Who has the better sandwich? Who knows? Who cares?
August 13, 2017 12:28 PM Subscribe
Wawa opened in Miami, and a local review mentioned that they didn't bother to try the subs "because the lines were too long and plus Publix exists".
Wawa is near and dear to a lot of Philadelphia residents, and these cutting remarks couldn't be ignored. Everyone knows you don't talk smack about Publix to a native Floridian, so the gauntlet was thrown. It got heated. Other newspapers chimed in. There is no clear consensus, but people take their regional chains very seriously.
Wawa is near and dear to a lot of Philadelphia residents, and these cutting remarks couldn't be ignored. Everyone knows you don't talk smack about Publix to a native Floridian, so the gauntlet was thrown. It got heated. Other newspapers chimed in. There is no clear consensus, but people take their regional chains very seriously.
The great disappointment from my visit to a FL Wawa? No soft pretzels.
posted by zamboni at 12:37 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by zamboni at 12:37 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yeah, but the presence of hot pork roll breakfast sandwiches covers a lot of sins.
posted by Flannery Culp at 12:42 PM on August 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Flannery Culp at 12:42 PM on August 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
1. I have never had a Cuban that wasn't way too salty.
2. I would rather abandon my car and walk than wait on line for gas.
3. Wawa is a pretty nice convenience store, though.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:42 PM on August 13, 2017
2. I would rather abandon my car and walk than wait on line for gas.
3. Wawa is a pretty nice convenience store, though.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:42 PM on August 13, 2017
Publix does make a solid sandwich. Throw on your flip flops, pick up a sandwich, some bottled water, and some booze from the liquor store next door and you've got a nice day at the beach.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:49 PM on August 13, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 12:49 PM on August 13, 2017 [11 favorites]
NB: Pub'x chicken tender pub subs are on sale.
posted by sibboleth at 12:58 PM on August 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by sibboleth at 12:58 PM on August 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
My publix sandwich tip. Don't wait in line. Call from the parking lot, press whichever number gets you the deli. Order your sandwich as you stroll toward the store, grab your cart. Tell them you'll be there to get it in ten minutes. Do your grocery shopping. Let the person behind the deli counter know that you're there to pick up a sandwich. Ignore the side eye from other customers.
They'll also slice your meat for you if you call it in with your sandwich order.
WaWa, I want to trust a gas station with my food. But I don't, unless it's a bag of chips. I once saw an expose on gas station ice machines and I was...shudder.
posted by bilabial at 1:00 PM on August 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
They'll also slice your meat for you if you call it in with your sandwich order.
WaWa, I want to trust a gas station with my food. But I don't, unless it's a bag of chips. I once saw an expose on gas station ice machines and I was...shudder.
posted by bilabial at 1:00 PM on August 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
Publix puts all other supermarkets to shame. I would move to Florida just to be near a Publix.
posted by cazoo at 1:03 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by cazoo at 1:03 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
Grabbing a Publix sub is always on my to-do list when I visit my family!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:03 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:03 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Who has the better sandwich? Who knows? Who cares?
Sheetz?
posted by octothorpe at 1:07 PM on August 13, 2017 [8 favorites]
Sheetz?
posted by octothorpe at 1:07 PM on August 13, 2017 [8 favorites]
Who has the better sandwich? Who knows? Who cares?
Sheetz?
*shudder*
Also, Publix has the best fried chicken in the country. The Publix deli is really the only thing I miss about Florida. What even *is* a Wawa?
posted by dis_integration at 1:16 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Sheetz?
*shudder*
Also, Publix has the best fried chicken in the country. The Publix deli is really the only thing I miss about Florida. What even *is* a Wawa?
posted by dis_integration at 1:16 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
As a native Philadelphian who lives in Atlanta now (that is, Publix-Kroger borderlands), don't make me take a side here. But I will say that even though I prefer Kroger to Publix for my grocery shopping, Kroger can't make a sandwich to save their life.
(I probably should have an opinion on Sheetz, but I don't, because anything west of Montgomery County may as well be the Midwest.)
posted by madcaptenor at 1:26 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
(I probably should have an opinion on Sheetz, but I don't, because anything west of Montgomery County may as well be the Midwest.)
posted by madcaptenor at 1:26 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
Last time we visited our cousin in Muscle Shoals, my sister was abnormally excited that there was a Publix. She remembered them from visiting our grandmother in Miami (who died when I was young). It was a nice store. Like HEB Central Market nice, though not quite as fancy.
posted by Bee'sWing at 1:29 PM on August 13, 2017
posted by Bee'sWing at 1:29 PM on August 13, 2017
WaWa, I want to trust a gas station with my food.
