Torpedo's Subs and More (new on Diversey)

I’d recently noticed a new food sign on Diversey just west of Laramie.

Having some work in the neighborhood the other day, I stopped by with a good friend, parking in their convenient lot. We were greeted warmly by owner / cook, Carl,

as well as his smiling mom working the register, and beautiful helper Alicia. They have only been open two weeks and are still refining the menu and methods of operation.

My friend wanted to order the “Hot Italian Beef.” I thought this unfair – few places produce a beef that passes muster, and most of them are dedicated to that to the near point of exclusion. We decided to split one and order from there. (While I was distracted on my cell phone, my friend ordered it with cheese!) “Hot Italian Beef” with sweet peppers and “gravy” on the side.

I grabbed a hunk of meat from under the offending cheese and was pleasantly surprised. The beef was of perfect consistency, slightly toothsome, but not tooth-picking-some. The flavor was all cow. Dipped into the jous, the medley of herbs and spices sparkled. Combined with the great bread, and we had a beef of beef-a-thon worthiness. What set this apart was the peppers, which had a complexity of flavor that I had not experienced in a pepper before. I learned from Carl that he specially buys his hot and sweet peppers fresh, and they are locally grown from special hybrid seeds from Hungary.


Based upon the evidence consumed, we proceeded to order lunch! First up, a mighty-fine Greek salad with some high quality feta and perfect kalamata olives.


In further speaking with Carl, who has worked in many well-known Chicago kitchens, it was apparent that he was particularly proud of his homemade soups and chili.

The cream of broccoli, was a bit under-seasoned, but was clean flavored. I found the viscosity perfect, neither to thick or thin. (At this point, I think the table settings were being modified for my camera.)


French onion soup was served in a sourdough bread bowl, topped with cheese and some garlic toast. Very, very, good – points being off for the cheese not being browned.


While I’m sure someone will chime in with, “that’s not real chili,” (and feel free!) this was classic chili in the Chicago sense. Simple flavors, hearty fare. We dueled over the last drops. I’m craving some today.


We’ve debated the definition and abuse of the term “homemade” before. In this case, these soups and chili were clearly homemade as the word should be intended.

Finally, we finished with the signature Torpedo sub. This was no cheap-coldcut, slap-dash affair, but high quality meat and cheeses, surely recently sliced and assembled with care. Definitely a great sandwich.


A very tasty, too-large meal at a bargain price.

I look forward to returning to Torpedo’s soon to sample the daily soups and the Italian ice as well as the other subs including the lime chicken. As the weather changes, soup season comes to fruition.

In this era of a Slubway on every corner with a Quitnos, Pootbelly, and Limpy Johns in between, I root for the survival of independent lunch spots that strive to be better than the average. Torpedo’s is one I will support.

Torpedo’s Subs and More
5211 W. Diversey (just west of Laramie)
773-622-7060
Mon-Sat 11:00-8:00
Closed Sundays
(cash only)

-ramon
edited to correct cross street and then hours change

Very impressive, I am in that hood often and will definitely stop and check them out.

Ramon wrote:5211 W. Diversey (just west of Long)

I promise this is written not in the spirit of know-it-all-ism rather, just to make sure the chow can be found easily by all--

Wouldn't that be just west of Laramie, two blocks east of Long?

Or is the address 5411?

Thanks for the report. Always great to discover a place where the proprietor cares about serving up quality food at reasonable prices.

Well, Laramie is indeed 5200 west, but I don't know if that qualifies you as a know-it-all.

Tapler,

You are of course correct. The proper cross street is Laramie and I'll edit the OP to reflect this.

BTW, I think at least a bit of know-it-all-ness is a(n) LTH requirement.

-ramon

Just tried the Lime Cilantro Chicken Sandwich at Torpedo's and I had to share this culinary gem! The taste is unlike any chicken sandwich I've ever tried and I highly recommend everyone try it at their first opportunity! It's tender, tasty and almost too big... for the price, it's an unbelievable deal. I think chicken breast sandwiches can be pretty boring, and I was pleasantly surprised to find this sandwich juicy, tasty and anything but boring.

Torpedo's has a top spot in my "go-food" future and I've found a great place to get subs and sandwiches, etc for Football Sundays (and more)!

