Peppi’s Subs, which has a few locations around Pittsburgh, has a little (big) sandwich called The Roethlisburger (or #7 depending on who you ask). I’m not sure how the sub shop attracted clientele between 1983 and 2004 when Big Ben arrived in Pittsburgh, but I was in no mood to find out when I paid Peppi’s in the Strip District a visit.

Weirdly enough, The Roethlisburger isn’t a burger at all, which makes me wonder why the spelling was changed to seem like a burger. Rather, it is a sub filled with sausage, burger meat (okay I guess that might be how it got its name), egg and American cheese. It can also come with a slew of veggies and mayo by request, but I can’t imagine why anyone would request such a thing. As I awaited my sub, I couldn’t help but notice that Peppi’s is perhaps the most yinzer place in existence in terms of the decor and the people the frequent the place. Nonetheless, I was eager for my sub.

As it turns out, sometimes American cheese is a good thing. At least that was the case with The Roethlisburger, whose ingredients were literally and figuratively held together by the cheese. It helped to maintain a sense of balance within the sub and physically kept the ingredients close to each other to ensure maximum flavor in each bite. On the outside, the roll was actually pretty perfect. Inside, the sub seemed to personify Pittsburgh even more than it personified Ben Roethlisberger because the colors that stood out were black char and yellow cheese.

Sure, the eggs could have been runnier and the burger a bit more rare, but this was a divey sub in a divey sub shop named after a gropey quarterback. In short, I was pleased and would happily eat a #7 anytime.

Mexican food and subs seems to be a combination prevalent in Buffalo. In trying to account for this, I’ve come to the conclusion that both are delicious after a few drinks. Still, a lot of things are delicious after tossing a few back, so I’m not quite sure how this combination formed. Nonetheless, the curiosity brought me to Elmwood Taco & Subs in Elmwood Village, where they have another surprise to throw in with the tacos and sandies.

After much contemplation, which is necessary when deciding between two intrinsically different food types, I decided on a sub. I went with chicken tender, because I actually still hadn’t had one (unless you count the stinger) and this seemed just the place to start. Now, for those of you that don’t know Buffalo, chicken tender subs are actually spicy like wings and I went with their hot sauce (as opposed to medium or mild). It came with cheese (white American), lettuce and tomatoes, and I immediately rejected the latter two toppings. I also snagged an order of waffle fries with cheese. I can never say enough about waffle fries, so I had to get them.

The 12 inch sub was bigger than I expected, but quite tasty. I was a big fan of the spicy sauce and the way the chicken filled out the sub so nicely. The waffle fries came in a bag and was also much bigger than I expected. Despite looking pale and white, they were actually nice and crispy, going perfectly with the cup of cheese that smartly came on the side in order to avoid sogginess.

Elmwood Taco & Subs was a nice little spot in a cool part of town. The food seems nice and consistent; the kind of place I could see myself regularly if it was closer. It wasn’t spectacular, but then it is hard to be too amazing with subs and waffle fries were a nice touch. If I make it back, I’ll have to shift over to tacos and see what that could offer.

As an attempt to mix up the sandwich scene from the usual Quizno’s and Subway, I took a ride out to Jersey Mike’s Subs in Hawthorne. The inside of the place was pretty similar to the typical sub place, so I was a little disappointed. I hoped that the sandwiches would at least be different. I had heard they had great Philly Cheese Steaks despite being from Jersey, so I was planning on getting one of those. It wasn’t easy, though, because they had some really good-looking sandwiches.

They had a few different cheese steaks, but also some other meaty delights. Nonetheless, I went with the original “Jersey Mike’s Famous Philly.” It came in regular and giant-sized, so I ordered the giant, without grilled onions and peppers of course. These were not necessary for my cheese steak. It was nice to see them actually pull out some uncooked meat and cook it on a griddle, as opposed to the sub places that just pull pre-cooked meat out and think that’s good enough. When they pulled out the bread, I saw that this was truly a giant sub. A foot-long was nothing compared to this monster. Unfortunately, this came with a price of just over ten bucks. The man who handed me the sub looked me in the eye and said, “You’re going to eat this whole thing, aren’t you?” I replied that I was with a deep pride in my heart and ponied over my money. I hoped this price would be worth it.

It was. Almost. This cheese steak was damn good, with soft, yet tasty bread, gooey cheese and tender steak. The size was certainly massive and no bite went to waste. For a price like this, though, I would have like some more meat. The meat that I got was great, no doubt, but this was an expensive sub that deserved more.

A few years ago, Subway changed the name of the “Meatball” sub to the “Meatball Marinara.” I’m not sure why this particular change occurred. Maybe it was to placate healthy people who would be more attracted to the word “marinara.” I never felt this was a particularly bad thing, after all, rebranding to increase sales is a huge component of our capitalistic system.

That all changed when I went to the Subway at Pico and La Cienega. I ordered a Meatball Marinara sub on Italian herbs and cheese bread, with provolone and parmesan cheese. It seemed like such a great idea, until I started watching the man behind the counter make my sub.He started by fishing out a few meatballs, then doused my sandwich in marinara sauce as if there was some sort of fire. I asked to get my sub toasted in the hopes that some of the sauce would burn off. I was wrong. It was soggy, saucy, and more soggy.

When I did happen upon a meatball within my sandwich, I was filled with utter delight, but it was short-lived as almost every other bite was filled with an overwhelming mouthful of marinara sauce.