If it helps you feel better, you should think of Wawa as a dairy that became a convenience store, which happens to sell gas at some locations.
posted by zamboni at 1:30 PM on August 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
If it helps you feel better, you should think of Wawa as a dairy that became a convenience store, which happens to sell gas at some locations.
posted by zamboni at 1:30 PM on August 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
Wawa is better than publix for the sole fact that it's a northeast staple and not a creation of America's swamp addled penis.
posted by Ferreous at 1:35 PM on August 13, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 1:35 PM on August 13, 2017 [8 favorites]
Bah! In these parts the end-all-to-be-all...
posted by shockingbluamp at 1:36 PM on August 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by shockingbluamp at 1:36 PM on August 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Or, as my circle of friends liked to say when we were kids growing up in Florida, "Pubix: Where Shopping Is An Orgasm!"
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:42 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:42 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
I like Publix subs. For a chain, they're good; certainly better than Subway, Jimmy Johns, and the like, But, people, nothing beats a local sub-shop.
In my experience the small family-owned joints out perform chains all over the word.
posted by oddman at 1:46 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
In my experience the small family-owned joints out perform chains all over the word.
posted by oddman at 1:46 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Ahhh I fucking love Wawa and miss it to pieces now that I live crazy far away from them. Used to go there all the time when I lived in the Northeast for sandwiches and coffee and snacks and gas. 7-11 and Plaid Pantry are total shit compared to Wawa.
posted by FireFountain at 2:07 PM on August 13, 2017
posted by FireFountain at 2:07 PM on August 13, 2017
Wawa doesn't sell subs.
They sell hoagies.
And don't you forget it.
posted by SansPoint at 2:46 PM on August 13, 2017 [14 favorites]
They sell hoagies.
And don't you forget it.
posted by SansPoint at 2:46 PM on August 13, 2017 [14 favorites]
FUCK
MIAMI
If it can't appreciate the fucking BEAUTY and PERFECTION of Wawa then they don't deserve to have it. Also all these people linking their local delis and random convenience stores have no idea what they're talking about. And nobody dare bring up the wasteland that is Sheetz.
posted by Anonymous at 2:46 PM on August 13, 2017
MIAMI
If it can't appreciate the fucking BEAUTY and PERFECTION of Wawa then they don't deserve to have it. Also all these people linking their local delis and random convenience stores have no idea what they're talking about. And nobody dare bring up the wasteland that is Sheetz.
posted by Anonymous at 2:46 PM on August 13, 2017
Philipbar doesn’t even wonder what makes Wawa so magical.
What killed you inside? What burned out your heart so thorougly and left you alive as an empty shell?
posted by Anonymous at 2:47 PM on August 13, 2017
What killed you inside? What burned out your heart so thorougly and left you alive as an empty shell?
posted by Anonymous at 2:47 PM on August 13, 2017
A Publix opened nearby. I've not been in it because the prices in the flyer seem high. Is it the deli that all the former Floridians in our area find so attractive? Just what is the appeal of publix? There are no wawas nearby (yet) but we're slowly becoming anywhere/nowhere in these parts.
posted by mightshould at 2:47 PM on August 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by mightshould at 2:47 PM on August 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm confused. Isn't Wawa the place that just got a new goose statue?
posted by TedW at 2:49 PM on August 13, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by TedW at 2:49 PM on August 13, 2017 [8 favorites]
Does Publix have anything on Wegman's?
posted by explosion at 2:49 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by explosion at 2:49 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Zona Sul next door to me does reasonable pizza and they are CHRISP not that soggy shit.
posted by adamvasco at 3:04 PM on August 13, 2017
posted by adamvasco at 3:04 PM on August 13, 2017
Does Publix have anything on Wegman's?
It's not the same kind of store. I would liken Wegmans to a Whole Foods. Publix is for regular people. I didn't realize it was so popular! They also make pretty good cakes. Seriously, I've eaten lots of wedding cake where I was like, why didn't they just go to Publix?
They demolished houses - eminent domain and rezoning, to build Wawa in my hometown. And my mom says it's not doing so well. She was smug in her reference to Public's superiority, after I said Wawa was pretty good up here.
posted by bluefly at 3:14 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
It's not the same kind of store. I would liken Wegmans to a Whole Foods. Publix is for regular people. I didn't realize it was so popular! They also make pretty good cakes. Seriously, I've eaten lots of wedding cake where I was like, why didn't they just go to Publix?
They demolished houses - eminent domain and rezoning, to build Wawa in my hometown. And my mom says it's not doing so well. She was smug in her reference to Public's superiority, after I said Wawa was pretty good up here.
posted by bluefly at 3:14 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
bluefly - I'm proud to say that my wedding cake was made at Publix. Tasty and inexpensive!
Florida, represent.
posted by heathrowga at 3:23 PM on August 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
Florida, represent.
posted by heathrowga at 3:23 PM on August 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
Wait, Wegmans is akin to Whole Foods only inasmuch as the environment is not quite as warehouse-like as the average supermarket. Unlike Whole Foods, their prices are reasonable and their store brands are genuinely usually better than the name brands.
