Phantom Gourmet: Dom's Sausage Company In Malden

MALDEN - A family tradition started three generations ago has grown into a massive meat emporium in Malden. That's where Dom Botticelli, his wife Ashleigh, dad Buddy, mom Nancy, and his uncle Steve run Dom's Sausage Company.

"Our tag line is family, food, and tradition. We keep with the tradition that my grandfather started back in 1936 as a small sausage company," Dom said. "He served his sausages and became famous with that, and ever since then, my father took off with the full service deli and butcher shop, and has really made the marinated steak tips famous. That's what people really know us for today."

While this place is still named Dom's Sausage Company, these days, it's all about the steak tips.

"It kind of just happened that way, you know? We started as Dom's Sausage Company, but then people just talk about the steak tips, and everybody wants to come here for the steak tips," Ashleigh said.

So what makes these tips so tasty? It's the marinade, created by Dom's dad.

"The flavor is very unique. It's a sweet flavor, but it has like hints of caramel and a smokiness to it as well. And when people have it they just never had anything like it before," explained Dom.

The recipe is such a secret, even Dom's wife doesn't know it.

"I just know that there's some sort of smokiness to it, there's some sort of sweetness to it, and it all just goes so well together," Ashleigh laughed.

The best way to experience these steak tips is when they're served up in a sub with plenty of melted American cheese.

"You have that combination of the great, tender, flavorful meat, but then you also have the salty American cheese, and then you have that great bread. It's delicious," confirmed Ashleigh.

It seems like there's always steak tips cooking at Dom's, and nobody works the grill better than a man named Ben. To ensure the subs are easy to eat, Ben actually cuts the steak tips as he cooks them.

"I have to cut the steak tips to make them a little smaller for smaller bites for the customer. It makes it easier for the customer to bite on it," he said.

"At the same time he's pouring marinade onto those steak tips so that the flavor is still going to seep into that nicely cut beef, and it's just going to be a good, flavorful bite every time," Ashleigh added.

Dom's has plenty of other sandwich options on the menu as well, like Meatball Parm, a Chicken Parm, and Sausage, Pepper, and Onion, that blows away anything you'd get at the ballpark. But if you've really worked up a big appetite, nothing beats the Steak Bomb.

"The Steak Bomb is an awesome hangover food. It's just gonna cure you completely," Ashleigh declared. "It's got the nice greasy steak, but's it's also got these awesome caramelized green peppers and onions, and I think they even throw a little salami in there sometimes; awesome amount of cheese, it's just perfect."

Take a look around Dom's, and it's obvious they're proud of their Italian roots, and they seem to be just as proud of their Italian sub.

"I love the Italian sub. Italian subs have always been my favorite," said Ashleigh. "But what I really like about it here too, is it has to be the capicola, and the soprasatta, and the mortadella. It has to be all the right cuts of meat. So that's exactly what they do here, and they load it. Then they put tons of veggies and things on it. It's a great experience to have an Italian sub here."

Dom's Sausage Company is a whole lot more than a sandwich shop. They're a caterer and wholesaler; they also sell gourmet specialty products and deliciously affordable wines. At the heart of it all is their butcher shop, where customers can buy those famous steak tips, and get old fashioned service, inside an authentic meat locker.

"The butcher shop, it's a walk in meat locker. People love that, walking into the butcher shop. You'll see my uncle behind the counter," Dom said.

"It's unique, it's different, it's old school, but people like that," Uncle Steve echoed.

It's that old school feel, with a focus on great service and great food that has kept Dom's Sausage Company going strong for three generations.

"It's an unbelievable feeling to know that I'm third generation, carrying on the same tradition and possibly even extending my business further and passing it down someday to my children," Dom said. "It's a legacy."

You can find Dom's at 10 Riverside Park in Malden, and online at domsausage.com.

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.