A Stromboli Like No Where in the World

Nearly every region or city has its signature sandwich. Maine has the lobster roll, Philadelphia has the Philly steak sandwich, Chicago has the hotdog and San Diego has the fish taco. In Bloomington--its the Stromboli sandwich. Available in the whole and half versions, crusty, French-like bread with sesame seeds is coated in side with pizza sauce, then piled high with crumbled Italian sausage, onions and mozzarella cheese. The sandwich is then slide into a pizza oven to melt the cheese and slightly toast the bread.

Then comes the service. No strom can be served without a heaping handful of bread and butter slices--not dill pickles or sweet gherkins--bread and butter pickles. I don't actually know why. But I do know its not a strom until the pickles are added.

Back in the day, before college co-eds shunned cholesterol and meat protein, stroms were the "delivered-to-you-door" late-night favorite snack. The lenght of the sandwich was directly related to the date situation of the evening.

Whole, 12-inch versions were usually eaten by us poor souls who were left at the sorority house on a Saturday night. In between bites, we'd grumble and curse the frat jerks we'd been dating for months who then decided to invite other chickies to the world's greatest college weekend.

Smaller sandwiches were reserved for Sunday nights or mid week snacks. Being smaller, they were easier to eat and caused less guilt in front of the 90 pound "sisters".

Where do you go for the best Bloomington Stroms?

The answer is simple--Kirkwood Avenue. If you're under 21 or prefer soft drinks to hard ones, it's The Cafe Pizzaria, and Nicks English Hut if you're over the legal age. They're only a few doors apart. Both are authentic and delicious. Your choice depends on the type of beverage you prefer to wash down every morsel. Most of us prefer a cold beverage of the hops and malt variety. More important, both Nicks and the Pizzaria have been landmarks in Bloomington for generations...and sometimes you'll see representatives of each one sitting all at one table gobbling up every crumb of sausage and fightening over the last pickle.