Also, they have a model train suspended from the ceiling in the back of the store, a lot of the time.
I’ve heard Publix is very good overall, too, though.
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:27 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
Also, they have a model train suspended from the ceiling in the back of the store, a lot of the time.
I’ve heard Publix is very good overall, too, though.
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:27 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
They demolished houses - eminent domain and rezoning, to build Wawa in my hometown.
WTF? I'm trying to imagine a Wawa big enough that there wouldn't be a suitably-large location available.
posted by madcaptenor at 3:28 PM on August 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
WTF? I'm trying to imagine a Wawa big enough that there wouldn't be a suitably-large location available.
posted by madcaptenor at 3:28 PM on August 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
If you're ever in the greater St Louis metro area, the Schnucks Meal Wheel is one hell of a grocery chain sandwich. Yes, it is big, round, and made entirely of bread, meat, and cheese...no condiments. It is likely intended to feed an entire family, but screw those guys, I was one hungry teenager.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:30 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:30 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Here in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, we have multiples of:
* Harris-Teeter (recently bought by Kroger, unfortunately)
* Kroger
* Food Lion
* Lowe's (locally owned and unrelated to the hardware store chain)
* Compare Foods
* Publix
* Whole Foods
* Trader Joes
* Aldi
* Walmart (of course)
* Super Target
* H-Mart and other ethnic groceries.
* Each county has permanently located food co-ops, each unaffiliated with the others.
* Wegmans has announced that they're moving in.
This makes over a dozen different major grocers in a greater urban area of about two million people.
Publix just lost a rezoning hearing for a location in Durham (the locals fought back Publix' attempt to set up at an intersection that already had three major grocery stores). And that kind of draws attention to an issue that people have been increasingly complaining about: All the newcomer groceries are only locating themselves near other groceries, even while we've had an increasing number of food deserts, predominantly lower-income and minority neighborhoods which have no major groceries or healthy food options.
Local to me has been a grocery storefront empty for about three years. It used to be a Harris Teeter, but after Kroger acquired H-T it was shut down so as not to compete with the Kroger across the street. Recently realtor signs on the store have been pulled down but there's no announcement yet of what's going in. My money is on it becoming a Lidl, which has suddenly been aggressively expanding in North Carolina.
posted by ardgedee at 3:35 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
* Harris-Teeter (recently bought by Kroger, unfortunately)
* Kroger
* Food Lion
* Lowe's (locally owned and unrelated to the hardware store chain)
* Compare Foods
* Publix
* Whole Foods
* Trader Joes
* Aldi
* Walmart (of course)
* Super Target
* H-Mart and other ethnic groceries.
* Each county has permanently located food co-ops, each unaffiliated with the others.
* Wegmans has announced that they're moving in.
This makes over a dozen different major grocers in a greater urban area of about two million people.
Publix just lost a rezoning hearing for a location in Durham (the locals fought back Publix' attempt to set up at an intersection that already had three major grocery stores). And that kind of draws attention to an issue that people have been increasingly complaining about: All the newcomer groceries are only locating themselves near other groceries, even while we've had an increasing number of food deserts, predominantly lower-income and minority neighborhoods which have no major groceries or healthy food options.
Local to me has been a grocery storefront empty for about three years. It used to be a Harris Teeter, but after Kroger acquired H-T it was shut down so as not to compete with the Kroger across the street. Recently realtor signs on the store have been pulled down but there's no announcement yet of what's going in. My money is on it becoming a Lidl, which has suddenly been aggressively expanding in North Carolina.
posted by ardgedee at 3:35 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Wait, Wegmans is akin to Whole Foods only inasmuch as the environment is not quite as warehouse-like as the average supermarket. Unlike Whole Foods, their prices are reasonable and their store brands are genuinely usually better than the name brands.
And the Wegmans deli makes fantastic sandwiches (better than Publix in my opinion, though I have never done a back-to-back tasting to really confirm that.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:51 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
And the Wegmans deli makes fantastic sandwiches (better than Publix in my opinion, though I have never done a back-to-back tasting to really confirm that.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:51 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
My first thought on my first visit to a Publix was basically, "Huh, so this is pretty much just a Wegman's with less cheese."
posted by ardgedee at 4:01 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 4:01 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
Publix bakes all of their bread in store, and you smell it and you want it, and you can have it in a deli sandwich Right Now. Also mad BOGOs and 10 for $10 every week.
More importantly for south Florida, Publix has the supply chain in place to respond instantly in the event of malevolent weather. The big seasons in 2004-2005 made me a lifelong fan because they got it going way faster than the other guys.
Also, Holiday commercials.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 4:07 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
More importantly for south Florida, Publix has the supply chain in place to respond instantly in the event of malevolent weather. The big seasons in 2004-2005 made me a lifelong fan because they got it going way faster than the other guys.
