The Italian Gourmet — Restaurant in Vienna

I have been an on-and-off Italian Gourmet customer for more than a couple decades. Lately I am on. It is a sandwich stop for me on days when my schedule is tight. In my opinion IG sandwiches are made using high quality meat and bread, are carefully crafted and packaged.

The only criticism I have, which is a personal preference item, is that IG uses shredded iceberg lettuce when ordering lettuce as sandwich component. I prefer leaf iceberg lettuce for sandwiches. To my taste iceberg is my choice because it is cool, crunchy and fairly bland (has high water content) and does not interfere with the enjoyment of the other components - bread, meat, tomato and mustard (another personal preference, from dijon to French’s Classic Yellow Mustard). I know, iceberg isn’t sexy like romaine, bibb, little gem, spinach and trendy kale. For me those are all salad lettuces. So I order lettuce and tomato ingredients on the side at IG because having it on top of the meat between the bread shredded lettuce and tomato can be a messy affair eating for me.

Generally I grab a bag of chips and get a Dr Brown’s soda. I like that IG stocks Dr. Brown‘s product. A couple days ago I happened to ask for a serving of potato salad which it turns out IG makes on the premises and delighted to find it was so good.

I think the menus price points are fine and match the quality. One of my life aphorisms is good things aren’t cheap and cheap things aren’t good. If you are in the market for a less costly sandwich WAWA is easy to reach...

The frozen eggplant parm is delicious! The eggplant parm was fresh just made the day before. Be sure to check the food preparation date as the quality varies with freshness. I saw some sauces and pastas packed a few weeks ago.

The lukewarm prepared foods in the display cases look sad and unappetizing, so head to the fridge and freezer section. There's a myriad of ravioli, lasagnas, and sauce to choose from. From the fridge section, I bought a container of vodka sauce and eggplant parm - glad I tried it!

The eggplant was juicy and tender loaded with rich mozzarella cheese and sweet tomato sauce. The ratio of eggplant to cheese and tomato sauce was perfect! The eggplant is quite rich and tastes better in a sandwich or a sub. While $18.90 seemed a bit expensive for frozen eggplant parm, it's quite reasonable considering it's $10 per pound and your getting 2 pounds.

The cooking instructions were easy to follow, albeit there were 2 sets - large print centered on the container vs the small print on the bar code. I'm glad I went with the smaller print - I removed the plastic lid and covered it with foil and popped it in the oven for 30 min on 350 degrees. Voila! Delicious eggplant parm!

Happy to support this family business that's been around for 40+ years! Will return for some eggplant parm and...

This is a "happy" store. Tiny location has become my new go-to place since the untimely closing of Cenan's down the road. Tightly packed racks with narrow aisle space, contain a most interesting and diverse culinary offerings. Their menu boards are hung from the ceiling, and one can quickly differentiate between the regulars and casual customers, as the former just march in, and gentleman behind the counter asks, "Your usual?" and the customer nods, and hands the exact change. The rest of us have our necks craned with furrowed brow trying to sort through too many excellent choices (and yes, of my times going there over several years, I have been pleased with everything I've ordered). They even have their own packed spaghetti sauce in glass jars. They are right to be proud of what they have achieved, and we are fortunate they have chosen to provide their excellent service in our community. Again, I am pleased they have survived the Pandemic. May they live long...