Ode to a Restaurant
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post, although a free sandwich would be nice…
Thinking is hard. Thinking is tiring. Thinking makes me hungry. As a graduate student, I spend much of my day deep in thought, trying to understand convoluted equations, engineer a successful experiment, or daydreaming about skiing down a mountain. The result of this academic brainstorming is a roaring thunderstorm emanating from my stomach by one o’clock at the latest. Before you ask, yes, I do have breakfast; the stomach wants what the stomach wants. Lunch, therefore, is a crucial meal. It may even be the underdog winner of the “most important meal of the day” honorific. Without lunch, I simply lack the calories to make it another six hours or so until dinner, basically wasting the whole day when I could be contributing to my lab’s efforts.
To save money, I usually make my lunch, something that is easy to make, easy to store, and quick to eat – the timeless turkey and cheese sandwich. I enjoy this particular meal perhaps more than what is normal – I have it at least three times a week, sometimes six times a week, with no shortage of friendly jokes from my labmates about my unchanging diet. And while I still am not tired of my beloved turkey and cheese, I agree with my labmates about the monotony of my midday diet to a certain extent. It can be nice to change things up every once in a while. Variety is the spice of life, as they say.
Thus, I allow myself once a week to go out to a local restaurant and buy myself lunch. There are a myriad of fairly priced food options around the MIT campus to choose from: Cava, Chipotle, Saloniki, Flour, Five Spices – I could probably write half a page. Yet, despite the cornucopia of fast-casual establishments at my disposal, I always find myself going to one restaurant: Al’s. It probably says something about me that I always make the same lunch and always go to the same restaurant, but Al’s makes every visit feel like the first. A modest sandwich joint situated not even five minutes from my office on Vassar Street, Al’s menu offers a diverse selection of subs to choose from. First, you must choose between a hot and a cold sub. In the dog days of August, I like to go cold. The wonderful prosciutto, mozzarella, and other ingredients mean that any cold sub from Al’s is vastly greater than the sum of its parts. Alternatively, on colder days, I opt for a warm sub. Here, in my estimation, is where Al’s really thrives. The combination of tender meat, tangy sauces, and crispy bread is to die for. Their cheesesteak, the Steak Bellino, gives the city of Philadelphia a run for its money. I’m also a big fan of the Leonardo, where the Italian sausage takes center stage.
An Al’s chicken sub with a generous helping of pesto
Besides the food, there’s plenty else that makes Al’s great. It is very fairly priced, and the portions are huge. For only $12, I can get enough calories to easily hold me over for the rest of the day. The staff are also very friendly and make you feel like a regular, even if it’s your first time. My only complaint is that they are closed by dinner time! A truly reliable restaurant, Al’s is the rock of my lunchtime.
A mouth-watering meatball sub from Al’s
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