Favorite sandwich shop

[slonezp]

On 12/24/2021 at 2:04 PM, Mike L said:

I agree The best National chain is Portillo’s. 
The worst is Subway. They give the least amount of meat than any other. 
 

But the best sandwich shop above all Is Johnny’s Italian Beef on North Ave in Elmwood Park, a west Chicago suburb. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

Did you get in on Portillos when they went public about 2 months ago?

 

I stopped being a fan of Portillos when it was sold 10 or so years ago. The beefs got smaller and price increased. Crazy how cars are lined up in the drive thru during the lunch and dinner rush. And that's been going on forever. Portillos has a fantastic chocolate cake. 

 

I haven't been to Johnnie's in years. Haven’t been in the neighborhood in years. I worked as a porter/detailer at Elmwood Ford when I was a kid. Right across from Horwaths restaurant, the famous mafia hangout which is now a strip mall. 

Elmwood Ford was shut down by the feds sometime after I left. Dare I say I may have participated in some of the wrong doing because well, I was just doing what the bosses told me to do.

[Mike L]

 

1 hour ago, slonezp said:

Did you get in on Portillos when they went public about 2 months ago?

 

I stopped being a fan of Portillos when it was sold 10 or so years ago. The beefs got smaller and price increased. Crazy how cars are lined up in the drive thru during the lunch and dinner rush. And that's been going on forever. Portillos has a fantastic chocolate cake. 

 

I haven't been to Johnnie's in years. Haven’t been in the neighborhood in years. I worked as a porter/detailer at Elmwood Ford when I was a kid. Right across from Horwaths restaurant, the famous mafia hangout which is now a strip mall. 

Elmwood Ford was shut down by the feds sometime after I left. Dare I say I may have participated in some of the wrong doing because well, I was just doing what the bosses told me to do.

 

No I didn’t, and regret it

You’re exactly right, totally different than when the old man had it. 
Makes me think he wouldn’t have sold or at least kept his name off it if he knew how much it changed. 
New owners are just trading on his name. 
 

Same happened when UNO’s changed hands. 

 

I get it, a bunch of them lived around there…Elwood Park or River Forest. 

Next time you’re around there stop by Johnny’s, it’s just like it was 30yrs ago. 
 

 

 

Mike

[slonezp]

7 minutes ago, Mike L said:

 

 

No I didn’t, and regret it

You’re exactly right, totally different than when the old man had it. 
Makes me think he wouldn’t have sold or at least kept his name off it if he knew how much it changed. 
New owners are just trading on his name. 
 

Same happened when UNO’s changed hands. 

 

I get it, a bunch of them lived around there…Elwood Park or River Forest. 

Next time you’re around there stop by Johnny’s, it’s just like it was 30yrs ago. 
 

 

 

Mike

Drove by there a couple weeks ago heading to North Riverside mall to grab a Nintendo for the grandson. Didn't even occur to me to stop.

[Mike L]

53 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Drove by there a couple weeks ago heading to North Riverside mall to grab a Nintendo for the grandson. Didn't even occur to me to stop.

Don’t forget the Italian Ice! 
?

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Kev-mo]

Cheba Hut

[Deephaven]

21 hours ago, gimruis said:

One of my co workers cut bread out of his diet and he lost 40 pounds in 3 months.

Covid hit, we cut out all store bought bread.  Since lockdown day 1, the 4 of us (two are now 10 & 12) have eaten nearly 600lbs of flour.  All of it however is not gnarly crap flour.  We make our own bread, tortillas, pitas, pasta, pizza dough...   None of us lost weight, but we haven't gained either.

[VolFan]

I’ve been making my own sourdough and others breads since the pandemic started - I’m not losing weight either but  homemade English muffins are approximately 72 times better than store bought.

 

also - Portillos is still pretty frickin good

[softwateronly]

On 12/28/2021 at 2:41 PM, slonezp said:

Drove by there a couple weeks ago heading to North Riverside mall to grab a Nintendo for the grandson. Didn't even occur to me to stop.

