Deli on Butler Street

The American Club at Deli on Butler Street in Lawrenceville is a superior sandwich.

Someone at the Deli on Butler Street knows where to get good tomatoes. Look at 'em -- bright red, muscular. I never realized how much the tomato slice added to the club sandwich experience until I got this really, really good one. And look at that lettuce -- green and leafy. Yum. None of this flavorless crunchy or--God forbid--shredded stuff. The veggies make a difference. Veggies on a club. Yur doin it right.

But really, who has time to contemplate the veggies when the meat on the sandwich is this good? This club has both turkey and ham. I love that. It seems so generous. In fact, it doesn't just seem generous, it is generous. There is a lot of meat on this sandwich. And that's before we even get to the bacon.

Know what they do with the bacon here? They crumble it! What a good idea. It makes getting a mouthful of sandwich a completely different experience. Forget the tension of incisors struggling against crisp or chewey bacon. Instead, the crumbles tumble into the mouth, along with the ham and turkey, the gentle lettuce and the tangy tomato. Ah.

The bread is light, fresh Italian bread. Delicious bread, nothing wrong with it. Except. And I feel churlish even bringing this up, but it isn't really the right kind of bread for a club. I can't help but feel that white toast--or even Italian toast, just toast the delicious bread they already have-- would perfect this sandwich. Let the club be itself. The toast is as much a part of the club personality as the bacon or turkey or the double layer.

Double layer! There is no double decker here. You know, the sandwich was so yummy that I almost overlooked this major structural flaw. Isn't a club, by definintion, a double-decker sandwich? Maybe, maybe not. We've encounterd the single-layer club previously on this tour. Maybe it's a deli thing. Further research is required.