Franklin Square Deli–Kent Yummy Sandwiches

So it was a beautiful day (something rare for us this year) and I felt like getting on the motorcycle and heading out for something to eat, so I looked through my pile of Groupons (http://www.groupon.com/r/uu778548) to see what I felt like that would be a nice ride; well Franklin Square Deli fit the bill perfectly so I cruised down to check out this sandwich place right in the middle of downtown Kent.   Located at the corner of Water and Main Streets Franklin Square has a great location, close to most of the bars, near the waterfall and the riverside park and not a bad walk from campus.  The corner location is easy to spot and once inside you find a friendly looking sandwich shop with black and white tiles and a lot of car racing pictures and art.  The overall effect is a bit retro and different then I would have guessed for a college hang out, but they make it work. 

The staff was friendly and attentive, with good service.  Also in the short time I was there the friendly staff and owner when not waiting on customers was working hard to keep everything very clean and neat, so kudos for that.
Looking at the menu (which you can see here) quickly shows you that this is not really a deli, but actually a very good sandwich shop, with an emphasis on submarines, although they also have soups, bagels, pitas, salads and breakfast.  With the Groupon I ordered a whole tuna sub, a bowl of the clam chowder and a side of potato salad.  The food was prepared and presented to me in a reasonable time so I settled in to give things a try.
I started with the soup, which was preportioned and then heated up in the microwave.  Surprisingly, I found this to be a very nice rendition of Clam Chowder, well stocked with clams, potatoes and vegies, the soup itself was just a hint thin, but had very good flavor and balance.  By keeping it refrigerated and heating to order, they managed to avoid having the soup over reduce and thicken up.

Next up was half of the tuna sub (I had had them wrap the other half to take home for a later meal).  The half sub was more then enough for a meal and was well stuffed with good quality tuna and fresh vegies, including some nice peppers to wake up the taste buds.  The bread was good, but a little soft for my preference since I love a sub that has the really crusty bread with a soft interior.  The seasoned oil and vinegar topping added just the right touch to make everything meld together in a harmonious melody of flavors.   The side of potato salad was pretty much what you would imagine it to be, so neither a plus or a minus.

Overall I had a very pleasant lunch at Franklin Square Deli and I will hit it again when I am in the Kent area.  This is good quality food, simply presented and a step above most of the chains sub shops.  If you are in the Kent area and need a bite, check them out.

Mr. Zub's Deli - Akron Subs with Attitude

So its a beautiful Friday and I have just finished a long hike in the Wetmore area of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and I am headed to Cuyahoga Falls for the Rocking on the River concert and I want to grab some food to take to the concert.  I pointed the motorcycle towards Fairlawn, but noting hit my fancy, that is until I hit the Highland Square area on Market Street and I saw Mr. Zub's  (map is here).  From the outside it looks a bit scruffy, but the name intrigued me and I could go for a good homemade Zub, so I figured I would give them a try.  Well it turned out to be a great decision.  Mr. Zub's is a classic hole in the wall sandwich shop attached to the Matinee bar next door. 

Walking in you quickly feel the attitude.  The menu is unique and at times hard to navigate (you can see it on Zub's website here); but it has some real appeal, with sandwiches named after characters from movies with the movie and the year it came out helpfully identified for those of us with spotty memory.  Prices generally range from a couple of bucks for a Thorton Melon (Back to School) pizza bagel to about $7 for a few high end sandwiches; there is $10 Aunt Marge giant corned beef and Swiss. 

I ordered the Large Marge (Pee Wee's Big Adventure) Tuna Melt, subbing provolone for Swiss.  What I got was a decent sized hogie roll stuffed with Tuna, some red onions and tomatoes with perfectly melted cheese.    While not as impressively big as the chain subshops, this was very filling as there was a big portion of Tuna and all of the ingredients were high quality.  In addition, instead of putting the sandwhich through a conveyor toaster, this was oven baked until melty good.  What was unique is somehow they got the Tuna salad to taste more like a Tuna steak then the usual creamy mess you get at Jared's favorite place.  Overall a very nice and fairly unique interpretation of a Tuna Melt.

When I am in the area and feel like a quick sandwich I will be stopping by Mr. Zub's again.  If you are heading to Rocking on the River or Lock 3 its worth going out of your way and checking them out.

