still searching....?

Ladies, I've got to be honest. I've given up hope that I'm going to find a Roma's here in the ROC. I recently found two promising contenders, and the fact that they failed so dreadfully to meet my expectations led me to finally accept that for about 12 years I was wonderfully spoiled and Roma's is not sandwich reality.

Contender #1 was called Genesee Bakery and Deli. It is a place near work in a crappy strip mall. I thought maybe this was a good sign- chain stores are never going to be the Roc Roma's, and the original location of my beloved eatery was also in a crappy strip mall. Genesee bakery is a tiny shop, two 2 seater tables, and a large bakery case. Tons of cupcakes, cookies, and other assorted pastries pointed to this establishment being more bakery oriented than deli oriented. They did have a poorly organized deli cooler thing, but nowhere near the selection of Roma's.

If a place looks promising, I try to be as scientific as possible and order my turkey standard. They had turkey, but I don't think they had mozzarella (I've totally given up hope on anyone having fresh mozz). So turkey, swiss, lettuce, tomato, mayo was my order. I went for the "medium", missing Roma's "one size fits all unless you're going to puss out and get a wrap" philosophy. Points granted for the bread, which had a lovely thin crustiness and was fresh baked. Points also granted for the turkey, which I beleive was freshly sliced, or at least was good deli turkey and not cold cut crap. Points taken away because they also randomly were selling rosaries. That's just weird. Points also taken away because I ordered a cupcake which totally sucked. It was dry and flavorless. I did go back for a second turkey sub, but this time the turkey was dry and crumbly, which is obviously not okay.

Contender #2 was Cooper Street deli. It's not in an area of town that I ever go to, but coworkers suggested it as we were in the area for a training. This was another spot frequented by locals, with a promising menu and promising shitty decor. I was pleased to see mozzerella as a cheese option, so my order was a "medium" turky sub, lettuce, tomato, mozz, mayo. Points granted for a lengthy list of condiment options. The dumbass chick in front of me ordered a sub "with everything" and the order taker said, "Are you kidding me? That's disgusting!" and made her amend her order. (Turns out the chick just wanted lettuce and tomato, not the 43 item long list of every condiment ever invented that was posted directly in front of her face). Points granted for order taker personality and sass.

Points taken away for bad bread. It was probably freshly baked, but pale. No real crust to speak of; more like a thin glaze of potential that maybe could have become crispy if baked a bit longer. Points taken away for the amount of turkey and cheese that was sadly flopping about beyond the bounds of the sub roll....I lifted my eyes to the ceiling and had a silent moment of appreciation for the Roma's cheese/meat roll up method.

So, I don't know if you've all known the truth all this time and have just been protecting my feelings. If that's the case, I appreciate that you let me hit rock bottom on my own and now I can begin my recovery. There's only one Roma's. I must try to accept average sandwiches in daily life. One day at a time, I guess.