Tampa Bay Food Monster

LENNY!

lenny made a sub shop. and he named it lenny’s sub shop. they sell subs [submarine sandwiches, to those of you not in the know]. and they’re all over the place! that is to say, this is a chain restaurant, with stores all over the south east. so maybe there’s nothing particularly unique or magical about lenny’s… but they sure do make one hell of a sammich.

this is the lenny’s near the university, on 50th and fowler, conveniently located right next to “d’lites“, which is a porn shop (my best guess). lenny’s is a modest little restaurant, the insides of which i neglected to photograph. think a subway, but a bit wider. and probably cleaner.

lenny’s’s big claim to fame is that they offer “Authentic Philly Cheesesteaks & the Deli Fresh Experience™“. oh well that’s interesting because last time i checked you were born in LONDON, lenny. london. or texas. whichever. not philadelphia. authentic philly cheesesteak, huh? naturally, this is the obvious choice of sandwich to have there. does their philly stand up to the real deal? is this shit authentic? do they got game?

enter: lenny’s authentic philly cheesesteak.

packed to the brim with real capicola, tender prosciutto, and glorious genoa salami, then topped with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, mustard, and their super special hot pepper relish! just the way philadelphia likes ’em.

…okay, by now you probably realize that this is in no way a philly cheesesteak. and you may suspect me of lying to you. you’ve got a lot of nerve. but you’re right. i am lying. i didn’t order the cheesesteak. i didn’t even think about it. i knew what i wanted, and what i wanted was an italian. i’ve never even had a philly cheesesteak from lenny’s. another time, perhaps.

if their other subs are any indication, lenny’s philly should be pretty damn good. every sandwich i’ve had from this place is great. the meat and cheese is delicious, deli-style, cut-in-front-of-your-face fresh goodness. the bread is quite nice. the toppings are all adequate. but the real kicker is the pepper relish. good shit. it’s made from cherry peppers, and has a nice light spiciness that is more about the flavor than the burn. it’s good. a lot of their sandwiches come with it, and you can buy it directly from them if you want it for your own personal use. go ahead. do whatever you want with it. no one’s watching.

they make their own chips. crunchy. decent. variety of flavors. went with “traditional potato” flavor. not bad. not life changing. but not bad.

and cooooookie. they make nice big cookies, in a few different styles. if you’re choosing between the chips and the cookie, i’d go with the cookie. they are large, not too soft and not too hard, happy smile time cookies. just like grandma used to make. before she died from heart failure. too many happy smile time cookies.

and that’s all. it’s lenny’s. LENNY! high quality fast food sub shop. not as awesome as, but better quality than jimmy john’s if you’ve got the extra minute to spare. this guy sebastian seems to like it. it appears he joined urbanspoon just to rave about it! and he looks ripped as shit. hell, if it’s good enough for sebastian, it’s good enough for me.