thesubmarinesandwichblog-blog

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Farmer’s Pride Review

OVERVIEW:

Farmer’s Pride is located in UK Village at the corner of Western and Chicago Ave (756 N Western Ave). Existing mostly as a neighborhood grocery, its submarine business feels like something you either know about or you don’t based on whether you're looking. The deli doesn’t have a menu anymore because “everyone was just ordering whatever they wanted,” which makes it seem like anything behind their cold cut counter is now fair game. Lots of different Boar’s Head meats and cheeses (our mass-market preference by far), and a fairly standard drink and chip selection. If you’re disappointed by their lack of in-house, small batch, amaranth puffs or whatever, maybe you should have steered away from the neighborhood grocer with all the enormous vinyl royalty-free images pasted over the windows in the first place.

Farmer’s Pride is pretty much exactly what you’d think a small family-owned grocery store selling submarines in the back would be, and that’s likely our appeal. A couple years ago they made an effort to start catering to the gentrifying neighborhood by adding in some organic products, a larger wine and beer selection, etc., but the store isn’t quite self-aware.. yet.

BREAD:

Their bread is luckily not the the same that most submarine shops in the city use, which is usually from either from D’Amatos or Turano. Farmers Pride uses Biondillo Bakery. In the Midwest submarine sandwich bread is basically french bread—crispy exterior with an unremarkably tender interior, whereas from the northeast (where Jeff is proudly from), the submarine roll is more of it’s own category—more chewy-tender with a beautiful shellac of egg wash on the exterior. If you’re ever talking to him about submarine bread don’t put the two in the same category because it will make him feel weird. The bread that FP uses is a little more chewy, salty and flavourful than your typical Chicago bread, and probably the reason we’re so into this submarine.

NOT BREAD:

We both had Turkey Pastrami ($5.99) with everything (mayo, lettuce, tomato, oil, Italian dressing, and Jeff added giardiniera [$.50 extra]). We actually meant to order Turkey and Pastrami but apparently the dude at the counter missed the “and.” Was still great though. The real differentiator between Farmers Pride and other spots we’ve tried is that they do a great job with the ratio in which their ingredients are assembled. How many times a sub was spoiled by a mayo slick, or comically thick bread, or too much meat (usually added by simpletons based on some dumb masculine principle). When you bite into a FP sub, no one thing is distractingly.. there. They’re all singing the same song, with a simple, unforgettable melody.  

OVERALL:

We started with Farmer’s Pride because it’s our top spot for submarine sandwiches in Chicago (that ratio tho...). Taking into account unpretentious, honest vibe, the value, and the sandwich itself, we give this archetypal sandwich.. um, idk we haven’t figured out a rating system yet, so we’ll just say it’s ~*Recommended!*~

[thesubmarinesandwichblog-blog]

Vinnie’s Sub Shop

OVERVIEW: 

Vinnie’s is located in Noble Square at the corner of Grand and Racine (1204 W Grand Ave). The little shop was opened 14 years ago by its proud owner, Darlene. Her husband runs the hardware store next door and they live upstairs. They were both, like, *really* friendly. We stopped into the hardware store on our way out for the bathroom, and her husband and his friends were sitting in a circle, chilling REAL hard and shooting the $h1t like something out of a movie. It was a little hard to concentrate during our visit because an excited customer wanted to tell us everything he knew about Vinnie’s and submarines. Nice guy and all, but it’s like, “Shh.. I’m trying to have my moment here, and yes, of course I’ve heard about J.P. Graziano’s."

BREAD:

They use D’Amatos. Their’s was fresh.

NOT BREAD:

Our sandwiches were good but there wasn’t anything extremely notable about them; they were just lacking a certain alchemy, a certain excitement. Jeff suspected that maybe their oil/vinegar mixture was off/not seasoned enough. Sarah thought the meat overwhelmed the overall ratio. Darlene did take our orders with great care, and they were quickly and precisely made by a guy hidden behind the counter. We definitely appreciated his eye for detail, because lets face it, there are way too many heartbreakingly apathetic sandwich artists in the world. Apparently their tuna submarine is what people keep coming back for; “fresh every morning, gone every night.” Maybe we should have had that. We chose ice cold water as a beverage option because it was hot and we were hungover.

VIBE:

This place is cute. Prosciutto hanging from a fake flower tree, chandeliers with more fake flowers on top, old tomato cans, plastic trinkets, outdated family pics, vintage photos of Chicago. They did a good job nailing the old school, Italian sub shop thing. The large windows all along the front of the space make it a bright and inviting environment to consume 12 inches of heaven. Limited seating, though.

OVERALL:

If we want a conversation for lunch, we’ll come back. JK!!! Vinnie’s makes a good sandwich with quality ingredients and while it wasn’t the most memorable thing we’ve sunk our submarine-loving teeth into, 12 inches for $6.50 is a really good deal. Still not sure how we’re rating these yet, so we’ll leave it as *~*~*endorsed*~*~*