The Unvegan

Sometimes you find a restaurant that seems like it was made just for you. I don’t mean that everything tastes good, or you go there regularly. No, I mean that you look at the menu and get the impression that the chef was thinking of you when they came up with every dish on it. That’s the feeling Fat Sal’s Deli (which isn’t really a deli) gave me when I first looked upon their menu.

For starters, the name Fat Sal’s is no misnomer. Just glancing at the menu is sure to spike your cholesterol level. The sandwiches take ingredients that you would never expect in a sandwich and toss them in. On top of that, they take things you would never expect to eat together and make them the best of friends. Take the sandwich I ordered, for example. It’s called the Fat Jerry and is filled with cheesesteak, chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, bacon, fried eggs, fries, mayo, ketchup and salt and pepper. And all of it comes on a hero roll. A quick look reveals no vegetables, but I read into the cheesesteak a little deeper to see it came with grilled onions, so I ordered it without.

But before I get into that godsend of a sandwich, I should mention that Fat Sal’s is in Westwood, which means it attracts college students at a huge rate due to it’s incredibly reasonable prices, but moreover the number of calories those prices get you. Without exercise, it’s a sure-fire way to get your freshman fifteen whether you are a student or not. And with exercise, it is a great way to get a full day’s worth of food in one sitting. Basically, if you show up during a normal meal time, be prepared for a long line.

Once I had braved the line and ordered, my sandwich came out looking like a dream, which is far different from the hallucinations I experienced after finishing the monster. You might think that all those ingredients would create a cacophony of flavors, but instead it tasted like a symphony. No two bites were exactly the same, but somehow it never felt like the balance was off. It was pure unvegan bliss and a place I highly recommend to anyone who appreciates a sandwich with thought. Maybe next time I’ll have to their Big Fat Fatty (here’s the menu for the ingredients) for the chance of getting a sandwich named after myself.