Also, Holiday commercials.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 4:07 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
The problem with Publix is the friendliness. And the overpriced produce. But, seriously, I did not come to the grocery store to say hello to everyone frickin Publix employee. And asking where the beef jerky is located was NOT an invitation to walk me across the store to the display and point out which ones were on sale and which ones were your personal favorite. I am a horrible person.
posted by atomicstone at 4:18 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by atomicstone at 4:18 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
I like Publix. They just put a store in an urban food desert here (albeit with a couple dozen $1200/mo "lofts" above it). The fried chicken is excellent, and they seem to have frequent good sales on cheeses. Plus, right when they got to town, I remarked to a manager, "You guys should carry Community Coffee," and he was like, "I'll look into that" and two weeks later they were selling Community Coffee, which is likely pure happenstance, but. And they seem to promote from within - I went to the same store often enough to notice a couple of baggers and cashiers move up into management over a couple of years. I'm sure it'll come out next week that they're all part of some sort of messianic suicide cult or something, but until that happens, I'm okay with Publix.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 4:39 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by BitterOldPunk at 4:39 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
I'm sure it'll come out next week that they're all part of some sort of messianic suicide cult or something, but until that happens, I'm okay with Publix.
Listen, I love Publix, like it's the one thing, as a Clearwater native who has long given up his Florida berth, there is nothing more guaranteed to inspire nostalgic remembrance and homey-warm, whatever-that-Scandinavian-word-is feelings than a trip to Publix (fresh ground pb? 8-piece fried chicken take away? awesome cakes and the best turkey sub in the biz? yes yes and yes and yes yes yes I say yes), but they are a straight-up Chic-Fil-A level crazy Christian, anti-gay enterprise, where they put privacy cards over the Cosmopolitan magazine in the checkout aisle like it was Penthouse (although, they do sell alcohol and are open on Sunday, so not sure which god they worship more, god or mammon). So almost a death cult. A death cult that makes me feel at home.
posted by dis_integration at 4:59 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Listen, I love Publix, like it's the one thing, as a Clearwater native who has long given up his Florida berth, there is nothing more guaranteed to inspire nostalgic remembrance and homey-warm, whatever-that-Scandinavian-word-is feelings than a trip to Publix (fresh ground pb? 8-piece fried chicken take away? awesome cakes and the best turkey sub in the biz? yes yes and yes and yes yes yes I say yes), but they are a straight-up Chic-Fil-A level crazy Christian, anti-gay enterprise, where they put privacy cards over the Cosmopolitan magazine in the checkout aisle like it was Penthouse (although, they do sell alcohol and are open on Sunday, so not sure which god they worship more, god or mammon). So almost a death cult. A death cult that makes me feel at home.
posted by dis_integration at 4:59 PM on August 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
WaWa, I want to trust a gas station with my food.
Oh shit you did not just say that
posted by Automocar at 5:02 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh shit you did not just say that
posted by Automocar at 5:02 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
Wawa doesn't sell subs.
They sell hoagies.
And don't you forget it.
In fact just today I went to Wawa for an Italian sub. Hoagies only exist between the Delaware and Schuykill Rivers, as William Penn intended
posted by Automocar at 5:07 PM on August 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
They sell hoagies.
And don't you forget it.
In fact just today I went to Wawa for an Italian sub. Hoagies only exist between the Delaware and Schuykill Rivers, as William Penn intended
posted by Automocar at 5:07 PM on August 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
Also Utz is fine but Herr's is where it's really at
Apparently I have strong feelings about Wawa
posted by Automocar at 5:07 PM on August 13, 2017
Apparently I have strong feelings about Wawa
posted by Automocar at 5:07 PM on August 13, 2017
Hoagies only exist between the Delaware and Schuykill Rivers, as William Penn intended
I've gotten hoagies west of the Schuylkill. It's definitely harder there, though.
posted by madcaptenor at 5:13 PM on August 13, 2017
I've gotten hoagies west of the Schuylkill. It's definitely harder there, though.
posted by madcaptenor at 5:13 PM on August 13, 2017
they are a straight-up Chic-Fil-A level crazy Christian, anti-gay enterprise
goddamn right-wingers and their seductively delicious fried chicken
posted by BitterOldPunk at 5:14 PM on August 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
goddamn right-wingers and their seductively delicious fried chicken
posted by BitterOldPunk at 5:14 PM on August 13, 2017 [6 favorites]
I am in awe of you guy's selection of dill pickle potato chips.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:15 PM on August 13, 2017
posted by Room 641-A at 5:15 PM on August 13, 2017
I love me some Publix. But I'm also from Philly, so I love Wawa even more. Wawa is absolutely crushing it out here in the eastern Tampa burbs. There are at least six huge full service spots within a 15 minute drive from me (sandwiches, beer caves, coffee, gas). They are killing the other gas stations and I think they are even giving Publix a good run. The wait at Wawa is shorter and you don't have to navigate the grocery store. Publix fried chicken is great, tho.
posted by gnutron at 5:44 PM on August 13, 2017
posted by gnutron at 5:44 PM on August 13, 2017
bluefly: “Seriously, I've eaten lots of wedding cake where I was like, why didn't they just go to Publix? ”
heathrowga: “ I'm proud to say that my wedding cake was made at Publix.”My wedding cake came from Publix too. It was delicious and beautiful. (It had a really nice basket weave design on it.)
