I first heard about Caplansky's this past summer when NOW did their '20 Best Sandwiches' feature. It's no surprise that I hadn't heard of it, because it's cleverly tucked away off of busy College St. Caplansky's is above the Monarch Tavern, which is across from Bitondo's. What makes it even weirder is that it's not even the whole 2nd floor of the Monarch, because they still have bar service up there.
The sandwiches themselves are standard deli fare, with lots of quality meat stacked between two thin slices of rye. It's really good, but I don't see it as miles ahead of the curve, or anything of the sort. I think what really attracts people to this place is that it's just so hard to get a decent deli sandwich anywhere in the area. There's definitely no offerings like this on College, and if memory serves Dundas suffers the same way. If you grew up with a good deli in your neighbourhood, this place, more than anything, serves up nostalgia.