First of all, the shop is adorable. The menu is hand written (and never actually says ‘Crosby Connection’). The whole endeavor is the concession stand at the theatre and the actual ‘sandwich shop’ part is really just a counter for the owner (Joey Cramarossa) to prepare sandwiches. He does each one with a visible amount of love, trying to hurry to keep the line short, but still putting heart into each one. He’s also got this amazing gruff and calm demeanor but this isn’t SimplyAttitudes, so I’ll let you discover that for yourself.

I tried the Suze Special for $7.00: prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, sweet roasted peppers, avocado, basil, virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. I don’t usually appreciate mozzarella in sandwiches, too often it’s just cold and slimy (ever been to Cosi?), but in this case it was room temperature and absolutely beautiful. The bread was fluffy and mild, keeping everything together. The tomato and avocados were perfectly ripe and their combination with thin slices of prosciutto was buttery and amazing.

Next chance I get, I’ll be back to try another. You should too.

It’s got it all:

Ahoy matey, something spotted on the brig:

Thar She Blows:

Delicious, Tender Whale Meat (not really, don’t attack me PETA):

The sandwiches are phenomenal. It’s run as a human business, not a robot business (skynet?): when they run out of ingredients, they don’t serve those sandwiches that day. When you order something, it’s made fresh: you can see the huge chunks of cured meat being trimmed and sliced. To top it off the sandwiches are fantastic combinations of complementary flavors. The smoked turkey and the sweet peppers go perfectly together. The prosciutto and hot peppers and oil mix wonderfully. The bread is chewy and crusty without making you feel like an animal ripping through food with your teeth.

I had the Michelangelo (prosciutto, provolone cheese, hot peppers, arugula for $10.50) and tried my companion’s Marina (smoked chicken breast, fresh mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, arugula, for $10.50).

Go to Alidoro, it is amazing.

So fresh (and so clean):

Prosciutto heaven:

Thank god there’s another half:

Fresh roasted Marina:

I’m lookin’ at you delicious turkey:

The one I tried was quite good, but nothing to get TOO fanatical about. I tried the Prosciutto di Parma: prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, sliced plum tomatoes, fresh basil and olive oil, served on foccacia ($8.75). The sandwich was a pleasure to eat: the flavors were well balanced, not too salty not too sweet, the bread was soft and fluffy and the mozzarella was just a touch salty (and not cold!). Of course, you have to really like foccacia, because it was very thick; thankfully it was also very fluffy and didn’t overpower the other ingredients at all.

No need to start worshiping, just a good reason to swing by and pick up something tasty.

They’re made with love:

Fresh ‘wich (Kid Robot not included):

Sitting pretty:

Nom nom nom:

When I went around 1pm, there was no line and just two tables were taken. After staring dumbly at the boards for a few minutes, I ordered a prosciutto with mozzarella and roasted peppers and a meatball with sauce while chatting up the counter guys, trying to get some secret Italian sandwich mysteries. Instead I got two gigantic sandwiches. The first thing I noticed (after the bland decor) was how heavy these sandwiches are. They are massive! Though the total came to $17, which is way too much for regular sandwiches in this economy, I held faith that they would deliver. Plus, by weight, they were probably equivalent to 4 sandwiches.

These are delicious sandwiches! My meatball was perfectly cooked, not gray, tough and chewy. It tasted almost homemade, almost. The sauce was used sparingly, thank god. I hate it when excessive sauce just lubes the meatballs to go flying out when you pick it up. In this sandwich, they’re just there to add a hint of tomato and oregano. After a while the bread got nice and soggy. When in comes to meatballs subs, I think soggy bread is fantastic, as long as it doesn’t fall apart and drop meatballs in your lap. [Aside: why are there so many songs about meat balls? Don't believe me?]

The other sandwich was prosciutto with mozzarella and roasted peppers (at the counter guy’s recommendation) and a little oil and vinegar. It was massive (see photo below). The prosciutto was salty and left the perfect buttery-meat flavor in your mouth after a bite, unfortunately the mozzarella seemed to wash it out. I’m not really sure why I eat cold mozz, it always tastes like nothing to me but cold mushy texture. I took it out. Without the mozz to wash away the prosciutto, it was fantastic. The bread gave just enough resistance and held everything together nicely, despite the soggy-potential of added oil and vinegar. Yum. The portions of this sandwich are incredible! Compare the amount of meat below to that given by Despana. Despana gives a one layer covering while Biellese gives a little brick! Horray for Prosciutto!

[They also sell 6-foot cold-cut "party" sandwiches, which is creepy, becuase I've had dreams about sandwiches that large...]

Biellese had high execution and high strategy:

Meatball ‘wich unwrapped, without excess sauce:

Posed like a Prizefighter:

Prosciutto Unwrapped:

Prosciutto ‘wich looking very elegant :

Prosciutto Up close, layer after layer (The shine isn’t from nasty-rot, rather oil and vinegar):