Syracuse Sandwich: Barbieri's Chicken Philly Sub

Who: Barbieri's What: Chicken Philly Sub Where: Route 11, North Syracuse 
Phone: 458-8070 Website: Barbieri's Parking: Yes 
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     On Saturdays, we got to church with Christine’s parents but before we do, we normally eat dinner with them as well. This past Saturday we didn’t end up going to church but we did have dinner but since nobody was in the mood to cook, we went out. Nobody could decide on what they wanted so we went to Barbieri’s II in North Syracuse. If you’ve never been to Barbieri’s, the best way to describe it is an Italian diner. They have a huge menu like any other diner but a large selection, especially the lunch/dinner menu, are Italian dishes. Everyone in the party was thinking differently and it showed in our order: a bacon cheeseburger, soup with mashed potatoes, fried clam strips and a chicken philly sub. As you can probably guess I chose the chicken philly. Before our dinner arrived, we ordered chicken tenders for an appetizer and what we received was four tenders and one “nugget” of fried batter on a plate of grainy iceberg lettuce leaves. I only bring this up because I hate diner-esque type places trying to fancy things up with greens like parsley and lettuce. Accept what you are because you’re not doing yourselves any favors by doing things like that. While we waited we talked and while we talked I kept getting a whiff of what smelled like septic overflow or something. It wasn’t strong but it wasn’t going away. Since the clientele is mostly made up of the elderly I figured maybe somebody had an accident. I tried to not let this bother me and once my sandwich came out I realized I had something else to worry about.

     While it was a generous sized sandwich, I could tell just by looking at it that there were many flaws. I ordered it loaded with mushrooms, onions, peppers, and cheese. When the waitress asked me if I wanted barbeque sauce, I thought to myself “Why would I want barbeque sauce?” Looking back, I wish I took her up on her offer. The chicken was dry because it was over cooked and it was probably over cooked because they put the chicken on the grill at the same time as the onions which take longer to cook. Speaking of onions, they were plentiful which wouldn’t be a problem but they were very oily. The mushrooms and the peppers looked and tasted like they came out of a can. Provolone cheese is the norm when it comes to philly subs but this one came with American, that’s right American. Neither slice of cheese was entirely melted, a fault that could have been avoided by simply placing it under a broiler for a minute or two. The roll was a typical sub roll, airy, fluffy, and dominating in terms of bread to fillings ratio, which is why I don’t order subs often. I was disappointed at the lack of fresh ingredients used in this sandwich because most diners make everything from scratch and can’t get away with doing that using canned and processed ingredients. Everyone else enjoyed their dinners which made my sandwich just that much more frustrating. When we were leaving, the odor that I was getting whiffs of was very strong in the upper dining room which sat empty; however there is a bathroom up there so I think they may have a plumbing problem. On a closing note, I have enjoyed a bunch of meals at Barbieri’s even dating back to when it was Oscar’s, unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be returning any time soon.

Rating: Edible – I ate most of it so I guess a rating of garbage isn’t in order.