New Site, Same Great Sandwiches

My Dear, Dear Readers.

You have made this job of sandwiching so much fun over the past few years, and I thank you for joining me on this amazing journey through food.

But now it's time for a change. It's time for a revamped blog, something that can add so much more to the experience while I stick to my life mission of finding fantastic sandwiches.

So next Wednesday, I will be launching the new version of this blog at www.thedangersandwich.com, no more blogspot, no more extended web address, just straight shootin', Tex.

I am able to keep this blog going because of you, and because of that I will need your help in spreading the word of The Danger Sandwich. So, I hope you'll come, check it out and spread the word.

I hope you're as excited about the coming changes as I am.

Until next week...

All Aboard The Flavor Train!

Greetings, Readers!

My expectation a few months ago was that by January I would be enjoying excellent winter-appropriate sandwiches because of the change of season here in Los Angeles seems to have fallen short.

Granted, I wasn't expecting the same temperatures as I had in Philadelphia, but I did expect something cooler than 80 degrees. Something that would make grilled cheese and tomato soup mildly appropriate.

Instead, this past weekend I found myself at a classic San Fernando Valley location with summer appropriate foods: Carney's.

This location on Ventura Blvd. has been around since 1981 (the original on Sunset has been around since 1975). The original owners, John Wolf Sr. and his wife Pat wanted to have an eatery that was memorable and easy to move if their original lease on Sunset Blvd. became too expensive. So they built the first location with an old Pacific Railroad passenger train.

The image of Carney's being cooked and served on an old rail car became so synonymous with the name that they kept with this theme when they opened the second location in Studio City.

Having passed this location numerous times in my six-plus years here, I never had the opportunity to stop in until this past weekend, and now I will be sure not to wait that long until the next time.

I ordered the Carney's Spicy Polish, a grilled spicy sausage topped with chili, cheese, onions and thick sliced tomatoes. The sausage was delicious, well grilled and a little bit of a spicy kick. Despite all of the toppings, the flavor of the sausage still shone through.

The chili added a bit of spice and smoke flavor to the mix, and it was added in copious amounts to the top of the sausage making this a slightly messy meal. The thickly sliced tomatoes were a great topper and not mealy at all. I ended up picking these off and eating them separately since the sandwich was already too big to take a bite out of of. The fresh flavor offered by the tomatoes was an excellent contrast to the savory flavor of the rest of the meal.

The only thing that may be off-putting to some people is that the onions are not cooked. Maybe this wouldn't be a problem on a different sandwich, but it was somewhat odd that they weren't grilled for this one. I feel like that extra step would have put this sandwich over the top.

Overall, the experience of eating in an old train car, as well as eating at a Los Angeles institution was excellent, and something I hope to do again sometime soon.

Oh, and for those outside the city who have always heard about Pink's and how awesome their hot dogs are? Carney's is just as good (if not better) and you won't have a two hour wait for a hot dog.

Make this your must-have hot dog on your next stop in the city.

Until next week...


Carney's Spicy Polish
**** Stars
Carney's Studio City
12601 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City, CA 91604
http://www.carneytrain.com/ 

Nothing Quite Like Home

Welcome back dear Readers! This week begins a two week special on the sandwiches of my hometown.

Two weeks ago when I visited Philadelphia, PA, I was lucky enough to see a Phillies home game, something I had not seen in almost four years since I moved to Los Angeles.

Paired with that sweet homecoming game (despite losing to the A’s 4-1), I also was able to tackle a mythical sandwich that I had read about for so long: The Schmitter.

Created by McNally's Tavern in Chestnut Hill, the sandwich is actually not named after legendary Phillies 3rd baseman, Mike Schmidt, but while it does lack that famous connection, the sandwich does make up for in flavor and overall deliciousness. A forewarning though, readers. This sandwich is ballpark food, and by nature is messy and contains an unhealthy amount of carbs and cholesterol.

Then again, this blog wouldn't live up to its name if there wasn't some element of danger to it.

The sandwich is composed of grilled salami, steak, fried onions, a huge slab of tomato, three sliced of cheese (split up throughout the sandwich), and special sauce on a kaiser bun.

I thought that the salami and steak were grilled very well without burning the edges or becoming too crisp or dry. The cheese though is where I had a little bit of a problem as there was really so much of it that it overpowered a lot of other flavors and it was so present with every bite that it was sometimes hard to notice other components.

The onions were a little bit soggy, and this is probably because the sandwiches hadn't been made at the moment of ordering them. A downside to ballpark food. I'm also pretty sure the special sauce was just Thousand Island dressing

The kaiser bun also held up well under pressure, and also after being sealed in foil for a few minutes before I grabbed mine. It did its job.

All in all, I highly enjoyed the sandwich, and it should definitely be accepted in the canon of ballpark food. Sitting there in the outfield concourse with family, the smell of barbecue, a good sandwich, and the sounds of baseball, it was truly good to be home.

Until next week, Readers...

*** 1/2 Stars

The Schmitter

Citizen's Bank Park

Philadelphia, PA

There's No Sinking This Sub

Greetings, Dear Readers!

Welcome back for another excited sandwiching experience in Los Angeles.

This week, I was asked to come to Giamela's Submarine Sandwiches in Burbank for one of their highly praised submarine sandwiches.

What I really liked about this place was how stripped down it was. The sign offered only a handful of choices for sandwiches, and all looked delicious. The interior of the shop was basic: wood colored walls, not many signs, a small TV, and a few tables to sit at. This was a great place to have a dinner and not be distracted by noise.

After taking a few moments to decide between two different sandwiches, I stepped up and ordered the pepper steak and cheese sandwich with everything on top.

The sandwich itself was delicious. In a way, it was very similar to a cheese steak with the chopped steak and melted cheese, but the meat wasn't heated up as much as a cheesesteak normally is. I would have to say it was an Italian sub style take on one of my favorite sandwiches.

Topping off the steak and cheese was lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and onions.

The steak was excellent. Seriously amazing. It was lean, cooked to perfection and delicious. Oh and the quantity was ridiculous. I mean, this sandwich was bursting with meat, it was hard to take the first bite without trying to flatten the sandwich some.

The bread taste good too, and did an excellent job at holding the sandwich together. With that much filling stuffed in there, you'd think it would fall apart after a few bites, but it toughed it out and made it to the end. it's pretty commendable for bread to not only taste good, but be tough enough for a job of this proportion.

The toppings of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and onions added well to the flavors of the sandwich and were made of some of the freshest ingredients I've had at a sandwich shop in awhile.

All in all, my first experience at Giamela's was an entirely positive one. The next time you're heading to Burbank from further west in the valley, make sure to keep your eyes peeled for this small shop on Magnolia before you cross the 5.

The shop may be small, but it's big on flavor.

Until next week, Readers...

**** Stars

Pepper Steak and Cheese Sandwich

Giamela's Submarine Sandwiches

216 W. Magnolia Blvd.

Burbank, CA 91502