Chubby Mary’s

Boo, they just raised their prices. They went from reasonably priced, to now I have to think about spending 10 bucks on a sandwich. I don’t wanna have to think about not being able to stuff my face. I will probably be making less trips over there now. Booooooooooooo

Oh. My. Goodness.
I work in the immediate area and have stomped up and down this block (if not the whole neighborhood) however I have never even glanced at this place — not even while I was next door at Artichoke or across the street at Crocodile Lounge.
I’m not sure where this store came from but I am glad it’s here. The brainchild of Artichoke Basile’s, Chubby Mary’s is pure bliss. A tiny storefront, with two sweethearts carefully churning large pots of «gravy» (marina sauce) and the tastiest looking meatballs imaginable. The offerings here are simply delicious.
I went with the Mean Streets (minus the fresh mozzerella) and my colleague went with the Chicken Cutlet, Broccoli Rabe topped with provolone sandwich. These bad boys were heavy, lovingly packed with meaty goodness. We also got the $ 4 black & white cookie which we thought would not be worth the $$ and boy were we wrong! The cookie was phenomenal! I’m not a fan of B/​W cookies but this was like a cake. Nice and plump on the bottom with smooth, creamy frosting on top. Not too sweet. It was just perfect.
The chicken sandwich was amazing! Definitely needs to be eaten while hot as the joy begins to wear off as it cools. The Mean Streets?! That’s a MEAN sandwich. Pun intended. Layered with fresh cuts of meat piled on, it reminded me of the Italian Stallion that Mike’s Big Mouth serves on Bailey Avenue in Buffalo.
No seating. Cash only. ATM machine right outside the front doors.
Go here — like right now.
I’ll be back!

Took THREE FREAKIN HOURS to delivery to my apt, seriously, what is going on here?! I called after an hour and a half and the guy had no idea what I was talking about and then claimed my order was on its way. Then i called after two and a half hours and another guy who could barely speak English kept claiming my order was delivered. I told him I never got it and to just cancel my order, then he kept raising his voice at me saying they are very busy and to just wait for my order. At the three hour mark, I get a call from the delivery guy who claims my street doesnt exist! I wanted to refuse it but he started giving me a sob story about how he does all the deliveries for Artichoke’s pizza and he had to drive to 53^rd St, then 96^th St and then back down to the East Village. Seriously?! Why would they even offer to deliver that far?!

This is a great sandwich place. The meatballs are not the best i’ve ever had, but then again i’m italian and my standards are very high. But everything else is spot on, including their sauce which is key. Reasonably price, filling and delicious: what more do you want?

The sign on the door says «Best Hero’s in Town». I think that means the best in the world!
They are all absolutely yummie, especially the ones with broccoli rabe and provolone! They are all absolutely huge, be sure to go with an enormous apetite, or someone to share with.

Only once during the period of my life when I could reasonably be called an adult can I recall sharing a sandwich. It was one of them chicken cutlet deals from this place, with half of it going to my roommate. It cost eight American dollars for the both of us to be satisfied.
But do not let that frighten you. These sandwiches are mortal, just like you and me, and can be taken down whole hog by a regular ol’ human. It’s ambitious, sure, and I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re looking to be light on your feet in the next few hours, but every meal has its role. The chicken sandwiches I’ve had have all been very good; the Mean Streets, a mix of meats with mozzarella and red peppers that’ll cost you a bit more, is worth the shop’s weight in plutonium. And if you ever think to yourself, ‘Hey, I sure could go for, like, two meatballs in a cup,’ then Chubby Mary’s will be your salvation.

Another place having walked past it countless times, finally decided to give it a try. I think I’ve learned that any place that has ‘Chubby’ in the name, is super! I was starving, so I went the staple — Chicken Parm, but smelled the onions and peppers, added that on the hero. Well BAAM! Bread was perfectly toasty/​crispy on outside, fresh and soft on the inside. A hearty hero, made me take a quick nap. I can honestly say it may be the best chicken parm hero I’ve had — at least since moving to NYC 8+ years ago. YUM, can’t wait to get another hero, maybe tomorrow for lunch!
And the Mexican (pretty sure) making my hero was friendly and I noticed he took much pride in making it perfect — spreading the right amount of sauce evenly, piling lotsa onions + peppers and melty cheese, the perfect amount!

Chubby Mary’s is the shit!!! Favorite sandwich is the Mean Streets (Italian hero).
Quick delivery, great service inside (Vinny is the man), and top notch sandwiches.
Consistently delicious. This is the ONLY place in the east village to get heros.
I love this place.

