A Tatse of Heaven From A Local Hoagie Shop

Much like cheese steaks, I've been eating Italian hoagies since I have had two teeth. After trying more hoagies than I can count all over the country I still think The Little Hut Sandwich Shop on Chester Pike in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania about 20 minutes outside of Philly has the best.
 

Now I must say, as I think about it, I have never, to this day ordered anything at the Little Hut aside from the Italian hoagie, with good reason...they are amazingly delicious!  The Italian hoagies here at Little Hut are hand crafted works of art. The bread is from Bruno's bakery, crusty on the outside and chewy inside. The meats are sliced so thin they only have one side and they are layered and rolled with the lettuce, onions & pickles inside. I prefer mine with hot relish and potato chips on the roll. These hoagies are so good in fact, that I have gone so far as to have a half dozen of these shipped as far away as North Branch, Minnesota for lunch.

I was born and lived in Ridley Park and raised on Little Hut hoagies. They are so much a part of my family culture that there are unspeakable penalties in my family for those that travel anywhere near Philadelphia and do not return with at least a hoagie for each member of the family.
 

Places like Little Hut are the reason I do this.  So many people are too quick to go to a McDonald's or Olive Garden because it is what they know and it's familiar.  But if you take a chance now and again and veer of the beaten path to try something new and different you will occasionally find a hidden gem like Little Hut.  Now a word of warning; Little hut to most is hidden in plain sight.  If you take the Route 420 Essington exit off of I-95 and make the left on to Chester Pike it is only about a half mile down on the right.  Problem is it sneaks up on you and there is only enough space in the parking lot to pull in and jam on the breaks.  There are no tables to dine in, this is solely a carry-out joint but please do yourself a favor and stop by if your in the area and "Eat Like A Local", I can assure you you'll be glad you did.
And for the record, Little Hut is, "Jeff Approved".

Say it Ain't So, Johnny?

After 91 years the last remaining Polock Johnny's is closing its doors for the last time on Saturday, December 15th.  
 
For the locals that know the impact that this iconic Mecca of Polish sausages & lemonade  has had on Baltimore over the past century, I share your pain, it even exceeds the heartburn from the No. 1 with sauce & onions.   

The closing is coming as a result of the landlords decision to expand the property and not renew the lease to Polock Johnny's.  Though there are plans to reopen in a new location, which has yet to be determined, it will not have the same aged character of this landmark. The tin plated back wall, the hand painted mirror and the random animated characters painted on the exterior walls cannot be properly relocated to another spot.  These are items which simply evolved over decades and generations of business at the same location and they will become little more than a fond memory to those of us who where blessed to have enjoyed this little hidden gem over the years.  For those unfamiliar; you have now idea what you have missed in the simplistic pleasures of a No. 1 with sauce & onions and a lemonade.

I may be getting sentimental here, but I remember scraping together pocket change as a kid and riding my bike to the nearest Polock Johnny's, at the time located on Liberty Road to order a No. 1 with sauce & onions and a lemonade.  I do hope to see the rebirth of Polock Johnny's somewhere in the west Baltimore area and pray it doesn't go the way of Little Hut Hamburgers and Jack's of Lombard Street.

Goodbye, old friend.  You will be missed.