Happy eating!

Tried to go there this morning. Got there about 11:20 AM. Sign said "We're Open". They weren't. Menu posted in the window said they open at 11am. They weren't. Doubt I'll be back.

To Midas,
This is Carl Drace owner and operator of Torpedos. My sincerest apologies for your experience on Saturday Oct. 6. I would like to remedy the situation. Please contact me via email at Torpedosinc@aol.com or call the restaurant during normall business hours Tuesday through Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 773-622-7060
I would also like to apologize to anyone else who had a problem that day.
Please feel free to contact me at the same email and phone number. I guarantee this won"t happen again.
Sincereley,
Carl Drace
Torpedos Inc.[/b]

Carl, I appreciate the effort to sign up here to apologize. But I won't email or call. I prefer my first visit to a place to be in complete anonymity. While my reviews mean nothing to anybody but myself, I still prefer them to be uninfluenced.

Had some extra time today at the lunch hour, so I drove over to Torpedo to try out the place. Closed. Sign in the window said: "Closed for medical emergency". I'll try again, of course, but I'll call ahead before I make the trip.

midas wrote:Carl, I appreciate the effort to sign up here to apologize. But I won't email or call. I prefer my first visit to a place to be in complete anonymity. While my reviews mean nothing to anybody but myself, I still prefer them to be uninfluenced.

I think he is more worried about the "Doubt I'll be back." part more than anything else.

midas wrote:While my reviews mean nothing to anybody but myself, .....

Midas,

They mean something to me and and the rest of your fellow LTHers.

Far as Torpedo’s goes, I'll definitely be giving them a try, Ramon's pics looked good and price seem fair.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

midas wrote:While my reviews mean nothing to anybody but myself, .....

Midas,

They mean something to me and and the rest of your fellow LTHers.

Far as Torpedo’s goes, I'll definitely be giving them a try, Ramon's pics looked good and price seem fair.

Enjoy,
Gary

PM sent.

As promised I did make it back to Torpedo to give it a try. I ordered the Italian sub and my wife ordered the Torpedo.

First, make no mistake, this is not Subway. The sandwiches are put together with care and it took a fairly long time to put them together. We didn't try any of the other offerings, but as far as the sandwiches go, they are very inexpensive for what you get.

The quantity and quality of the ingredients used is very good. Unfortunately it just tasted a little bland. The bread they use is very good and has some tooth to it. But between the bread and the strong Provolone, it overpowered everything else. I pruned the cheese by about 80% but there still wasn't a lot of any other flavors coming to the forefront.

The Capicolla was probably the biggest problem. I like mine on the spicy side and this wasn't. It should be one of the dominant flavors in an Italian sub. The other dominant flavor should be the dressing. Again, a little on the bland side.

I know this sounds pretty negative, but I really don't want it to sound that way. Compared to the chain sub shops this place is truly gourmet food. It's not a convenient location for me, but if I'm in the area I'd go back without hesitation. But I've been looking for the ultimate sub since Aldo's closed down and at this point, I'm still looking.

“Hi This is Carl, owner of Torpedo’s,
I just wanted to keep everybody updated on the progress of Torpedo’s. There will be new store hours beginning Tuesday October 16th 2007. (Monday – Saturday) 11a.m. to 8 p.m. Thank you for your patronage. “


Chicago Tribune: Carl Drase is a guy I'd like to have a beer with. There's something authentic about him -- a gregarious working-class fella who's spent his whole life in restaurants. He bartended at the Saloon Steakhouse and managed the front of the house at a restaurant in Skokie's North Shore Hotel.

"I finally realized after 20-some years busting my butt for other people," he said, "I might as well do it for myself. ”Drase poured his life savings and 100-hour workweeks into Torpedo's Subs and More, a corner diner-turned-sandwich shop that opened a month ago in the Cragin neighborhood.

So how does he separate his sandwich shop from the Subways, Jimmy Johns and Jerry's Delis of the world?
Drase believes it's with his hot peppers. His friend owns a farm near Michigan City, where they grow ginormous banana peppers, jalapenos and sweet peppers. Drase receives the peppers by the bushel, cuts them up and marinates them in salt and oil. They have that robust, resonant peppery taste, and they're hot.

