Just another Italian sandwich (Di Bruno Bros)

So peep this, way back in 1939, two brothers - Joe and Danny Di Bruno - made the trip from the old country across the Atlantic to Philadelphia. Their story is not unlike that of another famous pair of Italian brothers who went by the names of Mario & Luigi. The latter two, are plumbers who risk their lives hopping from castle to castle on the basis of a giant lie that there'd be some super hot princess waiting for them, when really... it was just a demented midget toad. Similarly, the Di Bruno brothers "came to America where rumor had it that the streets were paved with gold"... only to discover that some fucker back in Italy was totally lying when he said that. Instead, they found cobblestones that were probably paved mostly with horse manure. Unlike the more famous tandem who brought Nintendo massive fame, these brothers chose not to walk the path of drugs and mushrooms, but instead chose to make something of themselves. They became... CHEESEMONGERS. Also they sell meats.

Naturally, because they are Italian, they set up shop in the heart of the Italian market. If you've never been, you really should. As soon as you open that door, it's like a bunch of cows started farting cheese straight into your face. So instead of shit particles hitting your olfactory nerve... it's pure dairy bliss. It's a scent that's a mix of virtually any kind of cheese you could ever think of... literally impossible to describe. But I'm not here to talk about cheese today. Everyone in Philly knows that Di Bruno Bros' makes dope ass cheese. That's like someone telling me I look Asian. Of course I do. No, what I'm going to talk about today is their deli. Little known fact - they also make dope ass sandwiches.



At their Rittenhouse location, they have an upstairs cafe that supposedly sells sweet-ass specialty sandwiches... things like muffulettas and crab cake brioche sandwiches. I wouldn't know. When I went they were doing "renovations" at the time. Whatever... I settled for the downstairs deli counter. For $8.99 they'll build pretty much whatever you want when it comes to meat, bread, cheese. Deciding not to screw with a good thing, I went with the classic combo of roast beef, provolone, and broccoli rabe on a French (to be ironic/because I'm a hipster) baguette.



Shit son, those Italian dudes... they start by layering the bread with a cm solid of sliced cheese - good cheese - then stack on another cm layer of oily greens (the best kind of greens), and finally pile on layer after layer of roast beef. They legit packed more silky tender meat in this sandwich than I can quantify... but I will. It was at least a half-pound... easy. Aside from that, there's not much I can do to explain why it tastes good. It just does. I don't really have any complaints about a sandwich that weigh in close to a pound yo.