I’ve been here a few times this summer, always getting a «Mean Streets» (Prosciutto, ham, salami, roasted peppers, fresh mozzarella and provolone) for a paltry $ 9.50. You can’t get a turkey on whole wheat in Union Square for $ 9.50!
As I walked back to my office that first hot summer day, with a bag containing what felt like 3lbs of meat wedged between a full size Italian loaf, I thought to myself… I’ve got lunch for two days here. As I finished the first half, I sat there contemplating the impact eating the full sandwich would have to both my waistline and afternoon productivity. Needless to say I accomplished nothing that afternoon and didn’t eat dinner that night.
I’m looking forward to the weather cooling off a little because I can’t bring myself to order one of their Hot Heroes during the summer months.
Quality sandwich at a great price.

My friend ordered from this place one time and it looked delicious so I thought I’d give it a try.
I ended up getting the Meatball hero with provolone and «gravy.» First off, the sandwich is big — I wasn’t able to finish it in one sitting. But it could have been because there, for me, was way too much cheese on it. Now, I like provolone as much as the next guy, but this was coming out everywhere and it actually started stinking up the workplace. Whoops.
Another thing, and this might be uncharacteristic of heroes, but the bread was left un-​toasted and kinda cold, which contrasted strongly with the hot meatballs. However, it wasn’t hot enough to melt the aforementioned cheese that was flowing everywhere.
In summary, sufficient if you’re starving but in the East Village, there are about a million other options.

While at a bar, my friend told me to hold a bag carrying half a sandwich he had gotten at a place he called «Heroes». I held the bag and I swear that mofo had to weigh 5 pounds. «Heroes, you say?» I asked my friend. He nodded. «And it’s right on 14^th Street on your way back to Union Square.»
He really didn’t have to say anything else. When he showed me the content of the sandwich, I almost fell off my bar stool. The sandwich was loaded with meat and an insane amount of fresh mozzarella. He even took some pieces of cheese of his sandwich. For me, there is never such a thing as too much cheese — especially mozzarella. Delis get so stingy with that stuff. Not this place!
So I finally get to this spot with the sign, «Heroes» in the front. When I try to check in on Unilocal,I realize the place is actually called Chubby Mary’s.
I get the exact same sandwich my friend had ordered, Mean Streets (Prosciutto, ham, salami, roasted peppers, fresh mozzarella and provolone). Freshly sliced, by the way. Holy cow, the sandwich was HUGE. And for $ 9.50? The guy at the counter said I could save half for lunch, which I was totally planning on doing… but the whole thing ended up in my belly the very evening.
I learned 2 things that day: 1) I’m a fattie, and 2) this is going to be my new East Village sandwich spot.

Great spot for a hero, quick, fresh, cheap, and simply delicious.
Had the Veal Cutlet hero w/​onions, peppers, & provolone, I was very satisfied.
Def worth your time

I’ve eaten here twice. Both times the hero’s were HUGE.
The first experience was the Veal Cutlet Hot Hero with broccoli rabe and provolone cheese. Huge, but I found it way too greasy.
The second experience was the Mean Street Cold Hero (prosciutto, ham, salami, roasted peppers, fresh mozzarella and provolone cheese). Huge. And awesome.
The cold cut hero is the way to go here.

Quick, Cash Only, Mediocre Chicken Parm Hero — too soft bread that fell apart with the tomato sauce, not that much chicken.
Inside is definitely geared toward delivery/​takeout — no real seating, pretty much just a counter.
Will definitely be exploring other chicken parm options in the neighborhood.

Gravy means marinara sauce! The meatball sub is heavenly. It’s the same owners as Artichoke Pizza so they use all of the same great sauce, meat and cheese. This was one of the best meatball subs I’ve ever had!