In addition to sandwiches and the rest of the deli, Publix baked goods are top notch. I'm sure y'all discussed that buttered roll article. The Yankee in me loves a buttered roll like anyone born within sight New York. You can't get a decent hard roll in the south, but Publix "Chicago" style rolls come really close.
posted by ob1quixote at 5:54 PM on August 13, 2017
To call Wawa a gas station is to call Apple a headphone company.
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:56 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:56 PM on August 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
A few random observations about Publix (which has such a death-grip on local commerce that when you mention going to another grocery store your friends will say "that's not how you pronounce "Publix"):
*To be honest, the only thing that separates Publix from other better-than-the-worst-grocery-stores-but-still-not-Whole-Foods (see also: Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer) in other states is the deli and the bakery. Otherwise, it's just a normal store with graham crackers and artichokes and nothing really remarkable. I guess they have the horrible "green apron" thing with the poor people with sad eyes who try to show you how to cook Tuscan chicken or whatever on a hot pad and also sometimes outlandishly irrational sales on expensive things, like buying three packages of Hoffman's and getting twenty-four free, which will ensure that you will eat nothing but hot dogs until your vastly accelerated death. But anyway, bakery and deli.
*The bakery has fresh-baked-this morning loaves of Cuban bread every day, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, if you go there in the morning and buy a loaf of the bread and eat it immediately, and I mean immediately, like you're exiting the store and are seized by an uncontrollable animal lust and rip the loaf out of its skinny paper bag on the spot and tear huge gobbets of its glutinous flesh out with your bare teeth like a goddamned savage, with your cans of refried beans and bags of romaine hearts tumbling hither and yon, it'll be the best bread ever. It'll taste like the deep-fried wings of seraphim. If, on the other hand, you wait until the end of the day (or, god help you, later on in the week) to try and consume it, you'll be left with a lump of matter that's paradoxically both brick-hard and almost insubstantial, which you will attempt to use (with a mounting sense of desperation and disbelief) first as sandwich bread, then as French bread, then as a baguette, rewarded only by an increasing degree of failure.
*If you're wondering why people like Publix and why Floridians seem to leap instantly to its defense as if it's the combined memory of all of their dearly departed pets at once, or, in a more global sense, what the essence of the place and people are and wish to experience the combined glut of decadence and wretchedness that defines the Florida lifestyle, you must do the following:
1. Go to the deli and get a mess of fried chicken. You can just grab one of the 8 (10?) piece boxes or force one of the employees to hand-select assorted pieces if you're on some sort of power trip. For best results, wait until a fresh batch has come out of the fryer. It has to be on the bone, not the strips.
2. Get a package of King's Hawaiian rolls (you will notice that these have somewhat mysteriously been placed near the fried chicken counter) and a bottle of hot sauce (Crystal is traditional, I guess, but really just follow your heart).
3. Buy all this stuff and take it back to your home (or your car, if your car has become long enough in the tooth for you not to care about what happens to its seats or odor).
4. Tear one of the Hawaiian rolls in half like a biscuit and grasp it in one of your hands like it's an oven mitt or a bready prosthetic lobster claw. Seize a piece of the chicken with it and tear off some so that it's enclosed like a mini chicken sandwich. Try to get both skin and meat.
5. Sprinkle with hot sauce and eat. Repeat until chicken, rolls, or will to live are gone.
If you're too lazy to try this yourself or don't have a Publix within shouting distance, what you're missing is an experience that's equal parts amazing and horrible; it's simultaneously greasy, sweet, and spicy, and you're not sure that you like it but you keep eating it until you probably should've really stopped a few minutes ago but that drumstick is almost gone and what the hell. That's what living in Florida and being a Publix devotee is like.
*At every Publix deli there is an enormous tray of roasted mojo pork and onions just sitting there emitting delicious pork-smells and waiting for you to eat it. They put in on the (disappointing!) Cuban sandwich, or you can simply order them to make you a pork sandwich that's just a ziggurat of the stuff on Cuban bread with as many other toppings as you dare to pile on it.
