Category: Sandwich

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2007Gone But Not ForgottenSandwich

Chicago Beef – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:36 PM

Ask any Chicago transplant in Albuquerque or anywhere else to list the five things they miss most about the Windy City and it’s a good bet the list will include Italian beef sandwiches, a staple in Chicago. Citizens of the Toddlin’ Town are almost as passionate about this sloppy sandwich as they are Da Bears. Chicagoans grow up worshipping at high counters on which they prop their elbows as they consume Italian beef sandwiches–sometimes because the restaurant has no tables, but more often than not, because no matter how careful they are, they’re bound to spill shards of beef, bits of giardiniera and drippings of spice-laden beef gravy onto their clothing. The authentic Italian beef sandwich is, according to Pasquale Bruno, the Chicago Sun-Times dining critic and contrary to the opinion of some purists, a spin-off of the French-dip sandwich. It is never (and I mean ever) made with marinara sauce. You won’t find one in all of Italy, in fact. It is as uniquely Chicago as deep-dish pizza (which you also won’t find in Italy) and hot dogs with sport peppers and green tomatoes. An Italian beef sandwich is made with roasted sirloin tip which is massaged with a…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenItalianNew MexicoSandwich

Deli Mart West – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno10:45 AM

The human capacity for developing attachments can be a bit of a conundrum. Although my very being is eternally rooted in New Mexico, returning to America in 1987 after three years in England made me feel as if I had left my home behind. Similarly after two years in Massachusetts, I returned in 1979 to my beloved New Mexico with a huge hole in my heart, pining for so many things about my first home as an adult. One of the things I missed most about the Bay State was the tremendously creative things that could be generously crammed inside a sub (make that “grinder”) roll. The polished art of crafting a sensational stuffed sandwich had not made its way to the Land of Enchantment. I commiserated frequently with my great friend, New York native Adelchi Parisella who also longed for the incomparable sandwiches uniquely fashioned in the East Coast. Fortunately in 1980, we discovered Deli Mart, a New York style deli and market on Juan Tabo just north of Menaul. The lingering aroma of fine deli meats and cheeses was so familiar, our olfactory senses went into overdrive trying to ingest them all. The well-stocked shelves offered culinary treasures…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenHot Dogs

Hot Diggity – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:59 AM

Oh, hot diggity, dog ziggity, boom what you do to me How my future will shine Hot diggity, dog ziggity, boom what you do to me From the moment you’re mine HOT DOG!! In an age of auditory bombardment, we all occasionally experience a phenomenon known as an “earworm.” Earworm is a literal translation of a German term for a song (particularly an annoying one) stuck in someone’s head. For some it’s the Gilligan’s Island theme song. For others, it might be “It’s a Small World” or the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.” You can guess what earworm infested me the first time I drove by Hot Diggity, a 60s style diner in Albuquerque’s industrial north valley. I hadn’t thought of Hot Diggity (the number one song in 1956 by crooner Perry Como) in a long time but couldn’t get it out of my head after driving by the Edith Boulevard diner of that name. (Hopefully reading this doesn’t introduce the Hot Diggity earworm into your life, but if it means introducing you to Hot Diggity, the restaurant, it might be worth it.) Brothers Steve and Vince Drouillard launched Hot Diggity in October, 2006 and have been winning over hungry patrons since…

Closed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenNevadaSandwichUnited States

Windy City Pizza & Subs – Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:22 PM

Ask any Chicago transplant to list the five things they miss most about the Windy City and it’s a good bet the list will include Italian beef sandwiches, a staple in Chicago. Chicagoans grow up worshipping at the tables of Italian beef sandwich shops and are almost as passionate about this sloppy sandwich as they are Da Bears. After my several first two experiences with Italian beef, my reaction was “okay, so what’s so great about these” then we visited Johnnie’s Italian Beef and I had an epiphany. Now my nights are (Italian) spiced with dreams of gravy running down my arms and the sounds of giardinaire crunching in my mouth. Italian beef sandwiches are an absolute “must have” during our visits to the Windy City. Several years ago during one of our frequent sojourns to Las Vegas, we discovered Mastro’s Italian Beef a scant three miles from our Vegas residence and struck up a friendship with Mike Mastro, the affable proprietor. Mastro evinced the adage that “you can’t trust a skinny chef.” A formidable man, he shared our passion for Italian beef authenticity and crafted the very best example of that sandwich we’ve ever had outside of Chicago. Trepidation…

