Grumpy's (Handcarved Sandwiches)

137 E High Street
Pottstown, PA 19464
(610) 323-1232
Website

Pottstown is an off-the-radar little town that, like many small towns, is struggling to revive its main shopping strip/district. Luckily they have some anchors like Grumpy's to bring people back downtown. Because if there is one way to people's hearts, it's through their mouths.

This place could be mistaken for a coffee shop by the interior. But one look at the menu will assure you that it is indeed a sandwich spot that goes the extra length to cook their proteins in-house.

Pictured below is the owner/operator Grumpy himself (aka Gene "Grumpy" Dugan). Quick with a joke, or a brief complaint, he is certainly part of the charm.

The Grumpy's Sandwich, a rare roast beef served with sharp prov, sauteed onions and peppers, long hots, and garlic mayo is served on a kaiser roll, with a side of au jus.

This thing is stacked HIGH with tender roast beef. The traditional toppings all come together for a great sandwich that will certainly fill you up. The roasted hots are left with seeds in tact, so there was some definite heat coming through.

The turkey special boasts fresh house-roasted turkey, that was deliciously moist, and as fresh as you can get

Slaw and Swiss cheese round out this classic combination, but the real star was the delicious hand carved bird. No lunch meat here.

Check out the thickness on these beautiful slabs.

The seafood bisque was hearty and warming, without being overly heavy.

The roasted beets made for a deliciously unexpected side, and I don't usually dig on beets.

This is the type of place to help anchor a community revitalization, and given the attention to detail and hand made nature of the food, I suspect Grumpy's will be around for a long time.

Gooey Looie's (4 years later...)

Pennsport Mall
Moyamensing & Moore
Philadelphia PA
(215) 334-7668
Facebook page

Well, in 2009, I moved to Pennsport and one of the first food joints I visited was this little hoagie joint in an unassuming strip mall.

You wouldn't really happen upon this place, considering the unwelcoming gate and the list of "NOs" they greet you with from the start. So, I'll tell you again that you need to go seek it out.

Now, phone cameras have come a long way since my last two blog posts. See here and also here. So I thought now was as good a time as any to revisit my old haunt and to do them more justice in pictures.

They've got sort of a cult following and a long list of locals/regulars who just sit for hours at the 3 tiny cafe tables flanking the deli counter. Same two guys always slingin' the meats. Fresh cuts.

You can also pick up some WD40, cigs and ice cream while you're waiting for your sandwiches.

I've long since moved away from South Philly and haven't visited Gooey Looie's in nearly 2 years. One of my old faves is their cheesesteak hoagie, so I had to see if it could stand the test of time.

First impressions are everything, and upon first glance, I knew I was in for the deliciously large, cheesy and tender cheesesteak of yore.

There's something so mouthwatering about shredded lettuce and tomato thrown on steaming hot steak meat - the way it wilts just slightly but keeps the slightest fresh crunch of added textured. Not to mention the way the mayonnaise mixes with the melted American to add that extra creaminess...

Now, I will say that the quality of their meat seems to have slipped. Every third bite I was spitting out a piece of unchewable gristle, which was a huge disappointment. Maybe I caught them on a bad day, at the end of their inventory, but if my memory serves me, every cheesesteak hoagie before this one boasted thinly sliced, tender pieces of quality chopped meat. It was rare that I ever complained about the ingredients.

I was disappointed at the fact that with every few bites, I realized that their meat had dropped a few notches to the level of a better-known spot on 9th Street. Some people are into that, I guess. I prefer to not have to chew with care for fear of choking on cartilage. That's not to say that the rest of the sandwich wasn't spot on - they've still got the best cheesesteak hoagie construction around. Looks were deceiving in this case.

As much as I wanted to order the Italian for memory's sake, I went with another old stand by, the turkey special on rye. (I'm saving the Italian for my next visit).

Slathered with Thousand Island dressing and laced with veins of coleslaw, the turkey weighs in at about 1.5 lbs. No joke.

It's freshly sliced, paper thin, and beautifully layered in 3-4 inches of meat ribbons. It's one of those unhinge-your-jaw sandwiches that should probably be split up into 3 meals. If you're not me, of course.