 

On 12/28/2021 at 2:32 PM, Mike L said:

 

 

No I didn’t, and regret it

You’re exactly right, totally different than when the old man had it. 
Makes me think he wouldn’t have sold or at least kept his name off it if he knew how much it changed. 
New owners are just trading on his name. 
 

Same happened when UNO’s changed hands. 

 

I get it, a bunch of them lived around there…Elwood Park or River Forest. 

Next time you’re around there stop by Johnny’s, it’s just like it was 30yrs ago. 
 

 

 

Mike

 

Johnnie's is great, but this southsider doesn't get out that way very often.  So I'm sticking with Al's.  Out of the chains, I think Buona Beef is better than portillo's.  But if we're talking sandwiches and you're ever near river west, you have to go to Bari's.  That's a never miss opportunity for me.

 

scott

[slonezp]

8 minutes ago, softwateronly said:

 

 

Johnnie's is great, but this southsider doesn't get out that way very often.  So I'm sticking with Al's.  Out of the chains, I think Buona Beef is better than portillo's.  But if we're talking sandwiches and you're ever near river west, you have to go to Bari's.  That's a never miss opportunity for me.

 

scott

My company's corporate office and warehouse is right down the street from there on Grand Halstead, and Milwaukee.

Have you ever stopped in at Maillards Tavern? It shares the lot with my warehouse. They've got a good burger but the french fries are by far the best I've ever had. They deep fry the fries in duck fat rather than oil.

[softwateronly]

2 minutes ago, slonezp said:

My company's corporate office and warehouse is right down the street from there on Grand Halstead, and Milwaukee.

Have you ever stopped in at Maillards Tavern? It shares the lot with my warehouse. They've got a good burger but the french fries are by far the best I've ever had. They deep fry the fries in duck fat rather than oil.

I haven't since it was a small little pool hall 15ish years ago.  I do love duck fat fries, appreciate the heads up.  So much good food near there and it's always changing.  Covid has really messed up my trying new places thing.

 

scott

[Boomstick]

My favorite chain would be Panera. The Chicken Chipotle Avocado melt there is fantastic.

 

My favorite sandwich shops are all smaller locally owned places, my favorite of them all is the Wells General store that's right on the way to Lake St Catherine in Wells Vermont.

On 12/23/2021 at 9:50 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Quiznos is still a thing? They disappeared around here years ago.

 

I forgot about quiznos. They were opening everywhere maybe around 2008 or so but the ones near me didn't seem to last long.

[cheezyridr]

On 12/24/2021 at 10:19 AM, BrianMDTX said:

 But the cheesesteak pales in comparison to a great cheesesteak from any decent hoagie or sub shop in eastern PA, DE, NJ or MD. Maybe if you only had the tourist trap Pat’s or Geno’s could I even come close to agreeing with you. It’s not even close. 
 

That’s comparable to saying a “Maryland-style” crabcake from Long John Silvers in better than any crabcake in Baltimore. ?

 

i feel bad for those folks who said subway and wawa.  they don't have any idea what a good sandwich is. i live in wilmington.  as late as 20 years ago we still had alot of mom & pop places to get a good sub or cheez steak.  now, there are dam few left.  i'll eat from a gas station before i EVER set foot in a subway.  we still have a few places left, and i hope they don't go away before my dying day comes, somewhere in the future. the ONLY  chain i'll buy a sub from is cappriotti's.  i often avoid them even still, because they don't make fries, and their cheez steaks are over priced and light on meat.  when i want a good sub or steak, i go to goodfellas in prices corner, or tony & dom's on 41 just off of 2.  cassapula's  makes a good sub, and their steaks are ok but they use provolone, and they don't chop the meat.  they are also excruciatingly slow, and they don't make fries. goodfellas and dom's make great meatball sandwiches too.  deerhead hot dog on maryland ave make good sandwiches, the beach fries are consistently awesome, and they make good shakes with real ice cream.

the places i miss most are

maryland ave sub shop - they're under new ownership. the owners retired and sold out. they're ok, but no more steak fries, and the subs aren't as good anymore. that makes going to the sketchy part of town no longer worth it for me. 

alpha pizza - they made great food, the owner was a friend, i also worked there as a second job when i was an apprentice.  he gave me my first car.  when he retired, his daughters refused to continue the business.

