ITALIAN DELITE

Our friend Jim has been telling us how good the Philly Cheese steak sandwiches are at Italian Delite located in Novato, California. We decided to give this local sandwich shop a try.Italian Delite is located in a small strip mall off the beaten path and possibly only accessible by locals or GPS. Novato is unfamiliar territory for this Mad Meat Genius. Parking Karma was turned off today because possibly Jim drove and the popularity of Italian Delite. A short walk and we had arrived.

We were there at the noon hour. The placed was packed. Italian Delite is a small place with possibly a dozen tables. You place your order at the counter and choose you beverage and choice of various flavored potato chips. The menu had various deli type sandwiches available. I noticed chicken wings and spaghetti too. We were there for the Philly Cheese steaks. You had the choice of one half a sandwich or a whole sandwich. Of course I ordered the whole sandwich because of my usual giant appetite. Despite the full restaurant our sandwiches were made immediately.
  I came to the counter to pick up our order. Three baskets on the counter holding three sandwiches cut in half were in front of me. I told the clerk I had ordered a whole and one half (Ms. Goofy has a petite appetite and would only brave one half an order). The clerk said all three baskets are yours. Wow. A whole sandwich in reality is two huge sandwiches. A bottle of vinegar based hot sauce was given with said order. It was time to eat.

There was a lot to like about this sandwich. The bread was fresh and warm. It was soft but sturdy enough to hold its contents. The steak was very thin strips of some sort of beef. It had a very nice beefy flavor. It was hot being freshly fried on the griddle. It did have a toughness that required some chewing. Roasted sliced bell peppers and griddle fried onions all topped with melted provolone (?) cheese all topped the sliced beef. The bread had a mayonnaise layer which was warmed from all the hot ingredients was a nice and familiar touch.

I did finish three sections of my order. I enjoyed it. All the ingredients were fresh and hot. This was a version of Philly Cheese steak that is popular evident by the crowd. The servers were very friendly and quickly prepared our meal. If we lived in the area this would be on our rotation of food hangouts. Thanks Jim for sharing this spot with us.

Note: I apologize for no money shot of the open sandwich. I took one and it turned out blurry. It may          have blurred for my shaking with anticipation of the meal to come.