Hoagies, Cheesesteaks, Pork Italiano

[Rich Pawlak]

I think Slack's Hoagie Shack executes a fine hoagie; I participate in thier online football pool each week, and one week did well enough to be awarded a free hoagie of my choice. I found an outlet in Mercerville, NJ, closest to my home, and chose their new Godfather hoagie, with aged prov, prosciutto, capicola, roasted red peppers, salami, etc., on a seeded roll. An oustanding sandwich even if it wasnt free.

[philadining]

I'm actually embarrassed to say that I've never been to one, but I know Capriotti's has its fans. I always remember them at this time of year because they make a sandwich called "the Bobbie" that's basically a thanksgiving dinner on a hoagie roll. Genius.

[MarketStEl]

Lee's is ubiquitous and mediocre. I'd second Charlie's recommendations, but would also strongly urge you to consider some of our better independent shops as well in the course of your research.

Two in the Reading Terminal Market warrant mention: Carmen's (nee Rocco's) has very good traditional hoagies, and Salumeria makes first-rate fancy/specialty hoagies that have picked up their share of "Best of" awards.

Sarcone's on 9th Street at Fitzwater, just north of the Italian Market and their bakery, is proof positive that it really is the bread, baby.

[Siouxsie]

Hm. I happen to like Lee's Italian hoagies, but I sort of grew up on them (the old Ardmore location on Lancaster), so I guess it's a taste/memory thing for me. I do find, however, that the Lee's in University City is nowhere as good as the Lee's that's in Bala off Belmont. In fact, the last time I was at the U-City location, I was really disappointed.

I'm thinking I'll amble over to Primo's next week for lunch one day tho. I had their tuna hoagie over the summer and liked it plenty.

It's just that I work in a small office and everyone is health conscious and it's all carrots, hummus, and celery. I'd feel like a bigfoot heathen coming back with a big ol' hoagie!

Siouxsie

[rlibkind]

It's just that I work in a small office and everyone is health conscious and it's all carrots, hummus, and celery.  I'd feel like a bigfoot heathen coming back with a big ol' hoagie!

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Don't fret. They'll all be salad green with envy.

[Mummer]

I'm thinking I'll amble over to Primo's next week for lunch one day tho.  I had their tuna hoagie over the summer and liked it plenty.

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That your Primo tuna starts as a tin (or 2) of tuna, rather than a mayo/tuna emulsion, lets you fatten it to your taste. Sharp prov and roasted peppers are two of my faves.

There's a photo upthread...

[The Naughti Literati]

OMG this threaaaaad!!!! I feel like fainting. I have lived in NY for 5 years now and the *first* thing I do when I visit the fam in Philly is get a hoagie. Even if it's Wawa. LOL

I once even had a dream that I was driving around 23rd and 7th up here looking for a hoagie shop and woke up in a cold sweat!

My friend has turned me onto The Hoagie Factory, now he can't come up here unless he has a big ole Italian, extra mayo, extra provolone, hot peppers, oregano, oil, and vinegar one from there for me. I told that mf that he should consider that his EZ Pass!!!!

[MarketStEl]

Uh-oh.

They're getting wise in the hinterlands.

After this, the deluge.

Worse still, they'll all be asking where the nearest "sub shop" is.

Psst, Tim: There are NO "sub shops" in Philadelphia or environs. Maybe in Slower Delaware, where Washingtonians can be spotted summering alongside Gayborhooders in Rehoboth, but not on this side of the C&D Canal.

In any event, brace yourselves, folks. Go to DiNic's or Tony Luke's now, while there's still room.

[Jeff L]

This guy must have been lurking on this board for sure. He hit the best the city has to offer in the article. Sandy, you can rest assured that most people who read the Washington Post won't be crowding us out at Tony Luke's anytime soon.

[Andrew Fenton]

If he'd been lurking on this board, I hope he'd have known not to call them "subs."

A nice enough piece, but he used the word "sub" fifteen times, and each time was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me...

