SAMMY'S SUB SHOP

Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★⭑

Districts: Aksarben

Cold cut subs & hot sandwiches

Perfect For: Casual Dining; Lunch; Takeout

Standout Dishes: The Godfather; Club

When chef Sam Laughlin took over as the Culinary Director of the Inner Rail Food Hall in Aksarben, he brought a resume that included fine dining stops like Via Farina and Au Courant. His first move was to open a pizza slice counter (Tiny’s Pizza Joint), followed by a sandwich stall. These new ventures seemed like a hard pivot from his fine dining days, but when you eat at one of them, you can taste the same carefully sourced ingredients and thoughtful techniques that go into a tasting menu—just in pizza form.

Or, at Sammy’s Sub Shop, in a sandwich.

Don’t let the simple setup fool you. Though the process of ordering at the counter and choosing vegetables and sauces from a topping bar may look like Subway’s setup, Sammy’s puts the national chain to shame. Each meat and cheese is cut to order, ensuring prime freshness and thin, consistent cuts. The bread, locally sourced from Rotella’s, is perfect for inhaling all the sauce and juice from the ingredients within, retaining all the flavor without becoming soggy.

And all the vegetables, from the crisp “shrettuce” to the juicy tomatoes and sharp onions, have a fresh, vibrant quality to them. These are simple sandwiches, but crafted with great care.

The menu includes 8 cold subs and 2 hot options, all of which stick pretty close to a classic sandwich: a club, BLT, tuna salad, turkey & cheese, etc. Sammy’s doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel with what it puts on its sandwiches; rather, it strives to make a higher quality product. You’re getting a sandwich you’re familiar with, but elevated.

That’s certainly true with The Godfather, an ode to the classic Italian sub (or grinder or hero, if you will). The pepperoni, capicola, and salami all come together to bring a smoky, spicy, salty flavor, while the ham adds just a touch of porky sweetness. Though there’s a lot of meat on the sandwich, it’s sliced to thin that your teeth slide right through it. The provolone is mild, and the mayo adds a pleasant creaminess.

But you have to get the sandwich “Sammy’s Way”, which includes a dousing of olive oil and red wine vinegar. The oil adds a rich smoothness, while the vinegar brings tang and acid.

The Club is about as simple as a sandwich gets: turkey, ham, veggies, bacon, and mayo. Yet each element plays a special role here. The crispy bacon adds crunch and fat to the tender, more mild sliced meats.

Your hot options include The Mark (a Cubano sandwich) or “The Reuben”, an offering the stall readily admits isn’t a traditional play on Omaha’s famous sandwich. But this is a fine rendition, as the stringy, tender corned beef itself is bursting with a spiced, meaty flavor.

The sauerkraut has great tang and the 1000 Island adds a creamy factor that mixes well with the gooey, melted provolone. And though Sammy’s uses a sourdough hoagie as opposed to rye, the switch in bread is OK; it missed the deep, nutty flavor rye brings, but the crispy shell was a nice contrast to the soft insides of the sandwich.

The sides are a bit hit and miss at Sammy’s. On the plus side is Momma’s Potato Salad, a dish that should make its namesake proud. Large chunks of tender potatoes are mixed lightly with mayo, while mustard brings a nice tang. The entire dish is seasoned nicely, giving it a nice salty hit.

That’s ironic, because what the Pasta Salad needs is some salt. The bowtie noodles are cooked to a pleasant consistency, but the dish just lacks much flavor. Some salt or extra punch in the dressing would go a long way.

But the sandwiches are the star of the show, and do they ever star. The ratios of meat to bread are spot on, and the quality of the ingredients shine through. Omaha has long needed a standout sub shop, and in Sammy’s, it has one.