Manhattan Deli on Ingersoll: Quality Purveyors of the Sandwich Arts.

I lived on Ingersoll Ave. for seven years but I don't ever recall visiting the Manhattan Deli during that time. Though I'm pretty sure they didn't stay open as late back then to accommodate my post-work feeding requirements. Recently I visited the deli to enjoy a few of their fine sandwiches

First I tried the Egg Salad on wheatberry with lettuce and tomato. The egg salad is thick and chunky, even the yolk boasts a chunk here and there. I'd eat this straight from a container.

The Reuben with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing and pickle on dark Russian is mighty fine. Piled high, tender, and tasty.

The Zach Johnson – named after the Iowa-born and raised Masters winning golf pro – is a magnificent ham sandwich with salami, pepperoni, provolone and hot pepper cheeses, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo and oil on a soft hoagie. Moist and zesty, everything works on this build!

Sides were a mixed bag. The baked beans were mushy but I like that at times. Toothy squares of mystery meats add flavor and textural appeal. The simple slaw is a bit rich, and could use a vinegary bite to balance the flavor. I'd suggest it as a sandwich topper but not on its own.

Random Bits of Food Detritus: Laack's Cheese, pizza at Centro, Ted's beefburger, TR's Winston.

I discovered Laack's Caribbean Red Hot Jack at Graziano Brothers. Laced with habanero, its quite zippy, but still cheesy in that special way Monterey Jack lovers can appreciate.

Of late I've been finding myself noshing on pizza at Centro, whether after a depressing day of wage servitude or a Gray's Lake beer crawl of Confluence and Exile. Its just so handy to take home. And with the relative freshness of the crushed red peppers in their shakers I have no qualms dosing it up at the bar while the pizza is still hot. Pepperoni and onion is my usual combination, but double pepperoni floats my boat as well.

I've talked about the superior beefburger served at Ted's Coney Island [see blog post], but I had to share some food porn from my last visit. Its my favorite this side of the Canteen in Ottumwa [see blog post].

Its not on the menu at TR's Sports Bar in Clive, but if you ask nicely the hard-working cook there might make you an awesome Winston breakfast sandwich. Basically its the Mama's Special Sandwich, made with two fried eggs, ham, bacon, sausage patties, and two slices of American cheese on a soft focaccia roll. The difference is that the Winston includes a thin layer of crispy hash browns and the eggs are cooked over easy, so all that runny yolk mingles down onto the sandwich. You could try to eat it without a fork, but I wouldn't advise it.

Experimentation is a good thing at 515 Brewing Company.

On two visits to 515 Brewing Company, a new micro-brewer in Clive, I was impressed with their range of small batch brews. Some were quite good, but one in particular, the Lil' Tart sour ale, perplexed me. To my palate it tasted like liquefied SweeTarts minus the sugar and artificial fruit flavorings. My drinking companions that night were not as taken aback with the sour kick as I.

Lil' Tart.

Stout of the Closet.

Hopititis-A.

Another visit on my own offered more appealing brews for my tastes. The Stout of the Closet starts dry on the first taste, but the malt opens ups on subsequent sips. An enjoyable quaff. The amusing Hopititis-A, an 8.3% double IPA, sports a palatable nose and pleasant bitterness. I'd lobby for more.

You never know what you're going to drink at 515 Brewing. All the reason to return frequently.

Return to Jersey Guys Pizza

I returned to Jersey Guys Pizza since my last visit to whisk away the doldrums over a medium pepperoni and onion pizza. I appreciate what the Guys' hot oven does to the onions, giving them a roasted flavor with some eye-catching char. With pepperoni and a fair share of gooey cheese, it sure helped to put the blues on the back burner.

What do you get when you take a baked pasta dish and swap out the pasta with French fries? You get Jersey Guys' Pizza Fries, an entertaining concept. The dish would have been better if the fries would have spent a little more time in the fryer; the centers were underdone enough to be distracting.

On another visit I tried the sausage with peppers and onion sandwich. Despite the bounty of ingredients, I wasn't impressed with the sandwich. The time spent in a super-hot oven imparting roasted flavors to the vegetables on Jersey Guys' pizzas are completely devoid on this sandwich. The peppers and onions look and taste like they've been sauteed with the lid on until softened. A similar treatment seems to be the case with the link Italian sausage used. All the ingredients used are perfectly competent and plentiful, but the end result was rather bland and uninspiring.

What makes Jersey Guys' pizzas so tasty could easily be employed on this sandwich using a trick I observed at another local pizzeria. Assemble the raw vegetables on a very small pan and run it through the oven just like a pizza pie. I don't think the oven would achieve the same result with cooked link sausage. More direct heat may be needed – from either a skillet or flat-top grill – to achieve optimal browning. The hoagie roll too could enjoy some toasting. Then this sandwich could pass muster alongside Jersey Guys' beefy cheesesteaks and delectable Meatball Parm [see blog post].

Stuffed to the gills at the 11-Worth Cafe in Omaha.

I've written about the big and tasty portions served up by the 11-Worth Cafe in Omaha [see blog post]. It's one of my favorite breakfast places in the country! On a day trip to Omaha back in February, at the top of the list was a much-needed revisit.

I was compelled to order the Robert E. Lee by name alone. This special features two sausage patties in between two large biscuits, split, served with a large order of hash browns all smothered in country gravy. Options include swapping out country gravy with sausage gravy, and Junior versions with just one biscuit and sausage patty. Do biscuits, sausage, hash browns and white gravy all float your boat? If so, you will be satisfied.

The heaping mound of awesomeness called the Mexican Casserole is as filling as a breakfast item can get. With hash browns, shredded cheese, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, jalapenos, and seasoned ground beef the only thing missing from this repast is an egg. Oh yeah, you can get that too as an add-on. I must declare this my penultimate breakfast dish.

Who gets top honors, in my humble opinion? That distinction goes to the Greek omelet at Mr. Filet [see blog post].