Best Sub Shop in Bergen County?

[Rail Paul]

The record has an article today about the best sub shop in Bergen County:

1) Subbies in Saddle Brook, 505 Midland Avenue

2) Sub-Base in Fair Lawn, 18-50 River Road

They make the claim that the bread is the most important aspect of the sandwich. I disagree. Fillings and oils used are equally important. Lots of garlic helps, too...

Bergen Record

[Liza]

My favorite used to be the Roman Inn on Hudson Ave. in Englewood, but that was a few (ahem) years ago. I agree with your disagreement - it's the balance that makes it best.

[dodge621]

I find the Record's story not very well written (as usual). It fails to state how many votes the first place sub place got. Perhaps it received 4 votes or maybe it was 400.  To run a contest and only give the ranking to me is not good.

[tommy]

balance, yes.  but i've seen subs ruined by horrible bread.  even with good fillings.  rarely, however, are the meats/fillings so bad that a great piece of bread is ruined.  so in that respect, if the bread ain't good, the sandwich blows.

edit:  "scene"?  yikes.

[tommy]

p.s.  the number in the article for the sub base is wrong.  it's 201.796.7272.

[dodge621]

To me personally it is not a sub but by far the best sandwich in both NY and NJ is Cosi.

NJ Cosi only in Jersey City (I think)

[tommy]

paul, where would you find garlic on a "sub"?  that is bizarre to me.  

clearly the best sub in NJ is Mike's in Pt Pleasant.  but i'll tell ya that Frills in clifton is pretty good as well, and much closer to bergen county.  obviously Frills wasn't included in the survey because it's, like, 5 minutes down the parkway from bergen cty.

[shugga]

I too, wondered how many people participated in this poll.

Personally, I think that Jerrys in Englewood makes GREAT sandwiches!  But, it is not a "sub shop".

[tommy]

this was clearly an entertainment piece.  the numbers really don't matter.  it is clearly stated that it was an "unscientific poll".  read btwn the lines:  a handful of people responded to their survey, and they came up with some decent enough copy to fill a page and get people talking about subs.  nothing more.  nothing less.

[dodge621]

this is what makes the Bergen Record a much worse read than the Ledger's Munchmobile

Record uses a handful of votes and writes an article while the Ledger puts more effort into their food stories

[tommy]

i got a sandwich at Sub Base (paterson) today, after all of the hype in the bergen record.

in theory, it's a good sandwich (cold cuts, lettuce, onion, tomato, o/v, oregano, s/p).  however, somewhere btwn theory and execution, something goes wrong.  the sandwich was anemic.  it suffered from too little meat and it was a bit underseasoned.  i added more vinegar and oregano to give it some oomph.  

the menu had lots of non-sub items, like taylor ham and egg sandwiches and all types of stuff that would no doubt be awesome after a good drinking session.  although i don't think they're open very late.

below ther are photos of the sandwich.  as you can see, you can barely make out the meat.

compare this to jersey mike's (click me).  the photo on jersey mike's website is actually what the sandwich looks like.

edit:  hopefully the pics work now.

click these stupid things.  ugh, this stuff never works for me!

http://www.imagestation.com/mypictu....son%201

]http://www.imagestation.com/mypictu....rl]

[dodge621]

I suggest Frankie's Deli in New Milford  or Clemente's in South Hackensack.

[Jason Perlow]

Migdalia's Cuban Cafe in Bergenfield makes a hell of a Cuban sandwich (a unique form of grilled sub in and of itself) and has great other traditional cuban cafe food. Cute little place, cheap, good eats.

[thereuare]

I'm biased, but here's my slightly off topic pics:

If lattitude is allowed outside of Bergen County, any of the following places in Hoboken: Vito's, Fiore's, M+P Biancomono (fresh mozzarella is a MUST at any of these!!).  The first 2 are the tops, the third is a distant third, but still great!

For a hot sub, La Bella Roma pizzeria in Paramus makes the best chicken parm hero in the state!  It's a "hole in the wall" pizza place but their chicken parm hero is a must whenever i'm town.

