Bari vs. D'amatos

I heard the other day that Bari no longer uses D'amatos bread for the sub sandwiches? Not sure if this is true?

But really, I want to know what everyone thinks of the subs they make at D'amatos compared to Bari. Been getting subs from Bari for years but have yet to try a sandwich from D'amato.

Too bad they aren't closer together or you could try both.

But seriously. I hope they aren't feuding. Bari sausage needs to be on DAmato's pizza.

It is true, and I don't think anyone got to the bottom of what was potentially a neighbor rivalry. But shortly after they stopped providing the bread next door, D'amatos started selling their own sandwiches.

D'amatos serves up a great sandwich. Bari's house fermented jars of giardiniera are my favorite in town by a mile. Bring a jar with you from Bari and apply it and you have one of the best sandwiches in the city.

JeffB wrote:Too bad they aren't closer together or you could try both.

smart ass. Im gonna go today and try D'amatos sub after work

laikom wrote:

D'amatos serves up a great sandwich. Bari's house fermented jars of giardiniera are my favorite in town by a mile. Bring a jar with you from Bari and apply it and you have one of the best sandwiches in the city.

Gonna do this today and bring it over to Grandbar to eat with a glass of scotch and amaretto

AlexAC wrote:

laikom wrote:

D'amatos serves up a great sandwich. Bari's house fermented jars of giardiniera are my favorite in town by a mile. Bring a jar with you from Bari and apply it and you have one of the best sandwiches in the city.

Gonna do this today and bring it over to Grandbar to eat with a glass of scotch and amaretto

That sounds like a nice plan. It wouldn't be a bad idea to invite a few friends, or LTHers, or JeffB with you, then add a proscuitto and bocconcini, and the italian beef from bari to the menu for dinner. I have plans for tonight otherwise I'd invite myself...

Report back! I love Bari but I'd put the sandwiches behind D'Amato's, Graziano's, Riviera, and Conte di Savoia among those in the rotation. The last of which is firing on all cylinders and gives you bread choice (D'Amato or Gonella, aka hard or soft as my kid says). As does Riv.

By the way, this is as good a place to remind people as any: one of the great menu sleepers in all of Chicago is the Italian sub from Art of Pizza on Ashland. I don't like much from Art, especially the pizza. So I was astounded to see them deliver my son a fantastic Italian sub with high quality meats for a very reasonable price. Maybe most notable is the size of the thing;it's gigantic. I don't know if it's a loss leader, but they can't be making money on it

laikom wrote:

AlexAC wrote:

laikom wrote:

D'amatos serves up a great sandwich. Bari's house fermented jars of giardiniera are my favorite in town by a mile. Bring a jar with you from Bari and apply it and you have one of the best sandwiches in the city.

Gonna do this today and bring it over to Grandbar to eat with a glass of scotch and amaretto

That sounds like a nice plan. It wouldn't be a bad idea to invite a few friends, or LTHers, or JeffB with you, then add a proscuitto and bocconcini, and the italian beef from bari to the menu for dinner. I have plans for tonight otherwise I'd invite myself...

EVERYONES INVITED!! But for real, my girlfriend is the Bartender at Grandbar right down the street on Ashland from 4-10pm. Almost 90% of the time, im the only one in there so anyone is welcome to swing by and bring some food to eat.

Haven't we exhausted this topic to death yet?

I wonder who bakes the bread for Bari now? Is it coal fired?

Definitely points off Bari, since it SUCKS as a grocery.

And who's slicing the meats fresh for each and every sub, goddamnit?!?!

I've had a handful of sandwiches from D'Amatos and while their bread is great (and probably better, though in a rush I bought one of Bari's retail "extra long" French loaves and thought it really was almost identical to what is sold next door for $1 more); meats and cheese same (though D'A's IB was lousy, even though they both may or may not serve a commercially made product), lettuce and tomato certainly same, and finally that detail stuck in the craw of those pesky Eastcoasters, does anyone properly dress the subs with oil and vinegar in Chicago?!

The tipping point is the giardiniera. Winner, Bari.

