Standing Room Only: Bari Foods
"It's a nearly perfect Italian sandwich."
[Photographs: Nick Kindelsperger]
Bari Foods
1120 W Grand Avenue, Chicago IL 60622 (map)
The Short Order: Perfectly proportioned Italian sub with spicy giardiniera
Want Fries with That? Nope. Just pick up some chips on your way to
the checkout
Want Ketchup? No, but definitely stock up with a jar of their
homemade spicy giardiniera
I went to Bari in search of an Italian sub that didn't suck. It should be a simple creation, a humble combination of cured Italian meats and a few vegetables, but I'm astonished how many bad ones I've had in Chicago. Either they stuff too much meat in or too many bland, watery vegetables. The ingredients start to weigh down the sandwich, causing the bread to split and unleash the contents into your lap.
Bari is basically an old Italian grocery store that just happens to have a deli inside. I had heard about the lines, but when I walked in I just saw a few people idling by the deli in the back of the shop. I casually made my way down the center aisle until I noticed the massive menu, which looked old and unwavering. I was excited. I already knew what I wanted and couldn't wait to place my order.
I began to walk towards the counter when I quickly gazed to my left. An unbelievably long line ran down the left aisle, and I realized my place at the end of it. There I waited for 20 minutes, wondering why on earth a sandwich needed to take this long to make.
Once I got closer I realized why the system was so inefficient. While there are a few people working in the deli, each person constructs the sandwich from scratch. One person takes an order, goes back, cuts the bread, lays on the ingredients, wraps them up, and hands them over. No one else touches your sandwich.
This painfully inefficient system ensures quality and is one of the main reasons why Bari is so good. The sandwich is stuffed with capocollo, genoa salami, mortadella, provolone, lettuce, tomato, and spicy giardiniera. It sounds like a lot of ingredients, but the whole thing is perfectly proportioned.
The freshly baked bread is tender and slightly chewy, and all of the ingredients combine into one salty, fatty, crispy, spicy, and acidic bite. It's a nearly perfect Italian sandwich. In my dreams there'd be a deli like this in every neighborhood, but for now I'll gladly wait in line here.
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16 Comments:
Could not be more excited you covered this place. It's near my office and we have loved it for a long time. Try the prosciutto mozzarella -- it's to die for.
racsoretto at 11:27AM on 08/24/09
I would be in heaven.
CJ McD at 11:36AM on 08/24/09
When I was working at Blackbird we would order from Bari while prepping for the nights dinner service. The Italian Sub - Hot is fantastic, and huge!!!
solohuck2 at 11:37AM on 08/24/09
Sounds, and looks, exactly like DiRienzo's here in Ottawa. So good and so cheap ($4 for a huge sandwich). Delicious. Can't wait to have it on Wednesday : )
clarkie_16 at 11:38AM on 08/24/09
That sounds perfect in every way. Ship me one!!!
juliebugsmama at 11:54AM on 08/24/09
giardiniera is my FAVEY, just bought all the tools to pickle some of my own & i can't wait. my only gripe with this sandy, as a native of bensonhurst brooklyn, is the choice of genoa salami which i was brought up to regard as "no good". replace that with a few slices of soppresata, hot OR sweet (i prefer hot), and we got a deal...
heavymetalpizzaparty at 12:00PM on 08/24/09
Bari's 12" Italian = true love. At work, we'll call the order in beforehand as to avoid the line. So. Good. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhyum.
monicalong at 12:09PM on 08/24/09
Chicago just jumped up a few spots on my 'Places to Visit' list, based on these photos alone.
sandmansd at 12:33PM on 08/24/09
Now I know what I am doing for dinner tonight. I'm going to recreate this. . .That sandwich looks like everything I require in an Italian hoagie. . .
joeqboo at 1:21PM on 08/24/09
A good Italian sub is a thing of beauty, isn't it? What I wouldn't give for mortadella, salami, parma ham and provolone on a soft but chewy roll. Add a bit of pepper and oil and vinegar, and find a picnic table.
NotAmerican at 3:02PM on 08/24/09
ahhhh, well, looks like i am in store for longer lines. agreed with solo above... go with the Italian hot.... sooooooo good. livin out in the burbs right now but this is a necessary trip when in the city. there is a bakery right next store too. apparently, they have amazing "grandma slices." havent been able to confirm as i can never lay off of Bari for a sub and always end up too full. i have also gone later in the day for a sub and while all of the ingredients are still top notch, the bread starts to get stale (a little fyi). i am so freaking hungry right now...
hookrilla at 4:28PM on 08/24/09
arrghh, i wish i'd read about this before my trip to Chicago last week!! and I was right off Grand st too.
redhead at 7:46PM on 08/24/09
Can I ask why you think their "painfully inefficient" system "ensures quality?" It seems to me that you could put all the current staff that know how to properly proportion all of the sandwiches into sandwich-making only, add one person taking orders and working the register, and probably double the output with no change in quality. While we like to think that slowness means no shortcuts are being taken, thus maintaining quality, sometimes inefficient is just inefficient.
Sov at 8:47PM on 08/24/09
Sov: It's a legitimate question. My thinking is that the Italian sub is prone to all kinds of mechanical flaws, if you will. If you put too many ingredients into the sandwich it tends to compromise the bun and spill all over the place. At a place like Subway the process is compartmentalized so each person doesn't have to think about the finished sandwich. Because only one person makes each sandwich, they are careful.
Of course, there are a dozen other reasons why Bari is so incredible. They use (great) freshly baked bread, quality deli meats, and homemade giardiniera.
I agree that a slow process doesn't necessarily equate to a better product. It just sometimes feels like it does. Anyway, that's all I got.
Nick Kindelsperger at 9:18PM on 08/24/09
Love a great Italian cold cut; it is actually hard to find an authentic one sometimes!
Looks delish!
jlewfoodie at 9:55PM on 08/24/09
Pauper--I'll make a trip to visit the place on your recommendation. I didn't mean to imply some sort of sandwich assembly line, tho. Let each sandwich maker make the entire sandwich. Just don't let them waste their time taking orders or ringing them up. Someone who doesn't know the proportions can do that.
And at Subway I'm real vocal in the line, "Please, not so much lettuce! More peppers, please! Just a little more oil, OK?" so that all the proportions are mine. They want to hate me, but I keep smiling and being as overtly grateful as I can, and they finally smile back.
Sov at 9:44PM on 08/25/09