Cucina Italiana

Well, just hopped, on the megabus after grabbing lunch here.
My order today: A «small» (**cough** bull%&#* **cough**) turkey sub with provolone cheese, tomatoes and onions with extra mayo, and granulated garlic sprinkled on top. Man, they do make huge, «small» subs. My order came out to $ 6.97.
My take: The turkey was standard processed turkey, a bit on the bland side. The tomatoes and onions though, were fresh and yummy, as I am a big fan of both veggies. Overall the bread was very good, and the sandwich was good for it being tasteless processed turkey. Subway’s processed turkey tastes better than this place.
I have yet to try any other meats there, but if I were you, I’d skip the turkey. I’m only judging this place on the meat/​sandwich I had on this visit. I heard good reviews on the Italian sub, so I’ll try it again, however on the way from SEPTA I saw another place that uses Boar’s Head meats in 30^th Street, so I might not return to this place again (Old Nelson Food Company– haven’t been there, but will go because of the Boar’s Head brand being there)

I didn’t even get a chance to eat the food because the wait staff was very rude and also racist. My sister and I wanted some authentic Italian food in South Philly so we stopped by Cucina since it claimed to be Zagat rated. The waitress seemed to dislike the fact that we even stepped into the restaurant and we seated ourselves. We ordered our food and I ordered a Manhattan after the waitress explained to me that it was a whisky drink. I changed my mind and wanted to change the drink to a Long Island. She complained that she had just made the Manhattan and would have to charge me for it. Any other restaurant would’ve just made a new drink. I tell her to make the other drink and just leave one charge on my bill and sit down. She returned the Manhattan to the table and I went back to the bar to return it. Eventually I did get my Long Island but by that time we figured that they were taking extra long on tiny pizzas because we were Black people in an Italian neighborhood. We just paid for the drink and left.

Does CI have the best Italian hoagie I’ve ever had? Negatory. Are they pretty much the only place I will eat in 30^th St before catching the Amtrak to NY Penn Station? You know it.
CI is a counter service deli/​sandwich shop near the main terminal. They have a good selection of sandwiches and sides – some of the sides look incredible, in fact, like the marinated artichokes – and are very reasonably priced. They have a Subway-​ish model of service, where you order a sandwich, they start to assemble it with pre-​packs of meats, and then you point out which toppings you’d like on it.
Their Italian hoagie is not too bad, with mediocre bread (a little too soft), and decent meats. My main qualm is with their hot pepper selection. You can opt for jalapenos, which are hot but not right for an Italian hoagie, or their hot pepper relish, which is oddly sweet, in a gherkiny kind of way.
That said, they are vastly superior to the other options in the station, and I’ve never had a bad experience here.

I heart hoagies! I meant to review Cucina Italiana the last time that I passed through 30^th Street Station, but it slipped my mind… cuz, well, it’s not really –that– memorable.
Regardless, it’s as good eats as it gets in 30^th Street Station, as far as I’m concerned. When your other options are Mickey D’s and Cosi (which I abhor), having the yummy and filling option of Cucina Italiana is a wonderful thing.
For roughly $ 7, you can score a «regular» sandwich on fluffy bread with a huge amount of meat. Y’know how Subway uses one of those paper-​wrapped prepackaged cuts of deli meat? My traditional Italian sandwich at the Cucina came with –two– of those. And they’re not messing around. Then topped off with fresh, crispy lettuce, tomatoes, and thin translucent rings of onions, sweet peppers, and a generous squirt of oil and vinegar, the resulting monstrosity is easily enough to be filling for two people (or in my case, two meals for one and a half people).
Can you think of any better train food? I’m gonna go with… no.