3 stars in elsmere - they made great food, but went out of business 20 years ago.  i ran into the son, randomly about a year ago. he actually remembered me, and what i used to order. i was blown away.

deconstanza's  - i loved getting the travel sub when we had family parties.

mr. subs pizza hub - they used to be on s. market below town, and for $7 you could get a meatball sandwich that was as big as your arm.

there used to be a place in wilmington on 7th & walnut, i forget their name now, but they made gargantuan cheez steaks for a good price. 

when i was young, i worked 2 jobs most of the time.  sheetmetal during the day,  and delivering sandwiches and pizza at night.  i worked for alot of different shops, and so did my first wife.   we take sandwiches and pizza pretty seriously around here.

 

[TnRiver46]

Honestly I don’t really care what food tastes like as long as I get to eat so my opinion doesn’t hold much water in culinary matters 

[BrianMDTX]

23 hours ago, cheezyridr said:

the ONLY  chain i'll buy a sub from is cappriotti's.  i often avoid them even still, because they don't make fries, and their cheez steaks are over priced and

I lived in Newark, DE for 3 years in the mid 90s and discovered Cappriotti’s. We eventually moved back to MD and shortly after they opened a Cappriotti’s near us in Forest Hill. First time I went in, I told them that folks here expect to get fries, onion rings, etc with their cheesesteaks and subs (hoagies). I was told they “don’t do that”. They didn’t stay open a year. 

[cheezyridr]

On 1/2/2022 at 10:32 AM, BrianMDTX said:

I lived in Newark, DE for 3 years in the mid 90s and discovered Cappriotti’s. We eventually moved back to MD and shortly after they opened a Cappriotti’s near us in Forest Hill. First time I went in, I told them that folks here expect to get fries, onion rings, etc with their cheesesteaks and subs (hoagies). I was told they “don’t do that”. They didn’t stay open a year. 

 

i have to agree. i NEED fries

[newbiedmv]

Subway until they ditched the roast beef.

Quiznos bit the dust in most of MD  due  to bad service and $25.00 subs.

[Smells like fish]

When I get a Philly cheese sub it’s at Penn Station east coast subs.

[BassNJake]

When I lived in Cleveland my union hall was around the corner from Slymans.

Their sandwiches are 1 lb of meat freshly shaved and assembled right in front of you

Sure it's a $20 sandwich but well worth it.

 

[J Francho]

Calabresella's

 

https://www.instagram.com/calabresellasonpark/?hl=en

[Last_Cast]

Man do I miss Quiznos..anyone care to ship some to me?!

[gim]

25 minutes ago, Last_Cast said:

Man do I miss Quiznos..anyone care to ship some to me?!

Still one left about 5 miles from me.

 

mmmmm toasty

[Last_Cast]

Just now, gimruis said:

Still one left about 5 miles from me.

 

mmmmm toasty

Might have to find the closest one and take a road trip

[gim]

1 hour ago, Last_Cast said:

Might have to find the closest one and take a road trip

My go to there is the chicken carbonara.

[bigbill]

With subway where’s the meat?  Doesn’t look like the sammich on tv?

for fishing I make my own grinders, the fish on a slow day like cheese and salami  too. I like mayo on the bread, olive oil, Regina red wine vinegar the cheese and meat, tomato, lettuce olives, what ever.

[Skunkmaster-k]

Where’s the beef ? Now that was a good commercial. No rats