Closed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenNevadaSandwichUnited States

Carnegie Deli (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:40 PM

Father Mark Schultz, the charismatic priest at the San Antonio De Padua church in Penasco, jokes that the reason Catholics are required to abstain from eating meat on Fridays is not because there’s a shortage of cows. That’s certainly true. There is more beef on the hoof in America than there are tax-paying citizens. That’s why it’s always puzzled me that sandwich restaurants in New Mexico are so chintzy with their meat portions. You’d think there really was a beef shortage (and an excess of bread and lettuce) considering the the typical Albuquerque restaurant sandwich is comprised of thin shards of beef buried under half a head of lettuce and enough bread to choke a mule. In the American megalopolises of Chicago and New York, sandwiches are piled skyscraper high with beef and it’s not a figment of your imagination when you actually experience the flavor of bovine amidst the constituent parts of a sandwich. You’d think Chicago and New York were closer to cattle ranches than New Mexico is, but I digress. This is a review on a Las Vegas deli from which restaurants in my beloved Land of Enchantment could learn much. In recent years, Las Vegas has…

Closed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenIllinoisRating: ExcellentSandwichUnited States

Siegelman’s Restaurant Deli – Arlington Heights, Illinois (CLOSED: 2011)

Gil Garduno4:27 AM

Who would have thought that a nondescript restaurant in a nondescript shopping center would feature food beyond description–food for which you run out of adjectives and synonyms for delicious (let’s see: savory, scrumptious, yummy, tasty, mouth-watering, appetizing, delectable, luscious)? In Siegelman’s, the quintessential Jewish deli, we found some of the very best pastrami (and it’s no surprise that it carries the Vienna Beef label) in America–perfectly marbled to bring out its dramatically captivating (not nearly sufficient to describe it) flavor and in such huge proportions that your mouth is agape (and watering) at first sight. There’s a Yiddish word that perfectly describes Siegelman’s sandwiches–“farshtopt,” a word which means “stuffed” as in crammed full of meat. An even better word might be “overstuffed” because that’s what you receive with every sandwich order. The thin-sliced, piled-high pastrami sandwich on fresh baked rye bread includes enough meat (a full 8.5 ounces per jumbo sandwich and 6.5 ounces on the standard offering) to make four pastrami sandwiches in Albuquerque’s chintzy sandwich shops. Jars of gourmet mustard are available for slathering on the pastrami. A perfect prelude to the perfect pastrami sandwich is the complementary soup sweet and sour cabbage soup which tastes even better…

ArizonaRating: N/R (Not Rated)SandwichUnited StatesVietnamese

Lee’s Sandwiches – Chandler, Arizona

Gil Garduno1:15 AM

For years, the American viewing public was subjected to the bombardment of the airwaves with the exploits of Jared. Once a corpulent fellow who weighed 425 pounds, Jared metamorphosed into a 190-pound shadow of his former self largely through a calorie reduction effort comprised principally of submarine sandwiches proffered by America’s most prolific sandwich chain. Many of us caloric overachievers regard those commercials with skepticism–not that Jared could lose so much much weight, but that any sane person could eat such a mediocre sandwich twice a day for an entire year. I could understand it if Jared’s sandwich diet was comprised instead of banh mi, the unrivaled Vietnamese sandwich that surpasses any chain produced submarine sandwich in America. Banh mi are the culinary remnants of French colonialism in Vietnam, a marriage so to speak of French culinary modus operandi, Vietnamese resourcefulness and Chinese ingredients. An outstanding banh mi sandwich combines sweet carrots; fresh cilantro; thinly sliced, cold cucumber; marinated slivers of daikon; fresh coriander and eye-watering jalapeno with such optional ingredients as sliced jicama, basil or mint leaves, onion and more. The banh mi also includes meat, but not a lot of it so as to detract from the freshness…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenNational ChainSandwich