*Finally, what you've been waiting for: yeah, the sandwiches are good. Yeah, the local deli probably has better sandwiches, but you're not at the local deli; you're in a grocery store or a gas station or whatever. The chicken tender sub is a heck of a thing, but it can be kind of dry, which necessitates adding mayo to what is already a catastrophically unhealthy sandwich. Recently, you've been able to request that the chicken be tossed in either Buffalo or (shudder) ranch sauce, which seems to me wrong. The absolute best thing on the sandwich menu is (was) the jerk turkey gouda sandwich, which no longer exists. If it did, I would happily uphold it against the worst that WaWa could do: this spicy, smoky turkey with bacon and this cheese that somehow tasted classy whilst also having something of the glassy, melty, gelatinous quality that processed cheeses have. It was a thing of beauty and, like most things of beauty today, thus extinct.
posted by lorddimwit at 6:41 PM on August 13, 2017 [12 favorites]
*To be honest, the only thing that separates Publix from other better-than-the-worst-grocery-stores-but-still-not-Whole-Foods (see also: Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer) in other states is the deli and the bakery. Otherwise, it's just a normal store with graham crackers and artichokes and nothing really remarkable. I guess they have the horrible "green apron" thing with the poor people with sad eyes who try to show you how to cook Tuscan chicken or whatever on a hot pad and also sometimes outlandishly irrational sales on expensive things, like buying three packages of Hoffman's and getting twenty-four free, which will ensure that you will eat nothing but hot dogs until your vastly accelerated death. But anyway, bakery and deli.
*The bakery has fresh-baked-this morning loaves of Cuban bread every day, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, if you go there in the morning and buy a loaf of the bread and eat it immediately, and I mean immediately, like you're exiting the store and are seized by an uncontrollable animal lust and rip the loaf out of its skinny paper bag on the spot and tear huge gobbets of its glutinous flesh out with your bare teeth like a goddamned savage, with your cans of refried beans and bags of romaine hearts tumbling hither and yon, it'll be the best bread ever. It'll taste like the deep-fried wings of seraphim. If, on the other hand, you wait until the end of the day (or, god help you, later on in the week) to try and consume it, you'll be left with a lump of matter that's paradoxically both brick-hard and almost insubstantial, which you will attempt to use (with a mounting sense of desperation and disbelief) first as sandwich bread, then as French bread, then as a baguette, rewarded only by an increasing degree of failure.
*If you're wondering why people like Publix and why Floridians seem to leap instantly to its defense as if it's the combined memory of all of their dearly departed pets at once, or, in a more global sense, what the essence of the place and people are and wish to experience the combined glut of decadence and wretchedness that defines the Florida lifestyle, you must do the following:
1. Go to the deli and get a mess of fried chicken. You can just grab one of the 8 (10?) piece boxes or force one of the employees to hand-select assorted pieces if you're on some sort of power trip. For best results, wait until a fresh batch has come out of the fryer. It has to be on the bone, not the strips.
2. Get a package of King's Hawaiian rolls (you will notice that these have somewhat mysteriously been placed near the fried chicken counter) and a bottle of hot sauce (Crystal is traditional, I guess, but really just follow your heart).
3. Buy all this stuff and take it back to your home (or your car, if your car has become long enough in the tooth for you not to care about what happens to its seats or odor).
4. Tear one of the Hawaiian rolls in half like a biscuit and grasp it in one of your hands like it's an oven mitt or a bready prosthetic lobster claw. Seize a piece of the chicken with it and tear off some so that it's enclosed like a mini chicken sandwich. Try to get both skin and meat.
5. Sprinkle with hot sauce and eat. Repeat until chicken, rolls, or will to live are gone.
If you're too lazy to try this yourself or don't have a Publix within shouting distance, what you're missing is an experience that's equal parts amazing and horrible; it's simultaneously greasy, sweet, and spicy, and you're not sure that you like it but you keep eating it until you probably should've really stopped a few minutes ago but that drumstick is almost gone and what the hell. That's what living in Florida and being a Publix devotee is like.
*At every Publix deli there is an enormous tray of roasted mojo pork and onions just sitting there emitting delicious pork-smells and waiting for you to eat it. They put in on the (disappointing!) Cuban sandwich, or you can simply order them to make you a pork sandwich that's just a ziggurat of the stuff on Cuban bread with as many other toppings as you dare to pile on it.
*Finally, what you've been waiting for: yeah, the sandwiches are good. Yeah, the local deli probably has better sandwiches, but you're not at the local deli; you're in a grocery store or a gas station or whatever. The chicken tender sub is a heck of a thing, but it can be kind of dry, which necessitates adding mayo to what is already a catastrophically unhealthy sandwich. Recently, you've been able to request that the chicken be tossed in either Buffalo or (shudder) ranch sauce, which seems to me wrong. The absolute best thing on the sandwich menu is (was) the jerk turkey gouda sandwich, which no longer exists. If it did, I would happily uphold it against the worst that WaWa could do: this spicy, smoky turkey with bacon and this cheese that somehow tasted classy whilst also having something of the glassy, melty, gelatinous quality that processed cheeses have. It was a thing of beauty and, like most things of beauty today, thus extinct.
