Trying an Italian Hoagie Known as the ‘Godfather’

The outing to a highly regarded pizzeria that I alluded to at the end of my last post didn’t come off Saturday as planned. Unfortunately, one of the people I was supposed to meet there was under the weather.

That left me needing to hastily come up with a Plan B that I felt confident wouldn’t be needed. After browsing through the list of restaurants and food shops that I keep for such occasions, I settled on Ro-Lynn, a classic Italian deli with a great reputation that has been serving up the goods in the Philly suburb of Brookhaven, Pennsylvania, for about as long as I’ve been alive. 

As you can see, Ro-Lynn Deli is takeout only and doesn’t have a lot of free space. But it does have as much old-school charm as any Italian deli I’ve visited. 

In addition to a great array of long-roll sandwiches – hot and cold, but no cheesesteaks – they carry plenty of Italian-themed pantry items and have one of the best selections of rare and regional sodas that I’ve seen in a long time. There were several refrigerated cases full of them, but my choice of which to get became easy when I noticed they carry Sprecher’s root beer, which sits very high up in my pantheon of sodas and at the top for root beer. 

After considering a chicken cutlet sandwich, I settled on an Italian hoagie, which were available in a handful of variations. Given that Ro-Lynn bills itself as ‘the home of the Godfather,’ that was the direction in which I went. The “Godfather” comes with Parma Prosciutto, Soppressata, dry Capicola, pepper ham and sharp Provolone. I ordered a small one with lettuce, tomatoes and onions, but no pickles or peppers, also requesting oil, but no vinegar. Both sizes were available on a seeded roll from Liscio’s Bakery, and I went that route. 

Those who have followed my cheesesteak adventures know I always try to eat them on-site or in my car to avoid the roll getting steamed inside the wrapper. That’s obviously not a concern with a cold hoagie, so I took my lunch back home to eat, the ride only being about 20 minutes. 

In addition to the hoagie and Sprecher’s root beer, I noticed that Ro-Lynn carries “Dirty” Deli-Style potato chips – another favorite product of mine – and grabbed a bag of Mesquite BBQ. The chips’ spiciness worked well with the sandwich and soda. 

The hoagie was crafted just the way I like it. As opposed to Jewish-style deli meat, which works well when piled high on rye bread, the flavors of cured Italian meats and sharp cheeses are so strong that I prefer them in smaller amounts. With four different kinds of meat on a Godfather in addition to the Provolone, I feared it might be difficult to achieve a reasonably sized sandwich. Yet the young man who made mine pulled it off beautifully.

This was a beautifully balanced hoagie. Everything was about as close to perfectly proportioned as I could have hoped for. 

Although I don’t rate Liscio’s rolls quite as highly as those from a few of the other Italian bakeries in the Philly region, they are more than good enough to get the job done. I wouldn’t call the one on which my hoagie came crusty, but the crust did have a nice chewy quality to it.

The meat and cheese had plenty of flavor, but because they were judged so well in terms of amount, I wasn’t overwhelmed by the sharpness of either, as has been the case occasionally when I’ve eaten an Italian hoagie. The vegetables added both texture and flavor, especially in the case of the onions. 

In the past, I’ve usually ordered large sandwiches even when a small one would have satisfied me for the sake of how impressive it would look in the photos. I let discretion get the better part of valor this time and had no regrets about it. 

I’m extremely lucky to have three outstanding Italian delis within 20 minutes of where I live. A Cut Above Deli and Pagano’s Italian Specialties have been the subject of previous posts. 

With the luck I’ve been having lately in terms of my dining plans not coming to fruition, I’m going to refrain from teasing next week’s post. In fact, given how much I’ll be eating later this week with Thanksgiving meals on tap with both my family and my wife’s, I’m not sure I’ll have another major food excursion in me until some time next week.

And on that note, I wish my American readers a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family.