[tommy]

thereuare, i think it's important to recognize the distinction btwn a "sub" and what the places in hoboken make.  they are 2 different animals really.  clearly, vito's (and you might argue m+p, fiore's, or lisa's) makes a heartier, more substantial sandwich than mike's, frill's, sub base, and all of the other subs shops do.  but i think using the generally accepted definition of a "sub shop", they can't really compete in this race.  

then again, i miss vito's and i'm really just jealous.  

[thereuare]

tommy,

are you saying that the places in Hoboken can't compete w/ the Mike's, The Sub Base, etc.

OR are you saying Mike's, The Sub Base, etc. can't compete w/ the places in Hoboken

OR the Hoboken places don't classify as "sub shops"?

[ngatti]

Migdalia's Cuban Cafe in Bergenfield makes a hell of a Cuban sandwich (a unique form of grilled sub in and of itself) and has great other traditional cuban cafe food. Cute little place, cheap, good eats.

Jason, Only because it's the only place I can find one north of Bergenline Ave.   But I agree, good Cubano.

Nick

[tommy]

OR the Hoboken places don't classify as "sub shops"?

right.  they create different products.  apples and oranges to me.

[thereuare]

right.  they create different products.  apples and oranges to me.

Right, they make a GREAT sub and everything else is cr*p!

If somebody told me they want to take me to a great sub place in their town, i'm gonna compare it to a great sub, which is what they serve at the above Hoboken delis.

I don't think they INTEND on "running in two different races", but they do because one makes a fabulous product, and the other doesn't know any better.

[tommy]

right.  they create different products.  apples and oranges to me.

Right, they make a GREAT sub and everything else is cr*p!

If somebody told me they want to take me to a great sub place in their town, i'm gonna compare it to a great sub, which is what they serve at the above Hoboken delis.

I don't think they INTEND on "running in two different races", but they do because one makes a fabulous product, and the other doesn't know any better.

to me, vito's isn't a substitute for mike's subs and frills subs.  so, i get to enjoy both when i get the craving as the cravings are quite different (since the sandwiches are).

[stevet]

Frills is gone and has been for the last six months.Probably never coming back, unlike the last time.

[tommy]

shame about frill's.  i really liked that place.

made my way over to the "number 1" pick, subbies in fair lawn.

this sandwich was a bit more substantial than the sub-base sandwich.  it had more fillings, and possibly a bit more meat.  the bread, i thought, was a bit overpowering.  there was a lot of dough that i ended up just ripping out of the sandwich.  before doing that it was completely unbalanced.  it also needed a bit more vinegar, and could have used a tad less oil, which seemed to weigh the flavors down.  i also added oregano, which didn't appear on the sandwich at all.

a pic can (hopefully) be found here.

[Jason Perlow]

Migdalia's Cuban Cafe in Bergenfield makes a hell of a Cuban sandwich (a unique form of grilled sub in and of itself) and has great other traditional cuban cafe food. Cute little place, cheap, good eats.

Jason, Only because it's the only place I can find one north of Bergenline Ave.   But I agree, good Cubano.

Nick

Apparently, Cinco De Mayo in Fort Lee on Sylvan Ave across from the Tire Center makes Cuban sandwiches for lunch, and has a few other Cuban dishes like Ropa Vieja.

Rachel, JHlurie and myself went there for dinner the other day... Its good mexican.. havent tried their Cuban yet.

[kelly]

I suggest Frankie's Deli in New Milford

In the 70's and 80's  Frankies was the King of subs...They are good now, but not what they were when they were owned by the older couple .

[ngatti]

Apparently, Cinco De Mayo in Fort Lee on Sylvan Ave across from the Tire Center makes Cuban sandwiches for lunch, and has a few other Cuban dishes like Ropa Vieja.

Rachel, JHlurie and myself went there for dinner the other day... Its good mexican.. havent tried their Cuban yet.

Slightly off topic.  But what we need in bergen county is a good old fashioned 'Comidas, Chinas y Latinas'

BTW  Migdalia(sp) in Bergenfield makes some of the best damn Tostones I've had.  Worth the trip and the wait.  Tostones have to made from scratch.  Can't par 'em off.

Nick