And so it continues ... a brand new set of tastes for 2017 ...
here's the FIFTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA
(coming to you on sequential Thursdays. All. Year. Long.)!
Establishment: LaSpada's
Location: Lauderdale By The Sea
Meal: Lunch
Drink: Coke Zero in a bottle
Appetizer: n/a
Main: 12 inch Monster with double meatHam, Turkey, Roast Beef and Cheese Combo with all the toppings: Tomatoes, Lettuce, Onions, Pickles, Sweet Peppers, Hot Peppers, Oil & Vinegar, Oregano, Salt and Pepper
Side(s): Salt and Vinegar kettle chips
Dessert: n/a
Server: there was the meat guy ... and the toppings guy ... and the money taker boy ... and it was such a production that we kind of missed all of their individual names, so maybe we'll just refer to them as if they were each a LaSpada
Website: http://www.laspadashoagies.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/LaSpadas-Original-Hoagies/111764352193418
Were it not for a lack of bacon on the menu, this local chain of sandwich shops (six of them in the area) would have been the highest taste to date ... AND would have been the top scoring location ever. As it is, it's going to be the new top DELI on the list ... and it's going to at least crack the highest scoring baker's dozen of all the tastes reviewed so far. It's not *only* the fact that there was a meat tossing event (meats were sliced fresh and tossed down an assembly line to be caught by the other employer directly in the hoagie-in-progress) NOR is it *only* because they promote a Pennsylvania taste (admittedly, I might be biased). For all of the reasons, check out the Troy-score tabulation below:
AMBIANCE: 9.5/10 (just a few blocks from the beach ... we were able to walk there *with* two seniors in tow ... this place was in a little strip mall [as everything in Florida seems to be] and was a-bustlin' with activity, which made us feel like we had definitely chosen a popular eatery ... the only problem is that it was sooo busy that the few seats up front at the tables were a little trashed [kind of the previous customers' faults, admittedly] that would normally be a point deducted, but an employee did come out and clean up as soon as the rush ended, so it's only [the rare] half a point that will be lost)
FOOD: 10/10 (with the meats sliced *as you order* to guarantee the "bestest" of tastes and then served up on on a freshly baked Italian roll [from a local authentically Italian bakery, according to their website], but only after first being stuffed full of a perfect combination of all the toppings [as captured in the photographic evidence], these are. the. most. AMAZING. sandwiches! ... I couldn't stop talking about them the whole time I was eating them, and as someone who usually gets scared of having to make decisions about what items to add or subtract in an assembly line setting like this, I was exceptionally happy to have made the decision to make no decisions and to take it all ... and I can report that, like I do when I report on a quality burger or quality bbq, this was a multi-napkin meal with all the right kind of messiness as we dove in to the quality sandwiches)
SERVICE: 10/10 (it was service with a smile ...from *everyone* on the assembly line .. PLUS a show [the aforementioned meat tossing incident] even though there was a line almost out the door so the pressure had to be on ... and you know what, you wouldn't have known that they were backed up because as you worked your way down the line, the employee on the other side of the counter [see photo] at each stage made you feel like he was yours and yours alone)
BACON: 6/10 (how can there not be a single reference to bacon on the menu? how can bacon not be a bonus topping on the hoagies? how can bacon not even be an option for the salads? how can I not have even noticed that bacon wasn't a part of the experience until writing this post? ... easy -- it's because the food was just that amazing, so I'm going to break precedent and split the difference and give half the points in this category anyway [what? it's my rules, so I can bend them for the right reasons ... and I get to pick what the right reasons are] ... plus an extra point for all the ham that IS on the menu ... 'cause, you know, that's a pig product)
BONUS: 10/10 (+3 for the tossing [and the catching] of the meat, +3 for the call back to Pennsylvania eatin', +3 for having me in so much of a good food haze that we completely forgot to stop at the nearby ice cream store for dessert as we had originally intended and +1 for being a place to which we will most definitely return [we shall Subway no more!]
TroyScore: 45.5 out of 50 -- aka 91, an A
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