Neighbor's Deli - Visit #2

This time, I took pictures.  Don't slobber on your keyboard...!  Check out my original post here.

The menu board

The slicer

The Cookie Stand

The Sandwich next to a yardstick... Note the 15 inch goodness of this cheesesteak!

Sheeba's head is so small next to this delectable beast.

The Restaurant that Always Fails

Location:

Chef Rick's Westerville Grill

59 S. State St.

Westerville, OH 43081

I walked in expecting something kinda dingy because the outside led me to believe that's what the inside would look like.  The building is old and there's something about knowing how many restaurants have failed at this location that makes me less than hopeful about what I'm going to experience.  I was pleased to see two servers behind the counter, two business men sitting at the counter, two chefs in the kitchen and two middle-aged female customers at a table.  I really thought the place would be deserted, but in a way, it was almost a cliché.

 

My waitress was a name tag-less African-American woman in her 40's.  She was pleasant enough, although after delivering my food she never came back until she heard me ask another waitress (who had just clocked on) if I could have a to-go box for my fries.  Ah, the fries.  DELICIOUS.  They were flat and fat, the kind I love, and I don't know what kind of oil they were fried in (dang!  should've asked!) but I have to assume it was peanut oil because there is no other oil that gives fries that level of crispness.  Absolutely wonderful.  If I lived across the street I'd gain so much weight just from devouring those beautiful french fries on a daily basis.

Now, back to the beginning.  I love a good Rueben.  What I love even more than that is a big, fat, leaky pile of corned beef slathered with Russian dressing, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut sandwiched between two thick slices of toasted rye bread.  The first I can get anywhere.  The second I can only get at Chef Rick's Westerville Grill.  On the whole I'd say that this place should be visited again, but I don’t know if I’d make the trip up there, and I honestly can't say that I'd recommend it to anyone.  It was all right, good portions for a lunch, although not quite enough for the $10.00 bill (which did include tip).  I do hope they are luckier than the last guys who owned the place!

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)
Cleanliness: 5
Value: 3.5
Accessibility: 2 *parking here sucks!!
Friendliness: 5
Menu: 4

Best Cheesesteak EVER

Location: 

Neighbor's Deli ($$)

2142 West Henderson Road

Columbus, OH 43220

Formerly Jersey Mike's, Neighbor's Deli has taken the sub-sandwich/deli concept and catapulted it to new heights.  Their menu consists of scrolls (wraps), monsters (deli sandwiches) and hoagies as well as grilled cheese sandwiches, bologna sandwiches, and soups.  There are also cookies ready at the counter!  Our experience involved one Monster Club and one whole Philly Cheesesteak Hoagie.

The Monster Club was composed of classic club ingredients - turkey, ham, bacon, mayo/tomato/onion, etc.  The method of delivery was thick-sliced crusty-on-the-outside-airy-on-the-inside white bread that may have been made and delivered that morning.  The meats were sliced fresh right in front of us while we waited and piled high.  I would venture to say that this sandwich was at least 4 inches thick, if not 5 inches.  Absolutely amazing... so amazing in fact that my friend scarfed the whole thing down before I could even try one bite!  It came with a spicy kosher dill spear too, the happy usual that always makes my day.

My order for that day was my "usual" - Philly Cheesesteak.  I've never been to Philadelphia, honestly, but I do consider myself an expert on the sandwich.  I don't care about Pat's or Geno's (although someday I'm sure I will!), I just care about a delicious, cheesy, steaky sandwich.  Neighbor's delivered!  The hoagie was, like the deli bread, crusty and airy, but cut by hand right down the middle.  My friend suggested I get a whole one, which was more than a foot long, and since he was paying I went ahead and ordered up.  The man behind the counter said "with everything?" which meant mushrooms, onions, and red/green peppers.  Yum!  Unlike some other sub shops that shall remain nameless, Neighbor's sautéed all the veggies together and then added them to the cooked meat.  I get very nervous around raw meat and veggies ever since I survived having e. coli and then salmonella both in one summer.  The deli man slathered the mayo onto the hoagie perfectly - for the first time in my life I didn't have to ask for more.  He placed tomato and lettuce on top of the mayo and then put the cooked meat/veggies inside and carried the small bundle to the wrapping area where he tightly swaddled the sandwich in deli paper and swiftly slid it into a long paper bag.  By the time we got home the smell had permeated my car and the heat from the meat had warmed my lap.  It was so hard to not dig in immediately!  Once spread out on the floor picnic style, my friend's deli sandwich in its white Styrofoam box looked almost puny in comparison to the beast in front of me.  I picked up the first half and literally dove in teeth first.  The first two bites were messy... the third was worse... I was in heaven.  I didn't speak for almost five minutes and then, finally, the words came: "BEST.  CHEESESTEAK.  EVER."

I will go back to Neighbor's and try their roast beef hoagie and sandwich as soon as Lent is over, and from then on I plan on trying most, if not all, of their menu items.  I'm really interested to see how their fried bologna sandwich compares to my mom's!

Bill:

   $9.00 hoagie

 +$6.50 monster

   $15.50 total

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)

Cleanliness: 4

Value: 4

Accessibility: 5

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 4