· 2 min read

Meatball Parm at Gambino's New York Subs

Meatballs, marinara sauce, parmesan cheese on choice of bread. Sandwich Score 85, outstanding. At Gambino's New York Subs, San Francisco.

Meatball Parm at Gambino's New York Subs: an illustration of the sandwich.
Illustration, AI-generated

A sandwich at Gambino's New York Subs, a sandwich shop in San Francisco, California.

Hoagie RollParmesanMarinaraMeatballHoagie Roll
85
Sandwich Score
out of 100 · outstanding

Outstanding, and the road to 90 is open.

Reads as a fully realized meatball sub, four of six roles on the board.

Balance
96
Harmony
99
Contrast
80
Structure
93
Focus
100
Composition
89
Quality
100
Envelope
94

More umami than 90% of the catalog.

Each bar is one pillar of the score, 0 to 100. The tick marks what a sandwich at the summit needs; an amber bar is the one holding this sandwich back.

hoagie roll (the menu offers a choice of bread; scored on this one), toasted: meatballs; marinara sauce; parmesan cheese.

Balance

salt2.3 · 90thacid0.8 · 62ndfat2.0 · 45thsweet0.5 · 66thumami3.1 · 90thheat0.0bitter0.0
Flavor axes
AxisValueCatalog percentile
salt2.390th
acid0.862nd
fat2.045th
sweet0.566th
umami3.190th
heat0.0n/a
bitter0.0n/a

96 Balance, out of 100

The seven flavor axes of the whole sandwich, each summed across its layers. The shaded ring is the catalog's middle 80%; the small number under each axis is where this sandwich falls in the catalog. A shape that sits inside the ring is in the range most sandwiches live in; a spike past it is where this one stands apart.

What each layer brings

LayerRoleFlavor and texturePoints
hoagie roll (the menu offers a choice of bread; scored on this one)breadsoft crustythe frame
meatballsscored as Meatballproteinumami 4 fat 3 salt 2 soft juicy tender+14
marinara saucescored as Marinarasauceacid 3 umami 3 salt 2 sweet 2 soft saucy wet+36
parmesan cheesescored as Parmesanproteinsalt 4 umami 4 fat 3 powdery melty+14

Points: what the Sandwich Score would lose if that one layer were left out, everything else the same. A negative number means the sandwich scores higher without it. Flavor runs 0 to 5 on each axis.

Pairings

How to raise it

Build this sandwich

Load its stack into the Sandwich Builder. Swap a layer, watch the score move.

Open in the builder

Read next

Veggie at Diablo Foods

Lettuce, onions, tomatoes, pickles, peppers, sprouts, cucumbers, avocados, roasted red peppers, sunflower seeds, oil and vinegar, cheese on unstated bread. Sandwich Score 74, very good. At Diablo Foods, Lafayette.

Andrew Lekashman
Andrew Lekashman
· 2 min read

The Explosion at Diablo Foods

Roast beef, pepper jack, lettuce, tomato, onion, pepperoncini, jalapeños, biyn mustard, horseradish sauce, oil and vinegar on sourdough roll. Sandwich Score 76, excellent. At Diablo Foods, Lafayette.

Andrew Lekashman
Andrew Lekashman
· 2 min read