Best Sub Sandwiches

Love me some Publix now; loved me some Buscemi's back in Detroit.
No place beat a now-closed place from college -- Galley Sub in Kalamazoo...

 

Wow. That's a blast from the past.

 

I'm in flyover country, and I realize that the subs I eat are many planets below what can be had in Jersey, Philly, New York and several other places in the U.S.

Having said that ... I'll second the love someone gave to Mr. Goodcents. Also am a big fan of Sub City Subs in Waterloo, Iowa, and Hungry Hobo's, another small chain in the midwest. A recent addition to my chain list of likes is Which Wich, where you write on the outside of a bag what you want and what you want on it, and they make it and put the sandwich in that same bag.

And on YankeeFan's point about fresh-sliced meats and cheeses: That should be written in stone and made a federal law, that no restaurant or deli can serve a sub sandwich unless the meat is freshly sliced. We sometimes go to Subway (for our kids), and I feel like strangling the zit-faced "sandwich artist" when I see them pull out the meat that was sliced god-knows-when and pretend it's quality.

We're going to be in Florida in a couple weeks, and I think I'll detour us to a Publix and see what the fuss is all about.

 

If any of you are in Rhode Island, find a J's Deli. Amazing - just check out the menu:
http://www.jsdeliri.com/

 

Growing up in suburban New York and living and working in the city for years, the things I missed when I moved away were good delis, pizzerias, and diners.

The average corner deli, pizza joint, or diner in that area blows away any national chain. They were owned by ethnic families that had high standards. Delis were owned by Germans or Italians. Pizza places were obviously owned by Italians (as opposed to Boston where outside of certain neighborhoods, many are owned by Greeks), and the diners were owned by Greeks.

In Houston I found a pizza place owned by a family from Queens. It was great.

In Florida, it never occurred to me to get a deli sandwich from a grocery store. But Publix is where people went. The sandwiches were good, but not as good as a New York deli.

(And, New York deli's are now largely gone. They were eclipsed by Korean grocery/delis that are themselves now on the decline:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/nyregion/korean-grocers-a-new-york-fixture-are-on-the-decline.html?_r=1

As a 13-year-old, working a summer job in the City, I remember being blown away by the sandwich menus with ingredients like tongue and hard boiled egg.

Aside from places like Carnegie Deli, I'm not sure you can even get a sandwich like that in new York anymore. And you certainly can't anywhere else.)

 

I grew up on Staten Island in the '60s and '70s, a place and time that brought together some of the best Italian deli food ever known. For me, it was usually Genoa salami, pepperoni and provolone hero, dripping with oil and vinegar, hot and sweet peppers, a little mayo and a little salt and pepper. Mmm. Once in a while maybe some prosciutto or some capicola, too.

 

I really wish there were more supermarkets like Publix that still made the truly great sub. I know a lot of places make em up, package and sell them, but there's nothing like Publix where you walk up there, tell them exactly what you want and it's made in front of you. To have that at a supermarket is just awesome.

WaWa sandwiches are pretty great too. In all my trips to the Philly/NJ area when I was a sportswriter, I'll bet I had more meals there than every other place combined.

 

I have relatives outside of Philly and whenever we would visit them rather than go to fast food or anything like that, we would just stop at the WaWa and pick up sandwiches.

 

Todt Hill?

And, you pretty much described the sandwich I would get at Italian delis. I'd always add the capicola, but no mayo. Would sometimes add artichoke hearts.

In Chicago, they all put gardinaire on sandwiches. We didn't have that growing up in New York.

You're in Westchester now, right?

My little brothers have a favorite deli in Mamaroneck, Sage Deli, that they swear by:

http://www.sagedelicatering.com/

As a kid, for parties, my dad would always order six foot heroes (we called 'em wedges) from another place in Mamaroneck, who's name I can't remember.

Looking for it, I found & remembered this place on 9th Ave. in the City. Very good sandwiches:

http://heroboy.com/images/img_3.png



Now I'm hungry.

 

My brother is about a block from a Publix in Miami. Wish I knew about the sandwiches when I went to visit him last. I still do like Quiznos as far as chains go, however.

 

Mercurio's on Mamaroneck Ave. (just down the street from Sal's Pizza, another legendary joint) is where we got the 6 foot sandwiches.

Can't tell from the internet if it's still there.