The College Kids Love this Place

The Deli and Brew located on Vandenburgh Ave in Troy, right next to Hudson Valley Community College.  What else do you need? Subs and beer, the perfect combination for any occasion.  What I like about this place is that the subs are definitely not overpriced and you can get them as big as you need.   Beer and the gigantic subs are important here, but the pizza seals the deal. 

Like I've said before, if your looking for a place with good subs, just follow the college kids.  The Harvard on the Hudson kids know what's going on, that's for sure.  If I was still in college I would be down there every day.  Unfortunately those days are over, but I still know good food.

If you want a good sub, get in line with the college kids.

There are a few courses in the food world that it's always a good idea to follow the pack of college kids. One is pizza. The other is subs.

DiBella's recently opened two locations in the Capital Region that I know of. One is in Latham near Chipotle on Route 7, but the one that caught my eye was the location on Western Avenue next to Uncommon Grounds and near the SUNY Albany campus. The line when I first spotted it was literally out the door!  I figured I'd wait a few weeks until the hype died down to try it, but my return trip was the same long line. It was 3pm on a Saturday, so I guess it was the late late college lunch crowd? I thought it was still summer break?

I was successful at beating the crowd on my third try.  Had a great chicken cheese steak.  Today was my second trip and there was no way I was finishing this turkey and swiss on multigrain. Maybe I'll save the rest for when we lose power this weekend and I'm bored of Hurricane Irene.

Hudson River Coffee Review

Over the weekend I visited Hudson River Coffee for my first time. I sat down for a few hours and enjoyed a few Red Eyes and a Balboa sub, named after one of my great heroes, Rocky, the Italian Stallion.  I was a little skeptical at first when my friend recommended the place to me, Average Joe usually doesn’t hang out at these trendy places, but I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere when I got there.  I have no arguments, they had great coffee, seating, lighting, and music which included some light jazz and even some Frank Sinatra.

The coffee tastes extremely fresh; the beans are grinded right there, and you can taste the difference.  I only had a few Red Eyes, I will have to go back to try some of their more advanced specialty coffees, I don’t think I will be disappointed.  The Balboa was a typical Italian sub, nothing extraordinary, but I definitely have no complaints.

The Hudson River Coffee house is located on the corner of Hudson Ave and Quail Street in Albany. It opened up just last November and is still going strong with live entertainment from local musicians at night.  The coffee house closes late and opens early everyday of the week. 

Check out Hudson River Coffee’s website for more info, menu and calendar of events.

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There’s no Subs-Ta-Toot for these subs

My mother once told me that I ate so much eggplant that I would eventually turn into one. Quite a few years have gone by since then and I still see a human being smiling back at me every time I look in the mirror. So, it’s safe to say that I’m not a vegetable or an alien, at least not yet. Anyway, as I am sure you can tell by both my reviews and my feature on Italian import shops, I love Italian food. That doesn’t just go for the traditional meals, I also like Italian cold cuts and cheeses, basically whatever I can get my hands on. So, it was only a matter of time until I acted on a tip I had about Subs-Ta-Toot in Cohoes.

Subs-Ta-Toot has been around for a while. I’ve driven past it and now I know why it has had such staying power. Forget about all of the ad campaigns you’ve seen for sub restaurants for a second. Not only does Subs-Ta-Toot have $4.79 footlongs, (take that Subway!) they really know how to pile on the meat so you’re going to have a serious sandwich on your hands. All of the cold cuts are fresh and high quality. I know some of you out there love Royal Crown cola so you’ll be pretty pleased to know they serve it here.

I was starving when I walked in there so I ordered an Italian mixed sub and a chicken parm sub to go. The sandwiches are big so I had one for dinner and one for lunch the next day. The chicken parm was my favorite out of the two subs but everything hit the spot.