Alotta's Delicatessen: 9-15-2007

So good.

First, sorry for the bad pictures. My camera's battery is dead, and couldn't wait to charge it before I ate.

Alotta's Deli is one of those places that you could pass by a million times and never think to go in. A small, unassuming storefront off Foothill Expressway in Los Altos, near the Lucky's (nee Albertson's, nee Lucky's) Alotta's doesn't beg for you to try their sandwiches.

What I'm realizing now is a Los Altos-Mountain View institution, Alotta's Deli is the perfect local deli. Good food and efficent yet taciturn service. There's a lot to be said for that. The guy that takes your order - the owner, or at very least the manager, seems to recognize 75% of the people that come in. He doesn't spend time chatting with anyone, as the line is nearly always out the door. As a result, the wait for a sammich is never more than a few minutes.

Alotta's makes some of the best turkey sandwiches in the bay area. No joke. They're simple, yet absolutely fantastic.

mmmmm

There are two reasons for this. These are simple, but the make a world of difference.

1.) House baked sourdough rolls;
2.) House roasted turkey.

These are such simple, simple things. If you can't cook turkey, you should probably be shot, especially if, like Alotta's, you're just cooking the breast. With today's cooking technology it should be a snap for anyone.

Some sandwich purveyors like to bandy about deli meat names like Boar's Head or Columbus, but which is fine for cured meats salami like meats, but for roastable deli meats, you should be doing it yourself. I might be talking out of my ass here, but it's probably cheaper. Without a doubt, though, it's tastier.

Good bread is a little bit trickier, but it ain't that hard. It has a grand total of about 4 ingredients, and is also super cheap to make. Flour, yeast water and oil.

Why don't more delis do this? Ugh. I dunno.

Anyway, the sandwich, with its tender and moist turkey, in between a crunchy on the outside, yet warm and soft in the middle sourdough roll, was, as it has been everytime, absolutely wonderful. The vegetables nice too: A good, solid portion of green leaf lettuce (don't get me started on the use of iceberg, I'm SURE I'll rant about that later), and juicy chunky tomatoes. hmmm. I'm drooling. They also normally come pickles and peppers, but it would a travesty to ruin the perfect turkey with such a sour-spicy combo.

Anyone that knows me knows I fucking love sandwiches. It should be apparent by the fact that I started a blog dedicated to eating sandwiches. I especially love turkey sandwiches. Alotta's makes a fucking amazing turkey sandwich. If this place was close enough to my work, I'd eat there daily... and never fucking get sick of it.

Go to Alotta's.