[Sfuffy]

Psst, Tim:  There are NO "sub shops" in Philadelphia or environs.  Maybe in Slower Delaware, where Washingtonians can be spotted summering alongside Gayborhooders in Rehoboth, but not on this side of the C&D Canal.

Actually, in Northern Delaweenia, where I now find myself and which falls within the Philly environs, they are very confused on this matter - I've seen them called subs, grinders, and hoagies interchangeably.

In fact Capriotti's (which inexplicably now has franchises in Nevada, Utah & Arizona), specifically calls them subs.

[Mummer]

There's a new Primo Hoagies franchise in the Ardmore West strip (between the two buildings behind the camera store.) Open until 7, 3 on Sundays. 610.645.5500 - delivery available with a small eat-in area.

I had a Sulmona today - like the one pictured upthread. Fresh mozz, bunch o'salami, pepper shooters, seeded roll, mmmm!

[philadining]

The Washington Post writer made the tragic error of getting a small Roast Pork at John's, which is served on an unimpressive kaiser roll. I made that mistake once.

It is funny about the terminology: reading the repeated references to Philly places as "Sub shops" and the sandwiches themselves as "subs" just seemed so wrong. I grew up knowing a sandwich on a long roll as a "sub" but it just sounds so wrong to call a cheesesteak or roast pork sandwich by that name.

And do we think Tony Luke brought cheesesteaks and roast pork sandwiches to a movie set in Pittsburgh? Surely he meant Philly.

[Capaneus]

"The Washington Post writer made the tragic error of getting a small Roast Pork at John's, which is served on an unimpressive kaiser roll. I made that mistake once."

Or, maybe, he is a gentleman of taste and discerniment, and clearly saw the superiority of the TL sandwich.

"It is funny about the terminology: reading the repeated references to Philly places as "Sub shops" and the sandwiches themselves as "subs" just seemed so wrong. I grew up knowing a sandwich on a long roll as a "sub" but it just sounds so wrong to call a cheesesteak or roast pork sandwich by that name."

I guess it all depends on whether we think his duty was to his subject or to his audience: I'm thinking the term sat right well with the Washington Post readership.

"And do we think Tony Luke brought cheesesteaks and roast pork sandwiches to a movie set in Pittsburgh? Surely he meant Philly."

From what I've heard, Tony would waltz to the Gates of Hell for ten seconds of screen time. Pittsburgh is barely nine-tenths of the way there.

[rlibkind]

In Washington DC, they're called subs, so he called them by what his readers know them as. It would have been nice to mention somewhere in the article that they're called hoagies here, but he wasn't writing for us.

[Jeff L]

The Washington Post writer made the tragic error of getting a small Roast Pork at John's, which is served on an unimpressive kaiser roll.  I made that mistake once.

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Because of your mistake noted someplace on this board, I avoided making it myself and got the full size roast pork. I just don't get the kaiser roll thing. It's not like they can't cut a normal hoagie roll to size for a smaller sandwich.

The multiple reference to subs and sub shops irked me too, but as Bob correctly points out, this is the DC term for it.

[Holly Moore]

Sloppy reporting - writing about Philadelphia, talking about hoagies, and not once speaking the native language. Similar to writing about Brussels and going on and on about their french fries.

all those great subs -- especially cheesesteaks

Huh?

Edited March 13, 2008 by Holly Moore (log)

[jaredrakes]

"Pittsburgh is barely nine-tenths of the way there."

literal LOL. Hilarious!

[DTBarton]

The line of demarcation between the moniker hoagie and sub is not far south of Philadelphia. I also grew up in Delaware and was weaned on Italian subs from the Penny Hill sub shop, although now I hit Casapulla's in Glasgow. Those subs were so popular with my grandparents that my folks would carry them to Texas on the plane when we visited.

I remember going to Philadelphia as a teenager and thinking the name hoagie was odd.

Even in Delaware, cheesesteaks were their own entity, not referred to as a sub or hoagie

(unless one ordered the "cheesesteak sub, which meant you wanted all the salad type toppings on your cheesesteak).

