it's all in the timing ("the goodfella")

the willows market, middlefield & willow, menlo park

A couple of weeks back I was looking for a place to grab Saturday night dinner before going to work in Menlo Park, and I scouted out this little market not far from Menlo-Atherton High School.  It was already fairly late in the day, and I wasn't sure if the deli counter would really still be open for service.  However, the dude behind the counter said he could make me a sandwich, so I decided to go with the Goodfella- Willows Market's version of the classic Italian sub.  I love Italian subs, and its pretty hard to screw one up.  Salty deli meats and all the fixings, what's not to like?  Bad news part one struck when deli dude informed me that they were out of all of the rolls except sesame.  Not the ideal roll for an Italian sub, but, not terrible either, right?  Bad news part two started creeping in when deli dude asked me if I wanted everything on it.  "Yeah, everything please!" sez I.  "Um......like, what it says there?" he asked uncertainly, indicating the menu.  What he was pointing at were the ingredients of the Goodfella: salami, mortadella, capicola, and mortadella.  And that's all that the guy ended up putting on my sandwich, despite the fact that elsewhere on the menu sandwiches were said to be served with lettuce, tomato, onion, etc.  In and of itself, an Italian sub devoid of veggies is not such a bad thing (although I'd probably omit the mayo and just go with mustard).  However, the dude also heated up my sandwich, which I'm almost certain was not supposed to occur.  COLD CUTS, dude!!  Warm mortadella tastes funny.  Also, the sandwich was advertised as having "New York Deli Mustard", but I'm pretty sure I got just regular yellow mustard.  Basically, this sandwich was a huge let down.  I don't really blame Willows Market, nor do I blame the guy behind the deli counter on a Saturday night- but I don't think the guy really had any idea what he was doing.  Still, I'm gonna go back and give this place a second shot.  I bet with someone knowledgeable behind the counter I could get a pretty solid sandwich.