Greiner’s Sub Shop
2126 S Shelby St
Indianapolis, IN 46203
http://www.bestbunsinindy.com/index.asp

Greiner’s Sub Shop has been in business for over forty years, so they have to be doing something right.  I love a good, cold deli sandwich, so I was looking forward to this one. First impressions were good…fresh baked bread and the lady at the counter had a name tab on that said she has been working there for 30 years, which I thought was pretty cool.  However, this made me raise the bar as I thought “if she has been making sandwiches for 30 years, she should be able to make a lights out sandwich.”

What I Ate:  8″ Hoagie, $5.25.  Topped with Genoa Salami, Beef Salami, Ham, Provolone and I had it fully dressed after that.  With a drink, chips and tax, it was close to $8.20.

The sandwich was just okay.  I liked the bread quite a bit, but there was one tiny slice of each meat and a ton of lettuce.  The tomatoes were ripe, but too sparse.  The white onion was diced and I prefer small slices of red onion.  Otherwise, there wasn’t anything going on here that I couldn’t find at Jersey Mike’s.  You can add more meat for $1.00, but I always review sandwiches as is.  In the future, I would get more meat.

Would I Buy It Again? Yes and No.  Yes because the independent sub shop is almost extinct in this town and that is a shame.  No because it wasn’t any better or worse than their competitors.  Greiner’s has an interesting menu though as you can even get pizza there.

-wibia

Dagwood’s Deli & Sub Shop
6336 Guilford Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46220
http://www.dagwoodsandwiches.com/

An institution at the WIBIA staff’s alma mater, Indiana University, Dagwood’s has been in business since 1985.  The original location was in a basement of building on Indiana Avenue in Bloomington, Indiana and was every college kid’s dream.  They’ve finally moved their main location up to street level but they still have good and HUGE submarine sandwiches.  They deliver at all hours of the night, so any late night of…ahem, studying…could be capped off with having a sandwich delivered.  When I was at IU, I ended far too many of my nights that way, but it was worth it.

Anyway, Dagwood’s stayed in Bloomington only for most of their existence, but they opened a third location in the Broad Ripple area of Indianapolis within the past few years and that’s where I went recently to enjoy one of the treasures of my college career.  I will point out that I usually order the Italian sub, but for the purposes of this blog and introducing the restaurant to the blog, I went with…

What I Got:  Whole Dagwood Supreme (their signature and most popular sandwich) $8.94

Dagwood Supreme

I ordered my sandwich as it would be found on the menu for review purposes (ordinarily I’d play with the vegetables and other toppings), but the menu version is made up of Roast Beef, Ham, Turkey, Provolone and Colby cheeses, along with lettuce, tomato, onions, and Dagwood’s Special Sauce.

Outside of the special sauce, this thing is made up of standard sub sandwich toppings so there is nothing really out of the ordinary there besides the fact that they give you a generous amount of meat.  What really makes this sandwich is the special sauce.  It’s a tangy mayonnaise based sauce that it not as creamy as mayonnaise, but shares a lot of similar properties.  What makes it different than mayo is that it is slightly more runny and not nearly as thick (you can see the sauce in the photo above) and when you contrast this tangy sauce with the coolness of the vegetables, cheese and meat, you have a sandwich that is a sub sandwich lover’s delight.

Would I Buy It Again?  Heck yes. I would buy it again because it is good and also for the nostalgic purposes of taking me back to my college days.  Like I said, I usually order the Italian sub because of personal preference of meat on that sandwich but you can’t go wrong with either sandwich.  Both of them are  just so freaking good and that’s why both of them go into the Hall of Fame.

So, if you are in Bloomington or in Broad Ripple and aren’t afraid of something that is a little bit pricey, give this place a shot and you won’t regret it.

-IndianapolisEater