I do agree that the Post writer overused the sub name, especially since it's nearly impossible to get a decent one anywhere in the DC area. I should know as I live about 25 miles east of DC and it's like the Sahara desert of good subs.

[Rich Pawlak]

The Washington Post writer made the tragic error of getting a small Roast Pork at John's, which is served on an unimpressive kaiser roll.  I made that mistake once.

It is funny about the terminology:  reading the repeated references to Philly places as "Sub shops" and the sandwiches themselves as "subs" just seemed so wrong.  I grew up knowing a sandwich on a long roll as a "sub" but it just sounds so wrong to call a cheesesteak or roast pork sandwich by that name. 

And do we think Tony Luke brought cheesesteaks and roast pork sandwiches to a movie set in Pittsburgh?  Surely he meant Philly.

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Betch it was the set of "10th and Wolf", an awful movie SET in Philly, written by a Philadelphian, and filmed in Pittsburgh. It's been making the rounds on cable lately and it's just awful.

Always wondered if the title referred to the old Priori's restaurant, a good red gravy place that was the site of a few mob hits.

[Rich Pawlak]

Sloppy reporting - writing about Philadelphia, talking about hoagies, and not once speaking the native language.  Similar to writing about Brussels and going on and on about their french fries.

all those great subs -- especially cheesesteaks

Huh?

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Ironically, Tim used to write for me when I was the food editor of DC STYLE magazine. He is from Wyoming, so I MIGHT give him a pass on terminology, except for the fact that he's married to a Philly girl now! Surely she has smacked him in the head by now.

[jtnicolosi]

In Washington DC, they're called subs, so he called them by what his readers know them as. It would have been nice to mention somewhere in the article that they're called hoagies here, but he wasn't writing for us.

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Come on now Bob, you should know better... are you making this fatal error here on purpose, or did I miss something? They aren't hoagies or subs, they are sandwiches. Just sandwiches. Roast pork sandwiches.

The person that stands in line and asks for a roast pork hoagie is the same person that asks for mayo, or american cheese. Heaven help them.

[rlibkind]

In Washington DC, they're called subs, so he called them by what his readers know them as. It would have been nice to mention somewhere in the article that they're called hoagies here, but he wasn't writing for us.

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Come on now Bob, you should know better... are you making this fatal error here on purpose, or did I miss something? They aren't hoagies or subs, they are sandwiches. Just sandwiches. Roast pork sandwiches.

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C'mon, Joe. I was just talkin' about what a sub's called here. As far as what you put together, that's not a sandwich, that's a WORK OF ART!

[jtnicolosi]

Wonderful response Bob!

In Washington DC, they're called subs, so he called them by what his readers know them as. It would have been nice to mention somewhere in the article that they're called hoagies here, but he wasn't writing for us.

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Come on now Bob, you should know better... are you making this fatal error here on purpose, or did I miss something? They aren't hoagies or subs, they are sandwiches. Just sandwiches. Roast pork sandwiches.

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C'mon, Joe. I was just talkin' about what a sub's called here. As far as what you put together, that's not a sandwich, that's a WORK OF ART!

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[Bluehensfan]

In Washington DC, they're called subs, so he called them by what his readers know them as. It would have been nice to mention somewhere in the article that they're called hoagies here, but he wasn't writing for us.

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Come on now Bob, you should know better... are you making this fatal error here on purpose, or did I miss something? They aren't hoagies or subs, they are sandwiches. Just sandwiches. Roast pork sandwiches.

The person that stands in line and asks for a roast pork hoagie is the same person that asks for mayo, or american cheese. Heaven help them.

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Or worse, as culled from another food posting site:

"Sunday Brunch - Reading Terminal Market. (Mrs. _____ is not a giant fan of greasy, cheesy, meaty sandwiches, so a pilgrimage to Steve's would be a chore for her. At RTM I figure I can get a DeNics Roast Pork Wit and we can find something that appeals to her)"

This post makes roast pork with american cheese seem appetizing. Hopefully he got my response in time what to ask for...or in this case what not to not ask for.