Sure, a meatball sub post would be different from the ICC post. Its just that the places that make both will probably show up in both lists.

My favorite meatball subs were ones where the sub roll was hollowed out, filled with the meatballs, sauce and (key ingredient) mozzarella, and then plugged with a chunk of the hollowed-out bread.

My mom would even make them that way.

I guess I didn't express myself very clearly. I meant would a list of best places to get a meatball sub be the same as best places to get Italian cold-cut sandwiches. EL

I agree with Fl Rob but would have to add that it would depend on the meatballst too. Those little shot putts in red sauce just don't cut it. And a great crusty sub roll!

Yes, the sub shop would heat the roll in the pizza oven first.

Pizza John's in Essex makes one of the best meatball subs around.

Palmisano's in Parkville. They do the hollow-out-roll thing and their meatball subs are the BEST. Sauce is great - -rolls are great - - sub is GREAT!

I suspect the list might be the same shops. Never had a meatball sub, though. They've never looked good.

That one at DiPasquale's, though, I might have to try.

I think you owe it the good people of Baltimore to do a meatball list. You'll probably have some carry-over, but according to other readers you have that every week anyhow!

P.S. My vote goes to Vinny's Cafe in Dundalk. Half a loaf of hollowed out bread stuffed with cheese, sauce and meatballs - and then plugged back up with the bread.

Can we please have some love for provolone on meatball subs? I think it has better flavor than mozzarella. (But then what do I know, I'm Irish.)

Meatball sub seems like a stupid sandwich. Aside from containing balls of meat of unknown origin, it's geometrically incompatible. I also picture anyone eating it to have a big red blotch on their shirt or just a shirt that says "slob". I imagine it's what Stanley Kowalski might eat for lunch if he was less classy.

It is the Jello salad of sandwiches.

Like Lissa commented, the list would probably include many of the same places. Since a place that does an ICC well would know how to do a good meatball sub.

That is a good thing if the same restaurant shows up on multiple lists. It shows that the place is good at a lot of things, and definitely worth a visit.

it'll be a cross between good pizza shops and good icc's. but honestly, i don't know if it'll be really worth a separate list. Just find a place that has good crusty AND chewy bread, and the stuff that goes in it are all the same. meatballs, sauce, and cheese. sure some meatballs may be awesome, but for most places where you'd get a meatball sub, they're almost never going to be home made meatballs.

It is the Jello salad of sandwiches.

I take that back. It's the Steve Gutenberg of sandwiches.

Provolone is the Alec Baldwin of melted sandwich cheese. Mozzarella is just Bill Pullman or Paxton, whichever.

Hey! I *like* jello salad!

I'm very adaptable to circumstances. I could get with a great meatball sub.

Yes OMG, do we need to review for you the laborious process by which jello is made?

What's the difference between an Italian sausage sandwich and a meatball sub (assuming the meatballs are made of Italian sausage)? Just the shape of the meat?

Then have an Italian sausage sandwich and avoid Owlie's geometry problem.

Mastelone's (owned by DiPasquales) has what is hands down the best meatball sub I've ever had. Granted, I don't really like meatball subs because while I find the idea wonderful, the real thing is often one big disappointment. But take meatballs made in-store, bread baked in-store, sauce made in-store, and fresh mozzarella also made in-store you can't lose. They do use the half-loaf hollowed out, stuffed, and plugged back with bread method. It's just wonderful. Anyone who mocks or doubts meatballs subs should try it.

Nicole wrote: ...has what is hands down the best meatball sub I've ever had. Granted, I don't really like meatball subs...

So this one was the least offensive to you? Is that the message?

Laura Lee is the Jell-O of processed cartilage food products.

I'm delirious.

What's the difference between an Italian sausage sandwich and a meatball sub (assuming the meatballs are made of Italian sausage)? Just the shape of the meat?

Buckminster Fluffernutter, you are crazier than a crack house rat. I can maybe see that you've never had scungilli, hasenpfeffer, calamari or foie gras, but smack my ass and call me Martha you don't know what's in a meatball?

OK, Martha (SMACK), isn't a meatball a balled up bunch of meat? And if it's a sausage meatball, isn't that fundamentally the same as a patty of Italian sausage? (I suppose I should note that my favorite Italain sausage sandwiches are made with patties and not links...)

I see the bottom of the hole moving further and farther away as I dig here...

OK, ok...I forgot. There's other stuff in a meatball. I'm feverish, ok?

Bucky, Italian sausage is not at all the same thing as meatballs. For starters, the meat is different (the sausage is generally made with pork, and the meatballs with either beef, or a combination of beef, pork, and veal). The seasonings are different as well. As is the texture (the ground meat for meatballs is generally ground finer than sausage meat).

Sausage patty sandwich? Meatballs made of sausage? What kind of crazy flyover state talk is that?

Bucky, I can't wait till you come to Baltimore.

Bucky, when you visit, you are going to have to spend about 6 months here to eat at all the places we talk about, and so you can learn about crabs, meatballs and owl meat.

Hal - thank you for the comprehensive and polite explanation, made without mocking me or my '48 Ford 3/4-ton pickup (in which I learned how to double-clutch, a lost art) that we use to haul turnips yonder to the elevator.

Laura Lee - I can't either. I actually have a recurring dream about it. No, really. It's a pretty good dream, too. Well, except nobody other than Prof. McIntyre, Kate and SKK has a face. That part of the dream is kind of creepy.

Lissa - We don't have to go to all the places. We can skip the steakhouses other than my favorite Baltimore restaurant, Michael's Steak and Lobster. We can probably skip the Mexican places since I can get all the great Mexican food I want here. We will skip anyplace that requires a coat and tie. And don't let me forget, we have to go to one place by water taxi.

Hal, I almost posted the exact same thing but deleted it at the last minute thinking someone was going to get all picky about what was in sausage and how it could be the same as meatballs (although I know it's not). Self doubt sucks.

I used to drive a school bus that had a double clutch. Probably the worst vehicle I've driven, although at the time, I thought it was pretty cool, so the mechanics would save the old buses for me.

It had 4 gears with about a 3' throw, the acceleration of a rock and sounded like a jet airplane taking off. Driving it was a complete aerobic workout.

Bucky, your stay in Baltimore will be cheap, at least for accommodations: the Sandbox will set up a list to provide you a guest room and pass you around every couple of days. Or if you prefer, just the League of Girls.

Bucky,
You'll have to try an Italian sausage (not a patty) in Baltimore, with grilled onions and green peppers. The Grille Works at Oriole Park makes an excellent one. And at the state fair too.

Bucky, of course when I wrote that I realized someone would surely catch it. There is a big difference between "least offensive" and actually enjoying something. I could probably name a least offensive meatball sub. I actually meant to point out that as someone who typically doesn't like this type of food (and I tried for a long time - I mean, what's not to like? Meat! Cheese! Bread!), I actually found one that not only didn't offend me, but one that I thoroughly enjoy and even crave. It made a meatball sub lover out of me. Make more sense?

I love meatball subs! Vinny's is very good, but Matthews, while mostly known for pizza, has the best. To be a good meatball sub, it must be sloppy.