Do you remember Taylor Gourmet? It was a huge hit a while back, especially after Obama and Biden went there for Philly-style subs in 2013. All of a sudden there were 17 (I think) locations in the Washington area, plus a couple in Chicago. Five years later, the chain filed for bankruptcy. It was purchased by new owners A year or so later it was purchased by new owners returned at three locations, but it hasn’t generated much excitement.
Meanwhile, the founder of the original Taylor Gourmet, Casey Patten, opened Grazie Grazie, and since then has gained and held a popular following while holding it to two locations, one at the Wharf and one Downtown. I went to the downtown location at 1875 K Street. Well, actually, it’s around the corner on 19th, but the office building is creatively called 1875 K.
I arrived at 11:45 am, comfortably before the 12:05 pm rush. If you look carefully on the right, you’ll see that there’s some outside seating, three tables in all.
The place already was busy with carryout orders when I arrived, and there’s a separate waiting/pickup area to one side. That’s where you find the three consoles on which you can order if you didn’t order ahead. You can’t order at the counter, you can’t customize the meats as I prefer to do. You can, however, personalize your sandwich to some degree — see here. I chose the “no tomatoes option” (no cost or savings) and added cherry peppers for a buck. Then I sat at one of the tables facing the counter.
So far, it was pretty impersonal, but when your order is ready, a server brings it to your table on a dead run. I’d ordered an “8+1” a combination of Genoa salami, hot capicola, prosciutto, and sharp provolone, dressed with lettuce, onion, no tomato, thank you, some herbs and oil and vinegar. Here’s my sandwich —
I picked up half and the bread was warm and fragrant. This was a very good bread, light but with an outstanding crust. It’s a lot like the bread at Capo Deli.
The abundant red onion dominated my first bite, so I pulled some out and ate it separately. At that point I noted the absence of any cherry peppers — actually the absence of all of the cherry peppers on earth — but shrugged it off.
I returned to the sub and took a couple of bites. The meats were good, and the sandwich was well balanced once I’d adjusted the onion. Still, the flavor of the meats was not quite – not quite as great as they look. They certainly hadn’t been sliced to order, and I fear that the remarkable efficiency of Grazie Grazie may come at some cost.
Still, it was a very good sub, and if nothing else, that bread will bring me back.
That and the variety of subs. I’m eager to try their cheesesteak. I’m under some popular pressure to identify the area’s best cheesesteak, and places that offer cheesesteaks that offer hard rolls, a threshold requirement, don’t seem to be common in the region. If you know of any, please let me know.
There are other promising subs, and I really don’t want to sound less than enthusiastic about Grazie Grazie. The sub, as I said, was really very good, one that I enjoyed, and if you’re downtown or on The Wharf, it’s the best Italian. Do try Grazie Grazie, and give me your thoughts about their subs, and what I should try next.
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