posted by lorddimwit at 6:41 PM on August 13, 2017 [12 favorites]
Sheetz or GTFO
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:50 PM on August 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:50 PM on August 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
For better or worse, Publix roast beef subs have functioned as a major stress food for me for the past ten years or so. I can't tell you how many times I've felt at tethers end and a sub puled me out of the pit. Healthy? Not really. But it sure as hell beats hagen daz or heroin.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 7:32 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 7:32 PM on August 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm going to run afoul of like three of the canonical regional/linguistic food debates at once and say that In-N-Out burgers are clearly the winning sandwich
posted by eponym at 7:41 PM on August 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by eponym at 7:41 PM on August 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm firmly on team quik chek, but Wawa fueled enough late nights and subsequent early morning that I'm considering writing a letter demanding this reviewer be fired.
posted by lownote at 8:09 PM on August 13, 2017
posted by lownote at 8:09 PM on August 13, 2017
There are exactly two things I miss about living in Florida: Tacos Al Carbon and Publix subs.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:55 PM on August 13, 2017
posted by tobascodagama at 8:55 PM on August 13, 2017
I miss Publix. I miss those subs, but I will never forget going back home and wanting to make gougeres for Christmas. (Why, dunno, possibly I'm a pretentious snot or gruyere cheese puffs just rock your face) Didn't bring any gruyere with me, so I went to Publix. Asked the deli lady and she looked at me and said "oh, gooey-ear? We've got some right over here" "Well, yes, but that's smoked" "Oh they don't make unsmoked" "*sigh* - Can I have some emmentaler instead?"
But yeah, I lived on roast beef sandwiches and I desperately miss cubanos in the 7-11 and anywhere else.
(But hey, I have In&Out and Pie & Burger)
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:29 PM on August 13, 2017
But yeah, I lived on roast beef sandwiches and I desperately miss cubanos in the 7-11 and anywhere else.
(But hey, I have In&Out and Pie & Burger)
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:29 PM on August 13, 2017
Just what is the appeal of publix?
Publix aren't perfect, but they are the one grocery store that I miss here in the Pacific northwest. They've always had a reputation for cleanliness that stood out in comparison to their competitors in Florida. (I'm looking at you, Dirty Dixie & Food Dawg(Lion)). Additionally, the lovely green and white terrazzo floors they always used to put in were really distinctive and I'm a total sucker for that old-school mid-century Florida architectural charm. They may still put those in new stores, for all I know. They're not out West, sadly.
The real reason I always liked them though, and even kept going despite their lagging on LGBT issues by about a decade, is that despite all pressures, they have remained both a privately held company, and the largest employee-owned company in the world; that has always struck me as something worth supporting. All their stock is owned by past and present employees. All of it.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 11:45 PM on August 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
Publix aren't perfect, but they are the one grocery store that I miss here in the Pacific northwest. They've always had a reputation for cleanliness that stood out in comparison to their competitors in Florida. (I'm looking at you, Dirty Dixie & Food Dawg(Lion)). Additionally, the lovely green and white terrazzo floors they always used to put in were really distinctive and I'm a total sucker for that old-school mid-century Florida architectural charm. They may still put those in new stores, for all I know. They're not out West, sadly.
The real reason I always liked them though, and even kept going despite their lagging on LGBT issues by about a decade, is that despite all pressures, they have remained both a privately held company, and the largest employee-owned company in the world; that has always struck me as something worth supporting. All their stock is owned by past and present employees. All of it.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 11:45 PM on August 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
Never buy a sub/hoagie/grinder/whatever from a place that does not have a picture of Greek islands on the wall. That is all.
posted by msalt at 12:30 AM on August 14, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by msalt at 12:30 AM on August 14, 2017 [2 favorites]
More importantly for south Florida, Publix has the supply chain in place to respond instantly in the event of malevolent weather.
This is very true. I'm not sure how Wawa would fare after a hurricane.
posted by bluefly at 3:49 AM on August 14, 2017
This is very true. I'm not sure how Wawa would fare after a hurricane.
posted by bluefly at 3:49 AM on August 14, 2017
FEMA supposedly uses the Waffle House Index. Maybe they should throw Publix in there as well.
posted by madcaptenor at 4:42 AM on August 14, 2017
posted by madcaptenor at 4:42 AM on August 14, 2017
Wow, people seem pretty heavily invested in which corporate chain store they consume at.
posted by signal at 5:29 AM on August 14, 2017
posted by signal at 5:29 AM on August 14, 2017
Not supposedly. They really do. Or did before the current president, anyway.
posted by ardgedee at 5:29 AM on August 14, 2017
posted by ardgedee at 5:29 AM on August 14, 2017
Jersey Mikes in Point Pleasant, N.J. used to be fantastic subs. Then they franchised. Too bad. The franchised shops are hit or miss.
posted by notreally at 6:51 AM on August 14, 2017
posted by notreally at 6:51 AM on August 14, 2017
Yeah, the last Jersey Mike's sub I had was barely better than Subway.
posted by octothorpe at 6:56 AM on August 14, 2017
posted by octothorpe at 6:56 AM on August 14, 2017
Or did before the current president, anyway.
