We decided to check out this new Italian & Hoagie market. Hagerstown could really use a good Italian market. Taking into account that they are small family business that is newly opened-if they continue to have good customer service, the smaller details will organically come together. Right now they have an order form on a sheet of paper to fill out. I imagine at some point they will convert to a more efficient ordering system that is not as costly and a waste of paper. That is just part of a new small business. They have a nice corner unit with plenty of parking. That’s always a plus. I imagine a larger sign will be forthcoming but we saw the Italian flag out front.
The people were very nice and accommodating. We got a couple of Chichelli subs with an Italian soda and a side(potato salad & pasta salad with olives). We also bought some pasta and a jar of family made sauce. The lady working there said it was “grandma’s recipe” and the ingredients are all fresh with no preservatives and chemicals. Even though we make our own sauce every year with homegrown tomatoes and herbs, we wanted to try this one. It’s Nonna’s recipe after all! I was looking for pasta flour but they didn’t have it but maybe with time if customers are requesting it. The shop was very clean and organized. I didn’t get a dessert this time as I had plenty to eat but next time will try the desserts. They looked delicious. Since they have a corner unit, it would be awesome to sit outside and enjoy an afternoon dessert & espresso like you would in Italy!
Okay, the food. The meats on the subs were good, fresh & plentiful. The subs were a very nice size and with the side and drink for an extra $3, it seemed like a good value. My sub had spinach, arugula, black olives, onions, provolone & mustard. It was the perfect choice for me. My husband’s sub had lettuce, tomato, Swiss, provolone & mustard. Next time he will get the spinach and arugula. The lettuce is chopped/shredded so it just kept falling out all over. It would be better & more authentic if the lettuce was a whole leaf of romaine. Seems it would stay fresh longer as well. The only thing we both concluded was the bread was not so good. It was dry and pretty tasteless. It might’ve been good for a meatball sub as that needs a heftier dry bread to soak up the sauce but it really took away from the Italian deli meat and was dry enough to just fall apart. I ended up not eating about 1/4 of the bread. Next time if it’s the same bread I may ask for oil and vinegar and have it heated. I know I saw a review someone did and that person said the bread was great and seemed homemade. That was not what we experienced so maybe they changed bread vendors.
I liked the pasta salad with the olives, grape tomatoes & mozz. The olives were great in both the sub as well as the salad. I’ll get it again.
The potato salad we weren’t a fan of. Potato salad is one of those things people are picky about and that may very well have been us. It was veryyyy yellow & creamy-saucy. It didn’t agree with my husband so he only ate a little bit of it. We won’t get that the next time.
We made the pasta & sauce the other night. We really liked both. The sauce made with San Marzano tomatoes really gave it a fresh & tangy flavor. We added some of our own home grown basil but that’s just a personal preference. Great sauce, Nonna!
We wish the family lots of luck with their shop and we will be back. Hopefully people will continue to give them a try so they can continue to develop their footprint in Hagerstown. I would have given 4 stars for the food but since they are brand new, I’m sure they will improve on the small things in time! Grazie!