52 E. 8th StreetA co-worker and I were on the west side of Holland the other night driving back towards downtown. Somewhere along the way, I saw a billboard for “Killer Sandwiches.” With the shift I work, deli’s are usually closed by the time I’m ready to eat, so I expected to be disappointed, but when I pulled up to a stoplight, I found the deli’s website….and they were open! Score. I found a place for dinner.
The City Delicatessen is in downtown Holland on 8th Street just to the west of College Avenue. It shares an entrance with Crust 54 which I have been wanting to try after a great recommendation from a co-worker….but that’s for another day.
They City Delicatessen is a little more than a deli. They also offer a couple pizzas and a Froyo Bar….but we weren’t there for any of that. I wanted a pastrami sandwich…..
….but there was no pastrami sandwich. I will admit up front I was pretty disappointed to walk in to a delicatessen and not find pastrami anywhere on the menu, but there were plenty of other delicious looking sandwiches that I didn’t think I would have a hard time finding something else.
C.W. was in line in front of me and he was having a hard time deciding between two sandwiches on the chicken menu. He eventually settled on #18 called Santa Fe (all sandwiches are named after cities). The sandwich is actually a wrap. It’s a Jalapeno Cheddar Wrap filled with chicken, bacon, lettuce, pepperjack, guacamole, and salsa.
I actually ordered his second choice. #19 known as Cleveland. I chose to go with a panini over a baguette. The sandwich chicken, pepperoni, provolone, Parmesan, and marinara.
Each sandwich cost around $8 and we both added drinks. I got a large Pepsi while C.W. got an some kind of flavored Iced Tea.
We had ordered our sandwiches to go, so we each grabbed our numbers and took a seat at one of the two tops near the order counter. For a small town shop, The City is pretty high tech. The credit card reader is an iPad…which is gaining in popularity, but it’s one you actually swipe yourself and it pops up with a couple prompts to complete the transaction. There are also several large monitors in the dining room area showing off their food.
After a couple minutes, we were both handed brown paper bags with The City logo on the front and we headed back to the shop in Grand Rapids.
C.W. was able to eat on the way home and he was surprised to see a bag of Brickman Kettle Crunch Potato Chips. Neither of us were expecting chips with the sandwiches…even though it says right on the menu sandwiches come with them. Once I saw he had them, I reached in to my bag as well. Chips I can eat while driving and I was hungry.
C.W. polished off his wrap pretty quickly, crumpled up the wrap, tossed in the bag and declared “de-lic-ious.” I thought I had a reputation of always finding good food, but he seemed surprised that I was able to find such a good sandwich just by being tempted by a billboard.
Once I got back to the office, I unwrapped my panini which was larger than I thought it would be. The sandwich was a little on the cold side by the time I was able to get to it, but that didn’t really do anything to the deliciousness of it. The sandwich was perfectly proportioned. The surprising thing to me was the marinara. It added such a tangy flavor to it and there was just enough to add another flavor level, but not so much it was making a mess all over my desk.
The City Delicatessen was a hit for both of us. Once again, a billboard saves the day and finds me a delicious sandwich. I got over my initial disappointment of no pastrami pretty quickly once I bit in to the sandwich I replaced it with.
#19 Cleveland
