PDQ Deli at Tahoma Market

6937 W Lake Blvd.
Tahoma, CA 96142
(Lake Tahoe-ish)
(530) 525-7411
Website

When anyone tells you that you can't get a good sandwich outside of the Philadelphia area, you should believe them. Time and time again, I am let down by poor imitations and this is just another example of why you should NOT ever go into a sandwich shop outside of the Northeast corridor with high expectations. Unless you're setting the bar at Subway.

I hadn't realized this before setting out to eat at PDQ, but it's a Wisconsin-based chain with shops mostly in and around Madison and Milwaukee with one outpost in California - right on Lake Tahoe. I guess that's why the locals are none the wiser - it looks and feels like a good old fashioned mom-n-pop deli.

It's deceiving, yes. But when the views are this breathtaking, who really cares what you're eating, right?

Wrong. I always care what I'm eating. I took my two sandwiches up to the top of the peak and by the time I sweat out most of the previous night's booze, I was ravenous and couldn't wait to get down on some mouth-watering pesto bread filled with turkey and cheese.

But the bread was bland and the thick slices of turkey must have been sitting out for who knows how long. If your deli meats aren't sliced fresh to order (and you don't see a deli slicer on premises - hindsight is always 20/20) then there's no reason to ingest it.

They are big sandwiches, so it's a pretty good value, but when you can't even taste the cheese, mayonnaise or the pesto in a pesto themed bread, you're better off chewing on some cardboard for free. The bread was soft, almost like white Italian sandwich bread, which is probably why they're getting a one cheesesteak rating (I was hesitant in giving any).

Everything I mentioned above goes for their jalapeño cheese bread and roast beef. More thick-cut, old and flavorless deli slices surrounded by regular white bread and some old tomatoes and romaine.

I really wanted to like it, but after discovering the PDQ convenience store chain, it's nearly impossible to say anything good about these sandwiches. Yes, I may have made a mistake in choosing this as a blog site...

Obviously it's a long way from Wawa (and even Sheetz), so until the rest of the country can figure out how to combine gas stations and fresh & tasty sandwiches, I'll just stick to what I know.

Bruno's Old Style Hoagies

555 Greenfield Rd.
Lancaster, PA 17601
(717) 393-7827
Website

A recent camping trip put me in Lancaster for a pit stop, and in preparation of all of the grilled items to follow, I felt I should fortify myself with a hoagie (or 2). Bruno's Old Style Hoagies sounded right up my alley.

First good sign, Liscio's boxes. My favorite.

I decided to try one turkey and one Italian for good measure. And because I am oh so very glutenous. "The Bruiser" is a spicy turkey with peppered turkey, Cooper sharp, peppershooters, and topped with bruschetta. Curiously, they employed the time honored DelCo meat wrap ordinance, though we were indeed in Lancaster County. The peppered turkey was delicious, the entire hoagie, though hard to eat, was packed full of fresh ingredients. The only part I wasn't thrilled about was the bruschetta. It didn't add much, and pretty much fell out when squeezed. It wasn't bad at all, just me being overly picky. I am, after all, a seasoned hoagie expert.

The hot Italian, however, more than held its own. And let's face it, an Italian is to hoagies as sharp prov is to the provolone family. Everything else is good, but there can be only one king.

This featured a thin layer of fatty, spicy sopressata on the top, and a more traditional cotechino and hot capicola inside. This Italian was about perfect. Thinly sliced meats, made with love, and crunchy veggies down below. Sharp provolone rounded it out. It's good to be king.

This was a hell of a portion on both accounts, and I ate like a ravenous wolf that just stumbled upon a flock of sheep. Lancaster, you have a good hoagie joint.

And no gruff for my famous oil AND mayo request either. Don't hate on deliciousness, South Philly.

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.