Awakening to the Chicken Cutlet

“Don’t sleep on their chicken cutlet.”

That’s a suggestion that’s been made to me about a few places in and around Philadelphia when discussing cheesesteaks or roast pork sandwiches on Facebook. But sleep on it I have.

Chicken cutlets are probably the third most popular long-roll sandwich to come out of South Philly among the wider population – behind the cheesesteak and roast pork Italiano. But they are beloved by many hard-core sandwich-eaters and people who grew up in that area, where corner Italian delis were and, to a lesser extent, still are a common site.

While I ate my share of cutlets during my younger years, I had never eaten them in the form of a sandwich. The thought just wasn’t appealing to me. It sounded boring compared to its two cousins.

But the periodic raves I come across online and the desire to try something different from what I’ve been writing about while remaining in the same basic genre finally led me to decide it’s time to get my first cutlet sandwich this week. The only question was from where. I wanted it to be a place that is relatively close to where I live, as I intended to take the sandwich home to share with my wife rather than eating lunch in the car for the second time this week. And as my regular readers know, I always try to unwrap a sandwich and eat them as soon as possible after it’s made.

The choice came down to Pagano’s Italian Specialties of Drexel Hill, PA, which I posted on fairly recently, or Ro-Lynn’s Deli of Brookhaven, PA – two very highly regarded sandwich shops in Delaware County. Both serve top-notch food and are known for their cutlets. The fact that I’ve already been to Pagano’s should have led me in the direction of Ro-Lynn’s. But Pagano’s is closer and that was the deciding factor. I’ll get to Ro-Lynn’s very soon and possibly for a cutlet.

Pagano’s has a nice array of dry, fresh and refrigerated foods, as well as a long sandwich menu. I was only able to photograph two of the three menu screens, as I couldn’t get an unobstructed view of the last one. It featured other hot sandwiches, such as meatball, roast pork and roast beef.

Cutlet sandwiches are available with a variety of toppings and I went with broccoli rabe, sharp Provolone cheese and roasted red peppers – all of which are equally popular on roast pork sandwiches. Pagano’s offers their sandwiches in multiple sizes and on seeded or unseeded rolls. As you may have guessed, I ordered mine on a seeded roll and opted for a large, figuring correctly that it would be a good size for two people with modest appetites.

While waiting for my order, I grabbed a pint of the same meatballs in sauce that I used to prepare a sandwich the last time I visited Pagano’s. I intend to use this batch as part of a Sunday gravy that you may read about in an upcoming post. 

It took me about 10 minutes to get home after paying for the order. I was very eager to unwrap the cutlet sandwich upon arriving and was not disappointed with what I beheld.

As expected, the roll looked extremely good and it thankfully held up well in its wrapper – probably thanks to the fact that Pagano’s uses butcher paper with no foil for that purpose. While I didn’t ask, I would guess it came from Carangi, one of several local Italian bakeries whose bread and rolls Pagano’s features and a favorite of mine. It had a nice bit of crustiness without being too doughy within. 

The cutlets had been pounded to a nice thinness, but not too thin. And they were beautifully seasoned in addition to being tender. They were also really jammed onto that bread. A half a sandwich turned out to be a very satisfying lunch. 

The other ingredients – broccoli rabe, sharp Provolone and roasted peppers – were all nicely proportioned and combined with the cutlet for a wonderful overall flavor and texture. The broccoli rabe was also softened and cut into fairly small pieces – the way I like it. Large chewy stems can be an issue for me at some places.

Now that I’ve awoken to just how good a Philly-style chicken cutlet sandwich can be, you can rest assured I won’t be falling back asleep on them. While they won’t become as common to my diet as the cheesesteak, they’ll join the roast pork Italiano and meatball sandwich as very nice periodic changes of pace.