There are what – 40,000 Subway sandwich places in the world. The franchised brand name one, not including other chains, Quiznos, Jimmy Joe Bob’s or whatever that one is. Yet “independents” keep springing up and competing.
Like Uncle Sammy’s Sandwich Classics, in Chicago. Uncle Sammy’s is in Lincoln Park, the first neighborhood I ever lived in Chicago. I was at the corner of Lincoln and Wells, Old Town, a few years too late for the hippie fest that went on there, and a few years too early for Belushi and all the pros of his era marching through Second City, just down the block.
No matter.
Uncle Sammy’s is described by Time Out Magazine of one of Chicago’s six great sandwich shops. They’re open late, and offering a pretty limited menu, a handful of fresh made subs, chips, and brownies. They do catering, meaning, they will deliver quantities of box lunches to your workplace.
Such was the occasion that I got to sample Uncle Sammy’s “Little Italy” sandwich. A friend of mine had a truck load of the sandwiches delivered to her work, and I got the left overs.
The Little Italy has a little kick to it, with Genoa salami, capicola, prosciutto, provolone, lettuce, tomato, vinaigrette, and a little giardiniera.
The bread was incredible fresh, the meats were tasty, extremely thin sliced, and I personally think there could have been more filling.
But it is a good sandwich. One of Chicago’s six best? Hard to say, and I won’t get around to making that determination in this lifetime, for sure!