Fontano's mothership on Polk dresses the sandwiches w/oil and ving.

Jazzfood wrote:Fontano's mothership on Polk dresses the sandwiches w/oil and ving.

Yup, I like those. Squishy bread and all.

I also like Vinnie's a block or so West of D'A and Bari on Grand. On par subs, but warm welcoming atmosphere wins sometimes.

Yes they are still feuding, to the point where the people at D'Amato's give you the stink eye if you walk in with a Bari bag from next door. I once got a reprimand for opening a Bari sandwich in the D'Amato's dining room (I was doing a sub taste test).

The sub at D'Amato's is far and away the better sandwich. I've never enjoyed the Bari Italian sub, with the crumbly bread and funky, musty giardinera. The really excellent sandwich to get at Bari is the Italian Beef.

eating while walking wrote:Yes they are still feuding, to the point where the people at D'Amato's give you the stink eye if you walk in with a Bari bag from next door. I once got a reprimand for opening a Bari sandwich in the D'Amato's dining room (I was doing a sub taste test).

The sub at D'Amato's is far and away the better sandwich. I've never enjoyed the Bari Italian sub, with the crumbly bread and funky, musty giardinera. The really excellent sandwich to get at Bari is the Italian Beef.

To each their own. Ive always liked the Bari Italian Sub a great deal myself - tho my fave sandwich there might be their Italian Sausage (with added provolone and giard).

Theyve been fueding for a long time, which is a tragedy because to me it was the best sandwich in the city when they used D'Amato's bread (yes, Ive tried Graziano's - never liked it as much. I love Da Riv and am a regular, but while their meat was better, their bread wasnt in the same league IMHO..have had Da Riv twice in the past 3 weeks, and the meats and cheese still make their Will Special one of the best sandwiches around).

Since the Bari/D'amato fued began, Ive done a head-to-head comparison twice IIRC - both times picking up from Bari, and then from D'Amato and eating outside on the tables. Both times (once with 3 friends in tow), the consensus for us was that the Bari sandwich was the clear winner. The D'amato's bread was better, we thought - but the sandwich itself just didnt come together...and even with what we felt was slightly worse bread, the Bari sandwich was still excellent.

Picked up several sandwiches over the summer - on many weekends I pass by in the morning on the highway, call in an order, stop in, and pick up a sandwich before heading back to the highway. For almost all those sandwiches recently Ive made the call to Bari's - and a great majority of the time it was the Sausage sammich that I chose to pick up..

c8w

c8w wrote:To each their own. Ive always liked the Bari Italian Sub a great deal myself - tho my fave sandwich there might be their Italian Sausage (with added provolone and giard).

Even though I really dislike their sub and giardinera, there's still good stuff at Bari. I go to D'Amato's for subs and pizza - by far my favorite pizza in Chicago is D'Amato's sheet pan pizza with mushrooms, onions and green peppers. Bari is the place for hot sandwiches like Italian beefs and meatball subs.

The meatball sub at Bari is much better than the one next door.

Having tried both yesterday I definitely prefer Bari. Now I like crusty bread but my sub from D'amatos literally crumbled apart in my hands like it had been made with saltines as I tried to eat it. The meats and cheese at Bari were better as well and I also managed to find some really good Balsamic Vinegar. As far as subs go I'm in the Bari camp.

I grabbed some zeppola at D'amatos that were really good and the rest of the bakery items looked very nice so I may be back but I'm not sure it's worth the drive for either place from Oak Park other than to know I gave it a shot.

Go to Vinnie's down the block. They use D'amatos bread and have meat that is almost equal to Bari's. It is as close as you can get to the good ole' Bari's on D'amatos.

The bread that D'amatos provides to Vinnie's is slightly different than the standard in-house D'amatos bread that D'amatos uses on their own sandwiches. I prefer the bread at Vinnie's. It has a crunchier outside and airier inside. It is what I remember from the old days at Bari

My only gripe with Vinnie's is that their vinegar is sometimes (all the time?) balsamic. So if you get an Italian and do not want Balsamic, make sure you state it.