Really loving this thread. Where we are in north central CT, I have a really hard time finding places that have decent bread for the sandwich – most are fairly insipid white bread, no chew kind of places, not like the great deli bread from New Jersey, Philly, NYC.

I finally tried Nardelli’s after seeing the big sign on the highway (me too, valleydoug!). Their special is an Italian combo. I liked many things about it, not the least the Militti’s bread they use – really fabulous. I don’t do mayo on Italian grinders as a rule – just oil/vinegar. This sandwich was slightly dry, I’ll ask them to add a bit next time, or get some on the side so I can adjust. While that sandwich was really great, I wasn’t impressed with the rest of the menu – they had trays of pre-cooked “blocks” of foods that they would microwave and stick on your sandwich. An example – my husband got a steak and cheese – they pulled a cold, congealed block of pre-cooked steak and cheese from a tray and stuck it in a microwave, heated it and put it on his sandwich. So while the bread is amazing, I’m not overly impressed with all the (to me) overly advanced prep of the food.

I need to get to some of the places Ketteract has mentioned – they are a little far to run for a quick lunch, but I’ve yet to find really good grinder bread for the sandwiches in this area.