The turkey is salty, but it is also delicious. Even with all of the meat, the dressing & coleslaw to rye bread ratio is the perfect balance for what looks like a dry sammy. It's amazing.

Even though I may have to nix the cheesesteak hoagie from my list of go-tos at Gooey Looie's, I'm happy to say that I'll be back again soon to indulge in their other 3 lb. meat-and-cheese-on-bread selections.

Darwin

211 North Clinton St.
Syracuse, NY 13202
(315) 373-0484
Website

So the next time you are in Syracuse . . . go to this place. I know, you probably will never be there. BUT should you happen upon it, this is a funky little joint to get some lunch.

The menu changes constantly, so you should just check the website. I didn't even give them my name, but they spelled it correctly anyway. Pretty impressive.

This monster, known as the "Bobby Love's 81-SOUTH," consisted of pulled pork, ham, cheddar, coleslaw and frizzled onions. It was not healthy, but it was very delicious. Seems like those two are inversely proportional.

Another hit was the roast turkey with smoked gouda, hot pepper mayo, bacon, fried egg, and slaw, AKA "MoJo Rising." Again, nothing lite about this, but that's because fat + salt = flavor. It's a proven formula.

The final iteration was the oven fried chicken with buffalo mac and cheese, coleslaw, baked beans, frizzled onions, and BBQ sauce - let's call it the "Darwin's PICNIC BASKET" (because that's what they call it). Like a picnic on a roll.

Is this the best sandwich shop in the world? No. Is it a must try? If you find yourself near Syracuse, I would have to say yes.

Capriotti's Sandwich Shop

141 S. State Rd
Springfield, PA 19064
(484) 472-6257
Website

Given such beautiful weather on a Sunday in March, I decided some hiking might be nice and made the trip out to Ridley Creek State Park. It's not without some hesitation that I also thought some hoagies might be nice. Tucked away (not at all) in a quaint little strip mall (also not true) was a little mom-and-pop place (wrong) by the name of "Capriotti's."

While the original shop in Wilmington, DE may have had an air of originality, this new breed has more of a Quizno's or Jimmy John's feel to it. Now, I'm all for operating a lucrative business, but some of the experience is lost on the corporate aesthetic that's heavy in their franchising.

Now, I don't know if you know this, but they're especially known for their "Bobbie®," which is a straight-forward interpretation of Thanksgiving leftovers in hoagie form. "In 1976, Lois Margolet's (original proprietor) concept was to capture the hearts of 'real turkey lovers,' an idea that would separate Capriotti's Sandwich Shop from almost all of its competition."

And that's pretty much where the story ends, I won't bore you with the hunger for money and the need to grow into a formulaic chain, etc. The 'kitchen' was staffed by a number of local high schoolers.

Obviously, I ordered the Bobbie® and also went with a classic Italian - to be used as more of a gauge for comparison to the competition.

Behold, the glory of Thanksgiving in March. I will say, for being so packed full of stuff(ing), this sandwich did not come across as heavy by any means.

The balance of flavors was there, with the tart, sweet cranberry sauce lending a welcome contrast to the amalgam of turkey and stuffing. Not that their individual presences weren't entirely noticeable - it's just that everything was so icy cold that it was sometimes difficult to discern them.

Now, that being said, I held the second half of this one for snacking later, and once the ingredients had settled themselves into a room-temperature presentation, it was 110% improved. If you get this one, don't eat it right away, definitely save it for later.

Next up was the Italian hoagie, with the works - which obviously includes oil AND mayo, always.

The bread left a lot to be desired. Hailing from a city that creates some of the best seeded rolls in the world, I find it nearly impossible to take an Italian (hoagie, of course) seriously when it's on something that's obviously been created to host a meatball sub.

The meat was sliced way too thick and the oregano-crusted ham overpowered the other flavors to an unforgivable degree.

Overall, if you're out in the suburbs where Cap's is the only place around to get your hoagie fix - go early, get the Bobbie and eat it once it's been left to sit for an hour. Otherwise, make the drive into Philly and get yourself some cold cuts on a proper long roll.

-Posted by gabulous