Out in the strange region of the Valley known as Toluca Lake is a decent selection of restaurants for working-class folk like myself. Filling the role of Italian Deli is a place called Tony’s, which is a tiny little sandwich shop that also happens to offer a couple easy-to-serve-at-sandwich-shops-but-not-actual-sandwich items like lasagna. Most of their sandwiches come with an array of unvegan horrors like lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions, but one did not. This was the way of the unvegan.
And the sandwich choice was the Meat Ball and/or Sausage. The “and/or” part of the sandwich got be excited and I ordered the large size ($7.95) with the “and.” It took some time to prepare, which is never a problem for me because I like to know that it wasn’t prepared in some anonymous sandwich assembly line. When it was finally finished, I paid up and went to work on eating.
The first thing I noticed upon opened it up was the lack of anything resembling sausage. This made me sad, but fortunately the meatballs were good enough to carry the sandwich on its own. And boy was this sandwich loaded, with some meatballs even side-by-side instead of arranged in a neat little row like Subway likes to do. Plus, the meatballs were really tasty, juicy and beefy. There was just the right amount of marinara (which was good, but nothing amazing) and mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. The roll was good, but I would have liked the crust to give me a bit of crunch before giving way to a soft inside. If you’re looking for some soft bread, this will do, but perhaps I am spoiled by Bay Cities and expect a little more.
Tony’s is definitely a good place to grab a bite if you’re in Toluca Lake and want a sandwich, but it’s not exactly a destination.