What About Bob's - Sub Shop Supreme

Willoughby we have a real sub shop! What About Bob's may be the question, but the answer is that this is one of the best and most affordable sub shops in Northeast Ohio. Bob's is located at 38233 Glenn Avenue, Willoughby, Ohio (map is here), just off of Erie Street in downtown Willoughby. It is easy enough to miss, but you should make extra effort to find it. Located in a little storefront, you have a long counter with the menu above and a bunch of extras underneath. The dining area has a bunch of patio furniture and one flat screen TV on the wall; overall the look is clean and simple, but you come for the food, not the atmosphere. The menu (as you can see to the right) lists a nice variety of subs, wraps and a couple of salads. If you don't see what you want, ask; after I inquired they did have tuna subs available even though not on the menu. Pricing is easy and cheap, a small sub or wrap (12") is $3.99, a large sub or wrap (24") is $6.99 and salads are $1.99 and $3.99. You might want to check out the sides and accouterments, since I found them to be reasonably priced, something I usually cannot say for most takeout places. The sub I got was excellent, one of the best I have had and easily better then any of the chains that litter the landscape. The bread is great, a crispy loaf that is a little smaller then some places, but gives just the right texture and base for the sandwich. The tuna was good, light in the mayo with no unnecessary add ins. The cheese was a shredded provolone with a nice cheesy bite. Topped with lettuce, tomato, onions, some very nice hot pepper slices and a very good sweet dressing the whole was better then the sum of its parts. I will warn that the biggest problem was that the sub was overflowing, but that is what should happen with a sub. This was a just about perfect balance with the crusty bun setting off the crisp vegetables with the sweet dressing and bite of the cheese and peppers. Bob's delivers in a very big way; they have excellent food in big portions at cheap prices; add in that it is local and you couldn't ask for much more. The perfect cure for the chain sub shops, this much more a throw back to what sub shops used to be. I would very strongly recommend that you head out to Willoughby and try What About Bob's for yourself; I don't think you will be disappointed.

Confluence of Greatness

Last week I noticed that the new Five Guys (review is here) has opened up on Richmond Road across from Tri-C East in the same strip as DiBella's Subs (review here) (map is here). If you have read the past entries you will know that DiBella's is one of my current favorites for subs and that I have raved about Five Guys, especially the french fries. Well now I can easily combine the two; I can grab a tuna sub with hot and sweet peppers and then walk a couple of doors down and grab an enormous bag of hot, fresh tasty fries. Well that is of course what I did and it was really good. The cool tuna is nicely set off by the spicy hot peppers and complimented perfectly by the fries. Of course the one downside is I have to try to resist having this combination too often as I will end up fatter then I already am. I will have to work on it; in the meantime, we have another Five Guys open on the East Side and so far it is not as crowded as the Mayfield Heights location, plus there are some good subs just down the way if you are not in a burger mood. A great place to grab a lunch or a quick dinner.

Jimmy John's - Sandwhich Chain

If you have been paying attention, Jimmy John's shops have started popping up around Cleveland; the first one I saw was on Coventry and there is a new one on Richmond between Harvard and Miles. I figured why not give them a try, so I stopped by the Richmond store. First off, I find the menu a bit confusing at JJ (see here), instead of offering different sizes they offer the same ingredients in 3 different variations: a slim (without vegies or sauce), sub (regular) or giant club (double meat and cheese). Since it only was about a $1 more I got the Tuna Club. I find it hard to believe that the Club was double the tuna of a regular sub, since this would mean that the regular sub has not a lot of tuna. Overall the sandwich was good, but I would not describe it as gourmet. The tuna was ok, with a good firm consistency, although I missed the celery and onion that is supposed to be mixed in according to the menu. The bread was good, but not outstanding, firm but not as crusty as I would have liked. The provolone was probably the best part of the sandwich, thin sliced with a good flavor that contrasted nicely with the mild tuna. The other topping were what you would expect, fresh vegies without anything distinctive. To my taste, the JJ sandwich was a good sub, but not terribly distinctive, I would have done better stopping at either Grums (review here) or at Dibella's (review here), both of which deliver better bread and better and more varied toppings, even if the price is higher the value is better.

Grums Sub Shop - Solon

Grums Subs Shop has been a mainstay of Coventry for what seems like forever. Located in a small takeout only store near the corner of Coventry and Mayfield Roads, the shop has supplied high quality subs for generations. Now those who don't get down to Coventry can enjoy these great subs, since Grums has opened a new location at 28500 Miles Road in Solon in the new shopping center next to Miles Market. Grums seems to favor corner stores as it has taken over the space briefly occupied by the revival of Harvey's BBQ. As opposed to the Coventry store, the Solon's Grums, is plain with none of the atmosphere of the original store, which features alot of brick and wood, along with flyers and other signs of the area. The Solon store, while curently a bit vanilla does provide for seating and is clean and functional, hopefully over time they will add some decor. For those who have not had a Grums Sub, these are excellent subs made with high quality ingredients. In comparing them to the national chains, you will find that there are fewer choices and the prices seem higher, but you get value and quality for your money. First lets talk bread; Grums uses large crusty loaves, that are about twice the width of most place, providing a perfect canvas on which to prepare the sandwhich. Because of their size, a half sandwhich at Grums is about the same as a footlong at Subway or its ilk. I usually get the Seagrum, which has Tuna, Mayo, Lettuce, Tomato and Provolone Cheese. Everything is very fresh and with high quality and taste being the key. Grums offers a full menu of hot and cold subs, salads and a couple of extras. When you get tired of bland foods quickly thrown together and want a real quality sub sandwich head over to Grums and see what a real sandwhich should be, it may not be the cheapest, but certain things are worth paying a little bit more for.