That up there is a Monster from LaSpada's in Fort Lauderdale. It's 12 inches of joyously delicious bread loaded with turkey, ham, roast beef, provolone, sweet peppers, hot peppers, onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles, oil & vinegar. C and I destroyed it on our first day in Florida.
LaSpada's opened their first location in 1973, and it's been a family-run operation ever since. Today, they have three stores in the Fort Lauderdale area, and the lines at each one are perpetually out-the-door. The counter crew function like a well-oiled machine: meats are sliced paper-thin only once you've ordered, then they are tossed (literally) five feet to the sandwich "assembler". The veggies are piled high, then with perfect timing, one final layer of meat comes flying across.
Which leads me to the neatest thing about LaSpada's subs: their unique "tuck" method -- the very last layer of the sandwich is a thin layer of meat, which is then carefully tucked underneath all the rest of the fillings, to keep the sandwich mostly intact as you're eating it. This is an enormous improvement over typical hoagie-style sandwiches, where all the small stuff is on the top, and ends up falling off well before you make it to the end of the sandwich.
After hearing him talk about this place for four years (and a near-nuclear meltdown the last time we were in Florida when his mom really wanted "breakfast" instead of a sandwich), I finally get it. LaSpada's is as barebones as it gets, but their bread and meats, as well as their technique, score them all the points they need to win my personal "Favorite Sandwich" award.
LaSpada's Original Hoagies
4346 Seagrape Drive
Lauderdale-by-the-sea, FL 33308
954.776.7893
Tags: Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Restaurant Reviews, Hoagies, Sandwiches, Food & Drink
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