is the chicken cutlet section. The Andrew Loves review counts nine cutlet sandwiches, running from a plain Classic with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onion up through a Chicken Cordon Bleu. Axios ordered four sandwiches and fries and paid about $53 for the lot, with no single sandwich over $12. The four they tried:

• Chicken Caesar, $10.49. Chicken cutlet, Parmesan, romaine, tomato and a Parmesan peppercorn dressing. The Andrew Loves blog calls this the best chicken Caesar sandwich in Charlotte.
• Chipotle Avocado Chicken, $10.99. Cutlet, mozzarella, avocado, sun dried tomato, red onion, cucumber, cilantro and chipotle mayo.
• The Ex-Wife, $11.99. Cutlet, mozzarella, bacon, pesto, avocado, red onion, jalapeños and sun dried tomatoes.
• Roast Beef Pho, $10.99. Roast beef with bean sprouts, red onion, avocado, basil, cilantro, tomato, lime, Sriracha and hoisin.

That last one points at the second thing Mochi’s does. Alongside the cold cuts and the chopped cheese (a New York bodega staple that is still rare in Charlotte), the deli runs a set of Asian inspired sandwiches. The shop’s DoorDash page describes Korean inspired specials, and the Andrew Loves review mentions a Bulgogi Pho and bulgogi as a build-your-own protein. Build-your-own starts with a base and lets you add cutlet, prosciutto, bulgogi and a long list of vegetables and premium extras.

Cold cuts cover the classics: an Italian, a turkey club, a BLT and a hot roast beef. The Andrew Loves review is candid that these are the kind of sandwich you could make at home, but argues that by the time you have bought that much meat yourself, you have spent close to the same money.

Axios has one practical tip worth passing along. Order the fries, and get a side of the house-made ranch. The sandwiches are thick, and extra sauce helps.

Why the wait is so long

The short answer is that the kitchen is small and the demand is not. Axios described trying to order on DoorDash right at the 11 a.m. opening on a recent Wednesday and finding ordering already switched off. The phone line was busy. When the reporter got through, staff said they had paused DoorDash because of demand and were already about 45 minutes out on orders. A phone order placed at that point was ready right on time.

Watroba told Axios the team is working to cut the waits and make ordering easier without changing the food. Until that happens, the advice from everyone who has been is the same: call ahead. You may still wait, but you can wait somewhere other than a crowded deli counter.

Our read: this is the same line culture that has been building around Charlotte pop-ups and openings all year, and Axios has written about that trend separately. What makes Mochi’s different is the price. Most of the places drawing long lines in Charlotte right now are charging a good deal more than $11 for the thing you are lining up for.

Where it sits

Dilworth Crossing is the shopping center on Park Road just south of the Dilworth and South End border, an easy drive from Dilworth proper and from Sedgefield across the road. One thing to be aware of: some listings sites file the shop under Sedgefield rather than Dilworth. The deli’s own site and Axios both say Dilworth Crossing, so that is what we are going with.

Hours, according to the shop’s own site, are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. It is closed Monday and Tuesday. The phone number is (704) 503-9105. Delivery is available through the usual apps when the kitchen has not paused them, which, based on recent reports, is not something you can count on at peak lunch.

Why it matters

Charlotte’s restaurant scene has spent the last few years moving upmarket. Axios noted in its 2026 best restaurants list that the city has been racking up Michelin and James Beard attention. There is nothing wrong with that, but it leaves a gap for a place that does one thing well and charges what a normal lunch should cost. A deli that opened in July with no press push and is now turning off its delivery app because it cannot keep up is a pretty clear sign that gap is real.

Mochi’s Deli is now in the Queen City Magazine directory under https://queencitymagazine.com/directory/mochis-deli/. If you have been, we would like to hear what you ordered and how long you waited.

Know about a new business opening in Charlotte or the surrounding towns? Send us a tip and we will check it out.