Drase puts the peppers in everything. They're in his homemade chili (a thick, cumin-hinted stew using ground instead of chunk beef, with a tomatoey finish), the made-daily-from-scratch soups (occasionally he whips up a red pepper soup), on Italian Beef, and just about anything that needs a few thousand ticks up the Scoville scale.


Chicago Mag The Dish: Torpedo's (5211 W. Diversey Ave.; 773-622-7060), a new Cragin sub shop, takes its peppers seriously. “I put three different types of peppers on the Italian beef,” says Carl Drase, the owner.

“I have a friend who owns a farm in Michigan and he has these special jalapeños and banana peppers. They’re hybrid seeds from Hungary. Really spicy but full of flavor.”
Drase, a restaurant veteran who has logged time at Cité, Harry Caray’s, and The Saloon, gets his bread fresh from Turano every morning, and makes his own soup and chili. “It took me four months of working every day [to open Torpedo's]. I learned how to be an electrician, a carpenter, and a chef.”

Erm.

cilantro wrote:Erm.

Cilantro,

Not sure what erm means, but to Carl, thanks for posting the new hours but in the future it is not necessary to post cut and paste from news sources to LTHForum about your restaurant.

LTHForum is for restaurant discussion, not restaurant advertising.

Regards,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Cilantro,

Not sure what erm means

It means, "LTHForum is for restaurant discussion, not restaurant advertising."

But I thought I should let someone in authority make that call.

Found myself back at Torpedo’s Wednesday. They actually had five kinds of soup: Tomato Florentine, French Onion with Swiss, Chicken Noodle, Cream of Potato … I settled for the Spicy Roasted Pepper with Garlic Basil Croutons.

It was so good I forgot my camera. Nice complex heat offset with a bit of dairy rounded off with the croutons. Far beyond sandwich shop fare. I could eat a bowl everyday.

Next I had the lime chicken sandwich.

Carl marinates the chicken breast in a lime concoction and then gently poaches them in stock. The result is moist, tender, and flavorful. The sandwich is finished with cilantro and a fresh squeeze of lime. Fantastic, and I think could be perfected with a light dusting of sea salt.

I left with a quart of chili to go that the family devoured before I had a chance to sample again. Guess I’ll have to go back.


In talking with Carl, I forgive him for his faux pas above. Torpedo’s has only been open about five weeks and already had been written about on LTH, The Dish, and The Stew. He has no idea how this stuff works -- just a passion for his food and the success of his business. He actually found my Fickr page before he found LTH and has some of my pics inexpertly printed and hung on his front window. I plan to reprint the hi res versions off Flickr to help him out.

-ramon

deuce wrote:“Hi This is Carl, owner of Torpedo’s,
I just wanted to keep everybody updated on the progress of Torpedo’s. There will be new store hours beginning Tuesday October 16th 2007. (Monday – Saturday) 11a.m. to 8 p.m. Thank you for your patronage.“

. . . gotta love a guy who quotes himself, though.

"It's a shame that's my 100th post," he said.

This is Carl from Torpedos'. My apologies for yesterday October 24th. We were closed due to mechanical problems with our walk-in cooler. The restaurant is still in it's infancy, and we're trying our best to serve you. We're up and running now, if anyone had a problem yeterday, please feel free to email me at torpedosinc@aol.com.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Carl

The illustrious Hammond and I visited Torpedo's today.



We ordered a Torpedo and an Italian. There wasn't all that much difference between the two sandwiches-- the Torpedo had ham and American cheese, making it more hoagie-like, where the Italian was more focused on Italian cold cuts. It was a lot easier to like the Torpedo, thinking of it as an American sandwich, and having the nearest Quizno's or Mr. Sub for a comparison, than the Italian, comparing its soft, very American bread to the crusty D'Amato's bread at Bari, or the various choices at Riviera a little further west.

