Day 2.2: I'd Ride An Hour For This Sandwich

First stop of the day (once we finally got up) was Lioni's Italian Heroes in Brooklyn for lunch. John introduced us to this place last year and we were all dying to go back. Not only are the sandwiches incredible, but the place is just like stepping into The Sopranos with a bunch of guys sitting outside, eating and talking. 

It's an hour-long subway ride to get there. Even though it's on the far side of Brooklyn, the place where you get off (79th Street) looks exactly like the Williamsburg stop where John used to live, just down from the Williamsburg Bridge. I finally had to ask John how he discovered this place so far away. He said he first heard about it through a Living Social coupon, and as a self-described connesour of Italian sandwiches, the glowing reviews on Yelp convinced him that he had to go. I will attest, his life hasn't been the same since. No trip to NYC is complete for him without getting a "Scott Baio" at Lioni's.

Aside from the locally made bread,fresh meats from thei shop next door, and amazing authentic Italian sandwiches, Lioni's is known for two thing: their own freshly made mozzarella, and the names of their 170+ sandwiches. Each one is named for a famous Italian (some of whom you may not have known were Italian), from Frank Sinatra and Fean Martin to Connie Francis and Leonardo di Caprio. Each one has a list of ingredients and a little quip. For example, the Pavarotti says, "You'll sing for this one."

The sandwiches are huge, which we learned last time and took a lot of leftovers back to our room with no fridge. John kept them on top of the A/C vent to keep them cool. This time, after some cajoling to convince John to share, he and Marsha split the Scott Baio (who woulda thought John's favorite sandwich would be named after Scott Baio), while Madison and I split to Rocky Graziano. Yes, it truly was "a real knockout."