The Cold Cut Factory - Everett, MA

Tweet

In the window of The Cold Cut Factory, a sign reads, I make the “best” Italian sandwich anywhere!! 

Peep the sign in the corner.

Assumedly written by the man behind the counter, Kenny, an Italian Mr. Miyagi meets Soup Nazi, the signs cover the walls of the shop nearly all featuring haphazard quotation marks hand-written by the man in the hachimaki making the subs. He gruffly informed us we needed to visit the "7/11" next door to get "cash." After waiting behind a man who left his minivan running to buy a $2 money order, we maxed out the 7/11 cash back limit and hit the streets with a fat stack (10$). 

Hand-written signs. Quotation marks. America.

On the brief walk back, we were aggressively goaded by the nearby dollar store proprietor to check out the best selection of “everything” in Malden. We declined, but he insisted, “I got everything. I’m Dominican.” What everything meant, we’re still not sure, but his window display featured and interesting mix of food, toys, and tools.

Back at the Factory, Kenny Karate had lightened up quite a bit. He barely glanced our direction as he watched the NFC game on the big screen above the drink coolers. This place may have the most confusing signage “anywhere” with Christmas lights and quotation marks calling your eyes in all directions, but a large oven and bundles of fresh baked bread normally don’t lie. 

The "Parma" prosciutto is from "Italy."

When we called to make sure they were open on Sunday, the Sensei himself quickly replied, “until I run out of bread."Although the prosciutto sandwich imported from "italy" was enticing if only to figure out where the prosciutto was actually from, we came here for one reason: the “best” Italian sandwich anywhere.

The freshly, baked bread is like a '69 Impala in Houston, large bodied with a plush interior and crisp exterior, but you have to deal with Paul Wall getting a bit too screwed and spilling his lean. This baby is soggy. The first bite was predominantly toppings including pickles, lettuce, onions, and bananas peppers, and the juice gushed out of the back of the sub.  ‪Outside of the Po River flow, the pickles were too plentiful and ordinary, and we have established that banana peppers are a cop out. Interestingly, the sandwich counter at the Factory flaunts a massive selection of veggies pickled in house that were nowhere to be seen when our subs were served. 



As the signage will have you know, Sensei slices "boar's head" meats along with other brands imported from different "countries." The meat and cheese game was quality, but overwhelmed by ocean of oil and vinegar and the pickle-pepper flotsam. Brining behind the counter, thinly-sliced, fresh mozzarella was a delicious addition, but nonetheless drowned amidst the other toppings. Thankfully, the bread buoys the rating here at least a solid point.  Overall purple belt status.

The Cold-Cut Factory
533 Ferry Street
Everett, MA 02149
(617) 381-6328
7.6/10