Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Gadolfos Deli

My first experience with Gandolfo's Deli was probably about two years ago.
In fact I'm not even sure that I saw one before that.
That is about the time that the Cedar City location opened for business,
and that is about the time that I started eating there.
This review (at least on my part) will speak specifically about that location.
but as always I welcome all comments, about this and any location.

Update: The Cedar City Location is under new management, some comments may not apply anymore. We may even update the review, we'll see.

As always I feel I must talk about the bread.
It's tradition.
but first let me set the scene.

Gandolfo's Deli is Located pretty squarely in the Heart of Cedar City.
If Cedar City has a downtown, Gandolfos. is the place.
The place is kind of dark, but I guess that gives it a slightly more authentic feel.
And they have little bits here and there, that make you think of a big city, back east. Then there's the deli counter.
yep
they have the salad's and the desserts and such, just like you would
expect in a deli. To be fair I haven't tasted their salads or desserts.
And of course what Deli would be complete without a large tub of dill pickles
(also an item that I have yet to try).

Then there's the menu, at first it's pretty impressive,
maybe even overwhelming. I mean there have to be over fifty different sandwiches,
and each can be adjusted to you own likes, and many can be served hot or cold.
I like the freedom of being able to choose exactly what I want, but it does make it harder to judge the eatery as a whole.
And for me, it make's it pretty tough to pick the sandwhich that I want.

Well it sounds like it's time for me to talk about the bread.
It's really rather unimpressive. There are a few choices on bread,
and some of them are definately better than others, but I have yet to find on that I really liked (ok the wheat bread was decent. but certainly not stellar).

The first time I went I thought, "Try the regular sub-bread,
regular is always safe."

Regular was disappointing, but I didn't realize it was the bread for until I had it a few more times.

The bread was chewy,
maybe even a little doughy, but certainly not the highlight of the sandwich.
And maybe, just maybe, the bread is not made to be warm, but I like warm sandwiches, so I thought I would try it.

After a few failed attempts, with the normal bread I decided to go for the wheat bread. It was way better. The regular bread is a hogie roll, the wheat bread is just a couple of slices of bread. But to be fair, it is big. The wheat bread is pretty thick, and it is large enough to still feel like a pretty healthy sandwich.
Actually I was surprised by how little it wasn't.

And like I said the wheat bread is much better, but it's almost like they over correct. The hogie roll, is perhaps a little doughy, and the wheat bread was just a little dry. Still of the bread's I've had there, the wheat wins hands down.

Perhaps now would be a good time for a disclaimer,
I don't feel that my local Gandolfos has given me the best possible experience.
I think the staff just doesn't care, they work for next to nothing, and they're not about to get fired.

Unfortunately the sandwiches that I have had seem to reflect this attitude.
Thus my review is somewhat tainted.
One thing that has really bothered me about gandolfos is the way they do a hot sandwhich. It's like only half of it gets warm, and that half only gets warm.
I really love a good hot sandwhich, but I have never had a good hot sandwhich there. Sure they have an impressive menu, and some of the ingredients/ combinations look phenomenal, but they never live up to my expectations.

here are a few of the sandwhiches that I think have had:
The Urban Cowboy
The Bronx BBQ
The Bridge Hampton
And Maybe Club Met

The last time I went in I was very aware of my sandwhich,
I ordered the wheat bread, I didn't get it heated, and I still didn't like it.
What I noticed was the MAYO. I don't know why but the mayo really hit me,
maybe I don't like mayonaise, or maybe I don't like their mayonaise, or maybe the person who threw my sandwhich together put on too much, but either way it was not very pleasant to me.

So for me Gandolfo's is out,
yes I might go there again, but it won't be my choice,
and yes I do think I could do it right this time, but I don't imagine it will be anytime soon.

I give Gandolfo's Three Wooden Spoons, just not my sandwhich shop.
(but their web site is quite nice)

Cedar City, UT 126 N. Main St., Ste 102 (435) 586-8116

http://gandolfosdeli.com/storelocator.php

3 comments:

Cardine said...

So, I really think it's our branch of the restaurant. It seems like my sandwich is just thrown together. If it has cream cheese in it, the cream cheese is all in one spot. It's just weird.

Yeah, so I agree. It's the employees. The idea and the tastes seem to be good, but the way they throw them together loses.

Amie said...

Hey just so everyone knows, the Gandolfo's Deli Cedar City location just reopened under new ownership in January 2009. The hero rolls are now cooked fresh daily on site-I must say a major improvement. The manager was trained in one of the first franchise locations in Utah County and has worked for Gandolfo's for more than 5 years. Therefore the speed, accuracy and taste are all improved since reopening.

warnser said...

Thanks Amie, we'll add a note about that to the review.