Ramblings 24 May 2007 01:26 pm
Sub warfare
It seems that every Tom, Dick and Eduardo think they can open up a pizza and sub shop. I am here to tell you that this needs to stop. Seriously. I am all for taking something away from the big corporations and love the idea of that Mom and Pop (LLC, trademark M&P International) store that serves up a decent sub (or hoagie, grinder, hero, etc etc etc) with a smile and a genuine “Have a nice day”. But I will NOT stand for mediocre food and sandwich making incompetence. This. Ends. Here.
There are a ton of lunch choices here in Lynn (Lynn, the City of Sin) and on the days when I am not heating up leftovers or going upstairs to the Atlantic View Café, (motto: hey look, there’s the ocean) I will venture out and about. I avoid the fast food joints altogether and only occasionally make my way to the cheese counter at Whole Foods. On the days when I can resist the dairy I will seek out a new place, which seems to relegate me to storefronts that advertise: Pizza, Subs and More. I say, pick one and do it well. Apparently these places disagree. One of my favorite, fallback subs is an Italian. Done correctly, this can be a masterpiece that plays with the taste buds. Done incorrectly and you’ve got yourself a crap sandwich. I experienced the latter sandwich.
My Italian order is pretty standard.
· Bread – fresh is the only way to go. No Subway bread here.
· Meat – Mortadella, Genoa salami, and Capacola (occasionally Proscuitto)
· Cheese – Only provolone belongs here.
· Veggies – Lettuce, Tomato and hots. Maybe onion depending on gum or mouthwash situation
· Condiments – Oil and vinegar, black pepper and oregano.
That’s really it. Actually, it seems pretty hard to screw that up right? I thought so too.
What I received was downright embarrassing. Stale, tasteless bread was filled (I use this term loosely) with a few paper-thin slices of bologna, ham and mortadella. My sub had, from what I could tell, one thin slice of provolone, though I did find a corner of American cheese on the uncheesed half of the sandwich. On top of that they dumped some roughly chopped lettuce, some plum tomatoes that were cut wrong, and 3 hot pepper rings and doused it with what could only be described as generic Italian dressing. So sad.
So I implore you. Protest. Complain. Return. Do it right or don’t do it at all, otherwise we are going to egg you (with a nice deviled egg, naturally).