We also ordered chili, which didn't do much for either of us, kind of watery and not much kick; much better was a spicy red pepper soup, accompanied by garlic-butter crouton, which Hammond can be seen inserting into his soup per instructions here:



I'd agree both with the folks who admired the quality of the cold cuts compared to other sub shops likely to be found nearby-- and with the folks who thought things might be a little on the bland side. But to judge by the other customers who came in while we were there, the local folks recognize that Torpedo's has stepped up the level of quality available to them within a modest distance, and there's no denying that the folks who run it are nice as can be and eager to please and deliver a quality product within their customer's expectations (I may not like that kind of soft sub roll, but plenty of other people seem to). Sadly, owner Carl was not in the restaurant-- he's in the hospital having tests. Hopefully it's just something minor and probably new-business-stress-related, and he'll soon be back alongside his very friendly mom and the other staffer (presumably Alicia mentioned above).


Hammond, searching for the perfect adjective

The soup was the stand-out for me: I like the slight sizzle of the red pepper soup, the minestrone was full of fresh veg with a pleasingly clunky homemade feel, and the cream of broccoli (something I would usually avoid) was not sickeningly creamy and the fresh flowerets were very pleasing.

I liked the sandwiches, and was just fantasizing about going back for another today. The meat was good, but the bread...not much. For the price point, I couldn't expect these guys to serve some kind of artisanal roll, but I almost felt the meat was demeaned, even insulted by the bread. If you're aiming for the $4-5 range, and serving good quality meat, I'm not sure if there are options here.

People here are a big plus, Carl's mom and the other nice lady working the counter were very welcoming, friendly, and real.

For some etymology behind torpedoes, subs and grinders, see:
http://www.mtannoyances.com/?p=174 -- note, New Jersey seems to lead the nation in names for these sammies.

The thing is, I think a big puffy pillow of a roll does what pillows have traditionally been used for-- to smother the life out of stuff.

You just taste the meat and dressing a lot more on a crackly hard roll with relatively little fluffy bread inside, as at Bari. I felt like the bread was keeping me from getting to the good quality meat while I was eating it.

I’ve continued to frequent Torpedo’s. It has continued to evolve, will continue more, and deserves continued support. For one thing, the room is greatly improved by a wall-to-wall mural.


They now have french fries and some other fried items. They say they will soon add hotdogs to the menu. Delivery is now an additional option.

Torpedo’s has changed their bread sourcing for the better. The best choice now is the 8” that comes on an actual torpedo roll with differentiation between crust and crumb.


Soups continue to be stellar, but the weather is a-changing. I still like salads for some reason. I think it’s my never-ending-quest to avoid scurvy.


B and I recently popped in for some shared nachos.


Followed by a shared Brownie Sundae:


Carl, his mom, and employees are all great hosts. While they may not understand this forum, or a wacky man taking pictures of his food, they do understand how to run a sandwich shop, and are getting better at it day-by-day. Too many sub shops have been run out of town by chains (I still miss Jan’s and Coast to Coast among others). Stop the madness!

-ramon

My aunt and I had an excellent lunch at Torpedo's today-- the subs (I had the Torpedo) and fries were tasty, but the real standout was the cream of mushroom soup. The soup was thick without being pasty and very flavorful-- in addition to the mushrooms, it might have had leeks. Also the service was attentive and pleasant without being intrusive. I don't think the owner was there, but the employees were great.

Since the bread was commented on upthread, I will mention that the bread is Gonella and was just right for supporting those Italian meats, without being overwhelmed and made soggy by the giardinera I had as an add-on. Also, they do have hot dogs now, with various combinations named after members of some sports team or other-- for example, the Fukudome has wasabi mustard, etc.

Thank you Ramon for bringing this place to my attention-- I live just down Diversey, but I never would have checked Torpedos out without your recommendation. Hooray for LTH!

Cheers, Jen

I joined this site just to say that Torpedo's made eight picky eaters so happy! The food was fresh, the quantities generous, and everything had eye appeal! The chilli and the turkey & swiss torpedos garnered the most accolades but everything was great!
Thanks, Carl

I drove by Torpedo's last weekend and there was a "Retail Space for Lease" sign in the window. Is this place gone? If so, too bad-- I think it would have been a big success in a better location.
Jen

I drive by there almost daily and I "think" the sign is on the space next door.

Sorry, but I drove by today and the sign in the window said "Coming soon, tacos, tortas, and burritos" or something like that, with the name of a different place.
Jen