Quizno’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:30 AM

Just as owning a BMW might diminish your appreciation of any other car you’ll ever have (unless it’s another BMW), eating sub sandwiches in New England will devalue your estimation of any sub sandwich you’ll ever have anywhere else. From Maine to Delaware, sub sandwiches in all their sobriquets (grinders, torpedoes, heroes, etc.) are so far superior to sandwiches served anywhere else in the country that you’ll invariably find yourself making unfair comparisons. Nothing else quite fills the bill. After moving to Denver, New York native James Lambatos wanted Mile High City residents to experience an Italian sub similar to what he experienced growing up in the Big Apple. He founded Quizno’s in 1981 as an upscale version of Subway but with the intention of duplicating the New York sub sandwich experience. At its worse, Quizno’s does provide a better product than the ubiquitous industry leader, but it still pales in comparison to the sandwiches you’ll find throughout the East Coast. Quizno’s motto is “Deliziosa e rinfrescante–delicious and refreshingly good! Quizno’s oven toasted sandwiches do taste better–a fact that wasn’t lost on franchise leader Subway who in 2005 began its own toasted sub campaign. A burgeoning franchise, Quizno’s appeared poised…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenSandwich

Pastrami & Things – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:57 AM

During a 1997 episode of Seinfeld, the “show about nothing,” George Costanza and his girlfriend du jour discussed introducing food into their lovemaking. George listed as potential candidates: strawberries, chocolate sauce, pastrami on rye with mustard and honey. His girlfriend, unfortunately, failed to appreciate the erotic qualities of pastrami. Ultimately George met up with a woman who declared pastrami to be “the most sensual of all the salted cured meats.” Their lustful appetites took over and they succumbed to the pastrami inspired throes of passion. I don’t know about pastrami being the most sensual of all salted cured meats, but do know there are few sandwiches quite as wonderful as a pastrami sandwich. Alas, not all pastrami is created equal. The perfect pastrami finds its genesis as brisket given a salt and spice rub, dry cured, smoked, and cooked. Having grown up in bucolic Northern New Mexico, I had no idea pastrami existed until the Air Force sent me to Massachusetts. It was love at first bite. For two years I visited delis throughout New England and New York City in search of the best pastrami. Since returning to New Mexico, I’ve lamented the fact that Albuquerque has been short-changed…

Hot DogsIllinoisRating: N/R (Not Rated)SandwichUnited States

Superdawg Drive-In – Chicago, Illinois

Gil Garduno3:56 AM

Some of today’s Marvel comic book heroes such as Captain America and the Submariner had their genesis in the 1940s where they crusaded against oppressive regimes fighting to subjugate America’s freedoms. Maurie Berman (himself a recently returned G.I. from World War II) and his wife Flaurie looked no further than the superhero genre when naming their unique roadside hot dog stand, on the roof of which stand statues of well defined male and female anthropomorphic hot dogs attired in leopard skin togas. Today, while serving as both beacons to the restaurant as well as vigilant guardians protecting its south vantage, those hot dog icons beckon passers-by with their winking and blinking eyes. Superdawg has become America’s premier hot dog restaurant–a restaurant which has received acclaim from both print (New York Times, Roadfood, National Geographic Traveler, Zagat) and broadcast (ABC’s Nightline, Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood, the Food Network) media. It’s not just the kitschy Americana that draws hundreds of patrons. Superdawg serves an outstanding hot dog, maybe the very best in the country! A juicy pure beef dawg is nestled within the inviting confines of a poppy seed bun and formerly dressed with all the trimmings you might want, including…