Chubby Mary’s has been open for 6 months in a happening section of 14^th street between 1^st and 2^nd but has only garnered 13 reviews. This is one of those undervalued and overlooked gems that deserves our support before the Basille boys pull the plug and try another new concept here.
For those that don’t know, the proprietors of Artichoke Pizza run this business along with This Piggy Had Roast Beef which is also in the general area. The East Village has a wave of storefronts that only specialize in a single item with some slight variations (Pommes Frites, Smac, CRIF Dogs) and these guys have had no problem jumping on the bandwagon. Artichoke is an overwhelming success, having spawned a few locations in NYC and even some precious real estate in the frozen food aisle of your local supermarket or bodega.
The one spot of theirs that hasn’t made it big time yet is this location which previously housed Led Zeppole, a fabulous name that served fried oreos and zeppole which never quite took off. The place served high quality fare, but from what I recall with Artichoke being the next storefront over, it gobbled up all of their potential customers. Drunken NYU kids preferred $ 4 pizza for a late night-​snack over $ 4 in fried oreos and I can’t blame them.
The challenge is that Artichoke sucks in all the customers and this location needs to bring in uncorrelated clientele with Artichoke, otherwise they are just moving money from one entity to another instead of increasing the size of the revenue pie. That means if drunken NYU kid is walking around this area at night he either wants a hero from Chubby Mary’s or pizza from Artichoke but one won’t substitute for the other. If the next few months show these are substitute goods, expect a new concept here by the end of the year.
Sorry for the econ 101, but I’m here to tell you that I specifically come here when I want a meatball or chicken parm sandwich and I hope you do as well. The atmosphere isn’t anything to write home about (neither is Artichoke) but the ingredients are top notch. The bread is incredibly fluffy and flavorful, the meatballs I believe are the same meatballs used in the Artichoke meatball pie (meaning they are unreal) and the chicken is also fresh. The provolone is poured on twice during the sandwich creation process towards the beginning and end along with the gravy or sauce if you go the parm route. On the downside, the sandwich construction can get messy when you break the halves apart.
Overall, I like this chicken parm hero better than the one I reviewed at Parm a few weeks ago and even the baseball sized chicken parm I took down at Luigi’s in Hells Kitchen. Each half can act as a meal unto itself and all for the incredibly low price of $ 7.00, they are almost giving it away.
In closing, please support this place so it can stay open and churn out these top shelf heroes!

3.5 stars but I’ll round up. This place took up Led Zeppole’s old spot, which I am now bummed I never got to try! But anyway on to the sandwiches — I got a cold turkey sub. The bread was soooo good. I got generous portions of turkey, and the Italian seasoning made the sandwich all the better! BF got the Chicken Cutlet and was confused that «gravy» actually means sauce. We both preferred my sandwich to his — I think mine just tasted a lot fresher because of all of the veggies.
I’ll come here again when I’m in the mood for a good Italian sub.

Meatballs in a cup. My perfect snack… maybe meal. The meatballs are the size of small fists. The meat is so tender and filled with specks of herbs. The tangy flavor from the sauce along with the creaminess of the cheese just adds to the depth of flavor. 5 dollars for 2.

I got their regular Meatball sandwich and Meatball with peppers sandwich and they are at merely $ 7. Each hoagie is the size of foot long and they gave you about 4 or 5 huge huge meatballs and piles of provolone cheese.
This is a suicide bomb but I love it. I only ate half of it at once and saved the other half for another meal. Artichoke’s owners did it again! I am coming back to try other sandwiches very soon!

Chubby Mary’s only opened a week ago and definitely still suffers from opening week issues. I arrived at noon on a weekday afternoon only to find out that they had «run out» of both chicken and sausage. It’s a bit disappointing because those were the two items I wanted. I ended splitting sandwiches with a friend and got the veal cutlet/​broccoli rabe/​provolone and meatball/​gravy/​provolone. Ingredients on all sandwiches were fresh and the bread was of high quality. Unlike many pizzeria sandwiches they use shredded cheese which they put on the sandwich, but do not further toast them in the oven. The heat of the other ingredients will melt the cheese slightly.
The veal cutlet and broccoli rabe sandwich was alright. The veal could stand to be pounded a bit thinner (more on that later) and either the breading or broccoli rabe added a bit too much saltiness. Still I ate the entire thing and it was declicous.
The meatball sandwich was much better. The tomato sauce is of similarly high-​quality as Artichoke pizza and the meatballs tasted fresh and good. Clearly the winner out of the two I tried.
On the other hand, the service and cleanliness I can not speak as highly of. At noon I was told I could not have chicken and sausage and I actually saw an employee walk in from a local supermarket with 10 bags of chicken. The guy working the counter seemed confused and was not communicating effectively with the staff on what needed to be cooked and kept several people waiting until they got up and running.
Cleaniness was horrible as I witnessed several significant violations while they were catching up to actually opening. They all primarily revolved around a large cutting board where raw veal was being pounded thinly prior to frying. On the same cutting board and within a foot of raw veal being pounded I saw sandwiches being constructed. A rag that was used to wipe down a raw veal contaminated cutting board was then used to clean a knife to slice bread.
BUT, I still ate my sandwiches and enjoyed them very much. I will go back and I do think by that time they will be run a little better and they will have the chicken I so desperately wanted to try. Also prices are relatively low at around $ 7 – 8 a sandwich that are larger than those you might find at a typical pizzeria. Overall, I would put Vito’s and Fiore’s in Hoboken as my top two Italian sandwich shops, followed by Defonte’s on 3^rd ave, and then Chubby Mary’s a little behind.
Food:4 /​5
Service:2 /​5