[REVIEW'D]: Zito's Sandwich Shoppe

Around these parts, we've recently been giving a lot of love to Zito’s Sandwich Shoppe, the new Italian sandwich joint that opened up on 7th Ave this Wednesday. Personally, after getting a sneak preview of the space last month and hearing about what Marcello & Enzo (the co-owners) had in store for the place, I was excited to see how it all turned out.

On Tuesday evening, Zito’s invited a select group of superstars, including a number of FIPS staff and readers, to their soft opening so they could test out their dishes on us. Since I’m OBVIOUSLY a superstar, I was there.

I like what they’ve done with the place. It’s well thought out & really brought together by the vintage signage that decorates the walls.

You can definitely tell that they had help from a design team. That’s cool & all, but I was there for the food & drink, so…

Since I’m a lush, I headed straight for the taps & got a pint of Sixpoint Sweet Action. They had the Sweet Action & Brownstone on tap for the soft opening, but they’ll regularly have five Sixpoints on tap, including two that I’ve never even tried—the Brevity & Signal. They offer pitchers & growler fills & though $15 per growler fill is a little pricey, I’m totally going to have to get a fill of both the Brevity & the Signal at some point.

The majority of the food consisted of a spread of their varied side dishes ($3.50 per 1/4 lb).

I started out by grabbing a sampler plate with a little bit of everything. Going counter-clockwise starting with that ridiculously soft & tasty mozzarella ball in the front, their lineup of sides is as follows…

First up was some sort of Veggie Dish. When I first started piling up my plate with sides, Marcello let me know what every single one of them was but since I have the memory retention of a Phish phan, I didn’t think to remember the name of every dish. I was hoping to rely on the menu for guidance. Unfortunately, I can’t match this up to anything on the menu but it was a blend of oils, tomatoes, onions, olives, capers & eggplant...crap...was it portobello? I remember eggplant consistency. Well, shit. Whatever. Out of all the sides it was my favorite. You should totally get it. Just ask them for “the dish that burnout dude from FiPS liked.”

When it comes to pasta salads, I’ve always been sorta “meh.” Zito’s Tortellini & Zucchini Salad garners an “aight.” The tortellini was a little softer than I prefer but I love zucchini so while it wasn’t my favorite of the sides, I at least enjoyed half of it.

Although the two main ingredients in the Green Beans & Potato Salad are nothing flashy, in my book you can never go wrong with either green beans or potatoes. They’re classic staple foods that, if accompanied by the right spices & whatnot, can be a great addition to a meal. Zito’s combo of the two is nothing flashy but it’s still good.

Would I order a side of their Roasted Red Peppers with Capers? Probably not but the roasted red peppers would go well in a sandwich. They’re sweet & flavorful but I just couldn’t see getting them as a side. As for the capers, they can suck it...but that’s only because I loathe capers.

I like greens as much as the next guy. I know that Broccoli Rabe’s good for you. I don’t trust it though. It’s not quite broccoli & it’s not quite greens. It’s a fucking SHIFTY vegetable. In this case, it was cooked just fine & if you don’t have vegetable trust issues, it’s worth trying.

I seriously can’t keep up with all the friggin’ grains on the market these days (quin-WAAAAH?) but there’s apparently one called “farro” that you cook in water until it gets soft. Zito’s makes a salad out of it that’s got corn & cherry tomatoes & pesto. It’s flavorful & I’d definitely order it.

The little brown nuggets hiding in the center of the plate are the Lentils & Caramelized Onions. Lentils are lentils. Maybe it was the small sample size but the caramelized onions were a non-issue. I mean, I really hope it was the small sample size because I would have sex with caramelized onions under most circumstances. I did not have sex on Tuesday.

Once I’d polished off the sides, I grabbed a Sixpoint Brownstone & managed to grab one of the last slices of the jumbo sandwich that was chilling up near the front of the place.

Of their thirteen sandwiches, this one was the “Autogrill” ($10), which contains provolone, mortadella, capicollo, sopressata & prosciutto topped with spicy Calabrian pepperoncino. While the bread tore the top of my mouth slightly (cry cry), it was fresh & the combo of meats & cheeses gave the sandwich a pleasing saltiness. I grew up eating pepperoncino straight from the jar so they added a welcome, spicy touch.

I also got a scoop of the White Bean Salad (in the back of the above photo) along with my sandwich slice & while it could have had something to do with the fact that I tried it after trying a ton of other sides, this was my least favorite of them all. While all the other sides were quite tasty, this one was just sort of there. It’s got cannellini beans, carrots, celery & red onion, so it makes sense. As far as flavors go, there’s really not that much to work with.

A few minutes after polishing off my plate of sides & a meaty sandwich, they brought around a plate of Meatball Sliders ($3 each). It was cool because it meant that I could continue eating without getting my already-stuffed ass off of my seat.

I know that sliders have long since jumped the shark but these ones were the best thing I tried all night. The meatball, which is covered in sauce & a sprinkling of Caciocavallo Cheese, is a juicy blend of beef, pork & veal that they’ve cooked just enough. The bread (from Il Fornaretto) has a subtle sweetness to it & holds the whole thing together quite nicely. Even one slider was pretty filling, so I could see pairing one with a Sixpoint & calling it a night.

The last thing I stuffed into my digestive tract was a slice of their Eggplant Parmesan Sandwich ($8).

It’s made with twice-baked eggplant, tomato sauce, mozzarella & parmigiano reggiano cheese. I’ll be damned if I can tell the difference between an eggplant that’s been once-baked & one that’s been twice-baked but regardless, the eggplant was baked to a nice consistency & the cheese was chewy & held the sandwich together.

…& there are eleven delish-sounding sandwiches that I didn’t get a chance to sample. There’s one with slow cooked pork bracciole. There are two egg-based ones that would be great for brunch. Plus, if you’re feeling like a big man & think you could come up with a better sandwich then the Zito’s folks could, they’ve got a "Build-A-Sandwich" menu.

It looks like a lot of work though so you should probably proceed with caution. Seriously, don’t get stoned & wander into Zito’s with ambitions of creating the BEST SANDWICH EVER. You’ll just make a fool of yourself.

…& you can also make a fool of yourself by going there & drinking your face off. In addition to the Sixpoint selection, they’ve got wine on tap! I’m a beer snob & could care less about wine but the idea of a local wine with no bottle waste sort of intrigues me. If you’re a teetotaler, they’ve got Boylan’s sodas, which are both HFCS-free & tasty. Black Cherry is my JAM.

Anyway…from what I’ve seen on a night where they weren’t open to the public, the place is fucking good. If you live in Park Slope & don’t at least go get a sandwich & a beer/soda there in the next few months, you have no desire to try good food & I feel sorry for you.

Read way more from Shawn at eatdrinksnack.com.