mortadella and salami

lucca ravioli company, 22nd & valencia, san francisco

I'd heard good things about the sandwiches from this deli, and I'd even wandered in once to try one. however, there is no menu, you have to take a number and wait when you arrive, and the place was packed. I got too self conscious about not knowing what to order, and so I left without buying anything. yesterday I decided to work up the nerve and just ask the guy behind the counter what was available. it turns out that, well pretty much everything is available. they have a wide variety of high-quality meats at the deli, and so thats exactly what their sandwiches are about. there is no produce, and the only condiment offered is pesto (packets of mustard and mayonnaise are included on the side). I decided to go with mortadella (since its basically like eating bologna without feeling all trashy, and I do enjoy some bologna), and when the guy asked if I wanted a second meat, salami was the first thing that sprung to mind. the roll that this came on was quite good, very cripsy on the outside but not so hard that it tore up my mouth. and the meats were very tasty as well. I thought perhaps that this sandwich would be too dry, and so I used the mustard and mayonnaise on the first half, but it seemed like they weren't very necessary, and so the second half went unadorned. I think the next time I go I will think a little more carefully about the meat selection, and probably go without pesto, as it gave me a little bit of a stomach ache (for some reason, pesto sometimes does this to me- usually the stronger flavored varieties). I wonder if Lucca's has good ham- I've been wanting a good ham sandwich for a while, and I'm not sure where to get one around here.