John's vs. Tony Luke's

[Andrew Fenton]

And does anybody really call it a "Roast Pork Italian"?

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of course not.

Hmm. It's listed as Roast Pork Italian on TL's menu. Which raises the question: are we meant to call it that, or is it a cunning trap laid for the uncultured?

[philadining]

Hmm.  It's listed as Roast Pork Italian on TL's menu.  Which raises the question: are we meant to call it that, or is it a cunning trap laid for the uncultured?

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I suspect you get slapped with a hot spatula if you order a "roast pork italian".

[Mummer]

Seems as dangerous as a guy saying his name is Holly down there...

[rockhopper]

Hmm.  It's listed as Roast Pork Italian on TL's menu.  Which raises the question: are we meant to call it that, or is it a cunning trap laid for the uncultured?

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I suspect you get slapped with a hot spatula if you order a "roast pork italian".

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I've ordered "a roast pork with sharp provolone and spinach" and heard the lady at the cash register yell "roast pork italian". This happened at both Oregon Ave and 18th st.

[philadining]

Hmm.  It's listed as Roast Pork Italian on TL's menu.  Which raises the question: are we meant to call it that, or is it a cunning trap laid for the uncultured?

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I suspect you get slapped with a hot spatula if you order a "roast pork italian".

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I've ordered "a roast pork with sharp provolone and spinach" and heard the lady at the cash register yell "roast pork italian". This happened at both Oregon Ave and 18th st.

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I decided to risk derision as a newbie, or worse, out-of-towner, and sauntered up to the window, adopted as confident as a tone as I could muster, and ordered "Roast Pork Italian". From the counter: not a blink, no snickering, no flagellation with a bunch of rabe, indeed, as Rockhopper reported, the cashier turned and repeated the phrase to the cooks.

So I guess I've been doing it the hard way all this time, perhaps even unknowingly flagging myself as one who doesn't really know how to order. I'm so ashamed.... It's like going to Pat's and asking for "A cheesesteak with cheese whiz and fried onions please," I mean, sure you'll get your food, but it's a long line, every syllable counts!!!

I even heard a couple of (clearly) neighborhood girls discussing that they were going to order "Roast Beef Italian." It IS indeed phrased like that, right there on the menu...

Now we know...

[SG-]

Just had my first roast pork at Tony Luke's this week, overall I would choose either TL or Dinics over John's.

[mrbigjas]

I decided to risk derision as a newbie, or worse, out-of-towner, and sauntered up to the window, adopted as confident as a tone as I could muster, and ordered "Roast Pork Italian". From the counter: not a blink, no snickering, no flagellation with a bunch of rabe, indeed, as Rockhopper reported, the cashier turned and repeated the phrase to the cooks. 

So I guess I've been doing it the hard way all this time, perhaps even unknowingly flagging myself as one who doesn't really know how to order.  I'm so ashamed....  It's like going to Pat's and asking for "A cheesesteak with cheese whiz and fried onions please," I mean, sure you'll get your food, but it's a long line, every syllable counts!!!

I even heard a couple of (clearly) neighborhood girls discussing that they were going to order "Roast Beef Italian."  It IS indeed phrased like that, right there on the menu...

how about that.

[mrbigjas]

i heard an ad on the radio this morning that wawa is now serving roast pork sandwiches. they advertise them as coming with provolone and roasted red peppers. i doubt it'll beat out john's or dinic's or tl's or george's, but maybe it'd be ok for when you're headed upstate, you're starving, and that big wawa at the intersection of the northeast extension and rt. 80 is shining like a beacon, offering... offering... a decent roast pork sandwich? could it? would even a bad roast pork sandwich be better than the arbys, mcdonalds, and burger king offerings at the site?

perhaps. i'll report back.

[Andrew Fenton]

would even a bad roast pork sandwich be better than the arbys, mcdonalds, and burger king offerings at the site?

Yes. Yes it would.

I'll bet it's not a bad sandwich; I think Wawa hoagies are pretty good. Not amazing, but they'll do the trick if that's what there is.

[mrbigjas]

yeah. i've roasted pork myself and while it's not dinics, even <shrug> eh </shrug> roast pork is pretty damn good. i think it's pretty easy to make it ok... taking it that extra step to transcendent is the key.

[Andrew Fenton]

... And it turns out that John's also calls the provolone/greens combo a Roast Pork Italian. They wrote it on the sandwich wrapper and everything.

You know, heresy as it might be, I think I like the greens and cheese as much as or more than the meat. Next time, I might just go for the "Roast Pork Vegetarian".

[NulloModo]

would even a bad roast pork sandwich be better than the arbys, mcdonalds, and burger king offerings at the site?

Yes. Yes it would.

I'll bet it's not a bad sandwich; I think Wawa hoagies are pretty good. Not amazing, but they'll do the trick if that's what there is.

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I am convinced WAWA is the be all end all of convenience stores. I used to be a 7-11 fanatic, but wow, the Wawa subs just aren't half bad, and being able to pick one up fresh made with exactly the fixins you want 24/7 certainly rocks.

