Sicilian-ish in Little Italy, or driving past it

I’m pretty sure there used to be a Subway franchise in this nonglamorous Little Italy location. Laurel Street marks the northern border of the neighborhood, where restaurants and piazzas give way to industrial zoning and backed up airport traffic. In fact, this storefront sits on the ground floor of a large, airport long term parking garage, and looks across the street at another. There’s a certain sense to putting a fast-food deli here: it makes a convenient place for parkers to buy a quick sandwich before catching the free shuttle to catch a flight.

But this is still, technically, the Little Italy side of Laurel still part of a neighborhood most associated with Italy and food (and not necessarily in that order). Which is why I kind of like the approach of the new sandwich shop that’s moved in to replace the chain: it’s called the Sicilian-ish Cafe and Deli. However Sicilian the place is, it’s just Italian enough to provide the likes of torpedo sandwiches, meatball subs, and paninis to the same audience. That being travelers who don’t want better than airport prices for better than airport food.

An Italian-style deli, a more appealing fit to the neighborhood than a fast food franchise

Sicilian-ish is not exclusive to parking garage customers, of course, but it does seem well-suited to meeting the needs of people rolling suitcases. There’s a full espresso bar, serving everything from latte to affogato. And there are a litany of small, snackable items dubbed tavola calda ($6.50 apiece). Italian for “hot table,” in Italy the term usually refers to a cafeteria-style restaurant that serves pre-made food items. Here, they’re describing a set of items themselves, which mainly consist of mini cheese pizzas, tiny ham and cheese calzones, and ravazzzata, a Sicilian street food that sees a small brioche stuffed with a ground meat ragu.

The small, house-baked bites Sicilian-ish calls "Tavola Calda"

Just the sort of tasty morsels that will be long gone by time the shuttle reaches your terminal. If you’re looking for gate food, or something to open on the plane, you have a pleasing choice of hot or cold subs or pressed paninis.

The subs are pretty classic and portable, served tightly wrapped in paper. For just under $14, you can get a standard assortment of cured deli meats (mortadella, capocollo, salami) on an Italian sub, or a spicier assortment of cured deli meats on a spicy Italian sub.

A Sicilian-ish meatball sub

You’ll also find subs of turkey, roast beef, and eggplant parmesan. For two bucks more, you can either get a sub made with imported tuna (kind of ironic, given Little Italy’s tuna fishing history); or meatballs, made from a family recipe. Served on ten-inch rolls, these subs are just good enough to make you row-mates jealous.

Likewise priced between $13.75 and $15.75, the panini sandwiches benefit from use of a house-made, focaccia-like bread. I go for the green appeal of chicken and pesto, which is fine, but for future flights I’m already eyeballing a garlicky soppressata with fontina cheese, or the mortadella with fig spread and brie.