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.

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.

Dibella's Subs

OK I am not one for chains, but I am always looking for a good sub sandwich. Until I find a good local sub shop near by, Dibella's has become my current sub of choice. They are a small regional chain that has opened up 2 stores on the east side of Cleveland. One on Richmond Road across from Tri-C East and the other on Aurora Road in Solon. The shops are a bit bigger then the your average Subway or Quiznos, with a long sub line and plenty of seating. Very good subs here. They bake the bread in the stores and it is good, a bit crusty on the outside, with a nice soft middle and good flavor for both the white and wheat. I especially like the everything bread, topped with onions, poppy seeds and sesame seeds. Now the subs themselves, they are well stuffed with proper layering of quality ingredients. I of course have the Tuna and find it to be good quality with not too much mayo. I love that in addition to the cheese, lettuce, tomato and onions you also have a choice of hot, sweet and banana peppers. A couple of other differences you will notice, the hot subs are made on a real griddle the old fashion way, not run through a conveyor belt oven. Also this is a sub shop, salads are not on the menu. For desert there are chocolate chip cookies which may be expensive, but they are yummy. The cookies are just how you want them, a bit crisp around the edges with the soft, chewy middles. Dibella's has a complete menu of cold and hot subs, so if you need a bite give them a try. You can find there website at http://www.dibellas.com/default.asp