There are hundreds of great delicatessens in Manhattan. It's tough to find one that isn't good. Some of them also are called bodegas, which is a deli within a convenience store. One place that my colleague, Todd, found was a place at the corner of 37th St. and 9th Ave. called AM PM Deli Grocery (see map). We went there for sandwiches the day we were setting up for the AES convention in New York.
AM PM's menu is an eclectic mix of cold and warm sandwiches. They have a limited menu of regular hot meals and they serve breakfast from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. daily. But we went for the sandwiches since it was lunch time.
I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted because everything looked so good. I ended up going with the 9th Ave. Special - a sandwich heaped with Genoa Salami, Capiccola, cheese, and a mixture of green olives, anchovies, and pimento with oil and vinegar on an Italian roll.
AM PM Deli Grocery also had a good selection of beers, but we were working and we thought it would be tough enough to keep our energy up after eating the sandwiches. So we grabbed some bottled water and energy drinks and went back.
My sandwich was outstanding. A little salty, but it was just fabulous. The salami and cappicola was so fresh and tasty. I don't know if I was just famished or if the sandwich was so good, but I finished it rather quickly.
The next day, my boss, Daniel, showed up just before noon flying in from Montreal. He announced that he was hungry and was going to go over to one of the food carts at the convention to get something. Todd said, "Daniel, we found a great bodega a couple blocks from here. We can get you a sandwich from there."
Todd was going to run and get the sandwiches and I ordered one of the other sandwiches I wanted to try yesterday - the Italian Sub - Genoa salami, cappicola, provolone, lettuce, tomato, and hot peppers with oil and vinegar. It's very similar to the 9th Ave. Special I had the day before, but on a sub bun and with hot peppers.
When Todd brought the sandwiches back, I bit into my Italian Sub and I was hooked. The peppers were sort of like jalapenos, but were more like the spicy peppers they put on Italian Beef sandwiches back in Chicago. Oh man! We're they great on that sandwich! The sandwich was just out of this world.
Simon got a specialty sandwich with corned beef, turkey, and pastrami. It was topped with cole slaw and Russian dressing. He said it was "interesting", but very good. But I certainly liked my sandwich.
In fact, I liked it so much that we went back three more times during the show. I didn't want anything other than the Italian Sub the rest of the week. It was that great. It was definitely nothing like I've ever had in the Midwest.
I'm sure AM PM Deli Grocery had some other outstanding sandwiches, but sometimes I get into something so far that I can't let it go. The Italian Sub at AM PM was one of those meals. I would crawl back to AM PM Deli Grocery for one of their Italian Subs.
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