I'd like to think that the people on the ground aren't going to switch to using the IHOP index just because the administration changed.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:12 AM on August 14, 2017
I'd like to think that the people on the ground aren't going to switch to using the IHOP index just because the administration changed.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:12 AM on August 14, 2017
The absolute best thing on the sandwich menu is (was) the jerk turkey gouda sandwich, which no longer exists. If it did, I would happily uphold it against the worst that WaWa could do: this spicy, smoky turkey with bacon and this cheese that somehow tasted classy whilst also having something of the glassy, melty, gelatinous quality that processed cheeses have. It was a thing of beauty and, like most things of beauty today, thus extinct.I have news for you. You can still order a sandwich after they take it off the menu. Someone there probably remembers exactly how to make it and if they don't they can figure it out. Because Publix makes it a point to promote from within they don't have as much employee turnover as lots of places. (I know this because there was a seasonal turkey Gouda sandwich years ago that I still sometimes have dreams about. I could get it any time of year just by asking nicely.)
Go get your sandwich.
posted by bilabial at 7:57 AM on August 14, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah, the last Jersey Mike's sub I had was barely better than Subway.
Try the new-ish Jersey Mike's on Route 1 in Edison. Almost as good as Jreck Subs!
posted by lyssabee at 8:45 AM on August 14, 2017
Try the new-ish Jersey Mike's on Route 1 in Edison. Almost as good as Jreck Subs!
posted by lyssabee at 8:45 AM on August 14, 2017
WaWa, I want to trust a gas station with my food. But I don't, unless it's a bag of chips. I once saw an expose on gas station ice machines and I was...shudder.
At a gas station, I once took a well done hotdog from the ungloved hand of the lady who was about to throw it away so she could clean the griller. I ate it in a white-bread bun with gas station ketchup, mustard, and pickle relish. Ms Wimp was not amused.
posted by Mental Wimp at 10:20 AM on August 14, 2017
At a gas station, I once took a well done hotdog from the ungloved hand of the lady who was about to throw it away so she could clean the griller. I ate it in a white-bread bun with gas station ketchup, mustard, and pickle relish. Ms Wimp was not amused.
posted by Mental Wimp at 10:20 AM on August 14, 2017
FEMA supposedly uses the Waffle House Index. Maybe they should throw Publix in there as well.
Our Waffle House had 8 feet of water in it when FEMA arrived for Wilma, and they did not rebuild afterward. Publix IS the new Waffle House.
Now that I think about it, what's the new FEMA?
posted by halfbuckaroo at 3:55 PM on August 14, 2017
Our Waffle House had 8 feet of water in it when FEMA arrived for Wilma, and they did not rebuild afterward. Publix IS the new Waffle House.
Now that I think about it, what's the new FEMA?
posted by halfbuckaroo at 3:55 PM on August 14, 2017
Miami may not much care for Wawa (that remains to be seen..check back when there is more than one store in the county), but Florida does owe them a debt of gratitude, since it was they who finally made it possible to get reasonably priced fuel near Orlando International.
posted by wierdo at 8:40 PM on August 14, 2017
posted by wierdo at 8:40 PM on August 14, 2017
Sorry, I just can't bring myself to eat at a place called Pube Licks.
posted by sixpack at 12:12 PM on August 15, 2017
posted by sixpack at 12:12 PM on August 15, 2017
That's ok sixpack, it's in lots of parts of Miami it's pronounced "Poo blee" or "poo-le" if you are talking really quickly and elide most of the b.
Also. most Publix locations don't have a place to eat. You're usually taking that sub home or eating it in the car.
So you're in the clear ;)
posted by bilabial at 4:45 PM on August 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Also. most Publix locations don't have a place to eat. You're usually taking that sub home or eating it in the car.
So you're in the clear ;)
posted by bilabial at 4:45 PM on August 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
This makes me really jealous as somebody living in Portland, in which we don't have any good subs (some exceptions: East Side Deli (if need be), Beaverton Sub Station (kinda far away for some of us)), and we definitely don't have any good grocery store foods. Fred Meyer (owned by Kroger) allegedly has good jojos in certain stores, but I haven't gone to any grocery stores that has a great sandwich. It makes me sad that Portland lacks good gas station foods (except for Alberta St. Market, who have the best fried chicken and jojos). There use to be a place called Belmont Bodega that had good food, but they closed and are now a dispensary. We need more things like Publix and Wawa, and for a place with such a "foodie" culture I'm surprised we don't already.
posted by gucci mane at 1:51 PM on August 17, 2017
posted by gucci mane at 1:51 PM on August 17, 2017
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Oswego subs is legendary, but 400 miles away.
posted by Marky at 12:36 PM on August 13, 2017 [1 favorite]