[ludja]

I had the fortune of being in Philly near New Year's and got to fulfill a year long yen for tasting the famed Philly pork sandwich!!! (after hearing it described here)

We stopped in to the RTM and had one at Dinic's--with the aged provolone and broccoli rabe... It was heaven!!! Another thing that makes the sandwich is the bit of spiciness from red pepper flakes...

I will try to replicate this back home now and will look forward to another Philly trip to compare sandwiches at the other places!

[john b]

... And it turns out that John's also calls the provolone/greens combo a Roast Pork Italian.  They wrote it on the sandwich wrapper and everything.

You know, heresy as it might be, I think I like the greens and cheese as much as or more than the meat.  Next time, I might just go for the "Roast Pork Vegetarian".

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Along the same lines, Sarcone's roasted vegetable hoagie is very good. I'm not a vegetable person, but I found myself really digging it.

[KatieLoeb]

... And it turns out that John's also calls the provolone/greens combo a Roast Pork Italian.  They wrote it on the sandwich wrapper and everything.

You know, heresy as it might be, I think I like the greens and cheese as much as or more than the meat.  Next time, I might just go for the "Roast Pork Vegetarian".

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Along the same lines, Sarcone's roasted vegetable hoagie is very good. I'm not a vegetable person, but I found myself really digging it.

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Chickie's Vegetable hoagie is the best of breed in this category. Eggplant, roasted red peppers and sauteed boccoli rabe with lots of garlic and aged provolone that smells like feet. On Sarcone's bread. It gets no better than that. It's the best vegetarian sandwich I know of. Anywhere.

[philadining]

You know, heresy as it might be, I think I like the greens and cheese as much as or more than the meat.  Next time, I might just go for the "Roast Pork Vegetarian".

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Ahhh the great Fentoni's predictions have come true....

There's a brief mention of Tony Luke's NY location in the NYTimes here

They rave about a sandwich of sauteed rabe with or without provelone. The sandwich with the greens and roast pork "is good too" according to the Times...

[Andrew Fenton]

Is it just my crappy monitor, or is that sandwich on toasted bread? Weeeeoid.

[Rich Pawlak]

Is it just my crappy monitor, or is that sandwich on toasted bread?  Weeeeoid.

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Paper in hand, it looks like a classic Tony Luke roll.

[Bobby 2 Shakes]

Lenny's on Fayette & 9th in Conshohocken (formerly Mastrocola's) has never let me down for a great shredded "pork italiano" sandwich... Rick Nichols wrote about this place years ago in the Sunday Inquirer magazine. Everybody at work that tried one compared it favorably to DiNic's. Every time I'm in the Conshy area I get requests for it. Coming from the Schuylkill (76), it's on Fayette street after the bridge and up the hill on the left at 9th (less than a mile from the exit). There's no place to sit but at the end of 9th there's a playground with picnic tables.

[MarketStEl]

Is it just my crappy monitor, or is that sandwich on toasted bread?  Weeeeoid.

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Paper in hand, it looks like a classic Tony Luke roll.

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In the online photo, I detect what appears to be a dark streak along the edge of the bottom half of the bread, which sure looks to me like it was toasted.

[Andrew Fenton]

Yah, that's what I saw too. On this (slightly less crappy) monitor as well.

[MarketStEl]

Yah, that's what I saw too.  On this (slightly less crappy) monitor as well.

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I don't know whose monitor you were comparing it to, but mine is a 17-inch flat panel LCD, so I don't think what I saw would be caused by problems with the screen resolution.

[Fresser]

Chickie's Vegetable hoagie is the best of breed in this category.  Eggplant, roasted red peppers and sauteed boccoli rabe with lots of garlic and aged provolone that smells like feet.  On Sarcone's bread.  It gets no better than that.  It's the best vegetarian sandwich I know of.  Anywhere.

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I nominate Katie Loeb's post for the "Silly Simile of the Century" award.

[philadining]

would even a bad roast pork sandwich be better than the arbys, mcdonalds, and burger king offerings at the site?

Yes. Yes it would.

I'll bet it's not a bad sandwich; I think Wawa hoagies are pretty good. Not amazing, but they'll do the trick if that's what there is.

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I had a Wawa hot roast pork hoagie today, and as predicted it was....not bad!

It certainly isn't going to give DiNics any competition, but it is indeed WAY better than most chain fast food. And most important - you can probably get one at 3:30 am in the suburbs.

[mrbigjas]

i went to john's today at long last. i'm still going with dinic's as my favorite, but dang that's a good sandwich.

the only problem i had with it was.... the sarcone's roll. while i firmly believe that the flavor of the roasted sesame seeds on a sarcone's seeded roll will enhance any sandwich, sarcone's bread is too soft to really stand up to a roast pork sandwich. by the time we got it to our car the bread had pretty much disintegrated on the bottom. i'm thinking that sarcone's is really better for a drier sandwich, like a hoagie or at most a cheesesteak. but a roast pork, roast beef or tripe sandwich is going to trash the bread.