subs | EatDrinkMadison.com - Part 2EatDrinkMadison.com

Posts Tagged ‘subs’

Chimmies

Saturday, July 5th, 2014

I admit, I came into Chimmies with low expectations–I didn’t think another sub shop could have any distinguishing factors. Turns out I was wrong.

The restaurant, which opened in March on Fish Hatchery Road, adds chimichurri (and often eggs) to its subs, which are divided into Chimmie Sandwiches and Hotpress Sandwiches. One of the former is the Chimmie-Chimmie ($8.99), which I adored. The flavor of the tenderized beef, banana peppers, egg, mayonnaise and chimichurri sauce immediately jump out at you upon first bite (there’s also ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato in the sub), with none overwhelming another. Certainly an excellent combination.

The Chimmie-Chicken ($8.49) also was flavorful–after all, it had the same accompanying ingredients as the Chimmie-Chimmie–but the tenderized chicken was too dry, as expected when it’s flattened.

Among the hotpress selections, I LOVED the Hotpress-Chipotle ($6.49). The smoked ham and cheese were blanketed by the chimichurri sauce as well as a creamy chipotle sauce. It reminded me of a slightly spicy cuban sandwich. I probably won’t ever try the rest of the subs only because I like the Hotpress-Chipotle so much.

The two appetizers served here are the Papas Fries ($3.49), which are topped with an egg, and the provoleta ($5.59), which is melted cheese topped with oregano and pimenton (paprika). I tried the latter, and while I thought the cheese had a wonderful fried taste, the seasoning was too powerful.

Last but not least are the empanadas ($2.49 each, beef or chicken). Other than the green olives inside, the beef version may be my favorite in town. That’s because of its perfectly cooked shell, generous portion of meat and “secret seasoning.” You also can buy a dozen for $25.

Chimmies is open Monday-Saturday for lunch, dinner and carryout. Note that each sandwich can take about 10 minutes to make, so plan accordingly.

Tags: Fitchburg, subs
Posted in Restaurant and Bar Reviews | Comments Off on Chimmies

AJ’s Pizzeria & Diner

Sunday, January 12th, 2014

AJ’s Pizzeria & Diner has been serving tasty fare in Verona for a year now, but you’ll want to order for carryout or delivery, as the interior seems to be an afterthought and certainly not a “diner.”

Among the six specialty pizzas, I selected the small (10″), thin crust ($10.49) Arizona Ranch, topped with spicy chicken, bacon and spicy ranch sauce. I actually wanted this as a stuffed pizza ($14.99), but they said they couldn’t do it for this type of pizza or it would burn. That’s okay, I still enjoyed it. I liked that AJ’s thin crust is thicker than typical cracker-like crusts. The chicken is mildly spicy, but it does build up after a few slices. I also enjoyed the ranch flavor, which wasn’t overpowering (nor was it spicy). Another pizza I would like to try is the Blazin Chicken, topped with spicy red sauce, spicy chicken, red onions, jalapenos and roasted red peppers.

From the five premium pizzas, I tackled a small, deep dish ($14.49) AJ Deluxe, which is buried in a pile of green peppers, onions, mushrooms, sausage and mushrooms. This was such a satisfying pizza, and the crust–while not as “deep” as its Chicago counterpart–was definitely worth eating instead of tossing aside.

The restaurant makes a big deal of its subs, so I picked two. I got the AJ’s Club ($5.75) in a tomato basil wrap and loved it, as it was packed with ham, turkey and bacon, along with lettuce, tomato and mayo.

Among the warm subs, AJ’s Hot Italian ($6)–which comes with ham, capicola, pepperoni, banana peppers, roasted red peppers, provolone cheese and garlic sauce–caught my eye, and I’m glad it did. It reminded me of the fantastic garibaldi sandwich at Paisan’s, only the bread was softer and a lot more garlicky.

The rest of the menu includes salads and appetizers such as wings (six for $5.99, 12 for $10.99) and spinach cheese bread ($4.75).

AJ’s Pizzeria & Diner is open every day for lunch and dinner. It also caters.

Tags: pizza, subs, Verona
Posted in Restaurant and Bar Reviews | Comments Off on AJ’s Pizzeria & Diner

Which Wich

Sunday, June 9th, 2013

I was so pleasantly surprised by my first meal at Which Wich, located in Middleton between Abuelo’s and Ruth’s Chris, that I went there two more times in that same week. If you like having it your way, this is the place to go, as you can customize every aspect of the more than 50 subs on the menu.

When you walk in, you’ll see a huge board that displays all the choices. You grab a brown bag that corresponds to the sandwich type (e.g. beef, chicken, etc.), then mark up the bag with your preferences, such as size (7″ is $5.25, 10″ is $7.25, 14″ is $9.25), bread type and of course, toppings.

I thought the BBQ Pork and Slaw was fantastic. The pork itself was flavorful (I look forward to eating it again in the Cuban on a future visit), and I liked the mildly sweet sauce. I added crispy onion strings, but they got too soggy in the sauce (rookie mistake by me).

The gyro also was a delight, especially the tzatziki sauce. However, it just wasn’t the same having it on sub bread instead of pita bread. On the other hand, I still enjoyed the No Rye Reuben, despite getting it on wheat bread. That’s because the corned beef was perfectly tender, and the added jalapenos gave it a nice kick.

If you want to go carb free, you can order any sub as a salad with iceberg lettuce or spinach. In retrospect, I should have ordered a chicken dish, such as Chicken Pesto, but instead I ordered the Grinder (salami, pepperoni and capicola). It was okay, but the entire time I was eating it I kept thinking, this would be better as an Italian sub.