a dearth of sandwich

There was no big culture shock when we moved back to the Midwest, but every now and then something pops up that makes me shake my head. For better or for worse. Some things are different here.

One thing you learn quickly in NYC is that while you have an opportunity to purchase a cup of coffee approximately every 20 feet....deli, bodega, coffee cart.... you have to go out of your way to get a GOOD cup of coffee. In fact, if you don't happen to be on one of the street corners with a Starbucks in each cardinal direction, you're drinking 6 oz. of swill from a blue and white paper cup placed in a paper bag with a pile of napkins on top. invariably.

Here? In the STL? Good coffee coming out of my ears. It boggles the mind, the way they roast & brew here.

But oh, the sandwiches. I hope you aren't hungry. I hope you weren't looking forward to a nice, thick sub for lunch. 'Cause they don't do that here. In NY you can buy a sandwich just about as easily as a cup of coffee and i don't care if its from the dankest darkest bodega in town, its going to be good, and its going to be cheap. People whose homelands do not, typically, create such things can throw some good shit together on a hard roll. And presumably the science of two pieces of bread and filling shouldn't be that hard, but its just not the same here.

Case in point: Kroger deli counter Rolla, MO.
Our first mistake was that we had completely forgotten that deli counters in the midwest aren't sandwich counters. Our second mistake was not realizing that the nice midwestern girl was SO NICE that when we told her we wanted two sandwiches, she agreed to just make them anyway. She then left the counter and wandered the store, gathering: mayo, tomato, lettuce, etc. The end result was a sandwich the size of my head that was entirely inedible. Even A. couldn't eat it-- you can tell by the pic how he felt about it.


I have yet to have a decent sandwich here. Any suggestions?