CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Whether you call it a sub, a hoagie, or a grinder, you just can’t beat a meatball sub sandwich.
Google the meatball’s origins and you’ll get plenty of theories, but no true answer of where it came from.
Perhaps pinpointing the exact origin of the meatball is less significant than acknowledging its global popularity. Nearly every major culture has its own version of the meatball: Spanish albondigas, Dutch Bitterballen, Chinese lion’s heads, South African skilpedjies, or kofte, which is cooked everywhere from India to Morocco. It’s difficult to beat those small orbs of succulent meat, surrounded by marinara on a crusty roll and topped with plenty of ooey-gooey provolone.
As the temperatures start to dip, our appetites turn to comfort food and meatball subs topped our list when it came to a comforting lunch.
So cleveland.com’s Best of Cleveland team hit the road again to find the best meatball sub served up at Northeast Ohio fast-food sandwich shops. Sadly, we could only find five fast-food eateries that served up meatballs. Check out our thoughts below.
No. 5
Subway: Meatball Marinara
Calories: 820
Price: $7.49
Menu description: The Meatball Marinara sandwich is drenched in irresistible marinara sauce, sprinkled with parmesan cheese, topped with whatever you want (no judgment) and perfectly toasted just for you.
Our thoughts: Where’s the beef -- or pork -- or whatever you make your meatballs with? These meatballs are plentiful but so tiny and flavorless, you taste more bread than anything else. And speaking of “drenched in sauce (as the description states),” these are, making that bread soggy and eating a mess. The sauce is generic and bland. As with all Subway sandwiches, you can add toppings if you choose. We didn’t. That may have been our mistake.
No. 4
Potbelly: Mama’s Meatball
Calories: N/A
Price: $8.59
Menu description: Homestyle beef + pork meatballs smothered in marinara sauce, provolone, Italian seasoning
Our thoughts: There are plenty of sizable meatballs, but this sub was a little lacking in the cheese department. We would have liked more cheese for that ooey-gooeyness one expects from a meatball sub. The bread was crusty and tasty and held together nicely. The sauce was the biggest letdown. While thick and rich red in color, it tasted more like it came straight from the Chef Boyardee kitchen.
No. 3
DiBella: Italian Meatball
Calories: 1,300
Price: $11.29
Menu description: Our meatballs are made with beef and pork and cooked in marinara sauce. This one is traditionally served with just mozzarella cheese, but go wild on toppings to make it your own. We think it’s pretty great with grilled peppers and onions!
Our thoughts: Sub aficionados will tell you the bread makes the sub, and that is certainly true of this one. The big crusty roll is fresh, chewy and tasty. The meatballs are large and moist, and the herbs were visible in the meat, which gave them an added boost of flavor. Sadly, this was another sub that would have benefited from more cheese. The sauce was rich and tasted more “homemade” than others we tried, but there was more sauce that we would have preferred, and the aforementioned sauce quickly absorbed into the bread, making it a bit soggy before we could finish.
No. 2
Dave’s Cosmic Sub: Dave’s Best Meatball Ever
Calories: N/A
Price: $10.49
Menu description: Three large meatballs, Dave’s Cosmic Sauce, fresh garlic, tasty tomato sauce, topped with provolone and Romano cheese, sprinkled with herbs and crushed red peppers. Served hot. Regular size only.
Our thoughts: This sub is everything you want a meatball sub to be. Large, ping-pong ball-sized meatballs which were tasty and juicy. And they are covered in plenty of melty cheese. The sauce had that “simmered-for-hours” flavor and was thick -- so that it clung to the meat, rather than dripping down your arm. The bonus was the generous sprinkle of dried herbs Dave’s adds, which definitely ramps up the flavor. All of that goodness is nestled into a big crusty roll.
No. 1
Firehouse Subs: Firehouse Meatball
Calories: 830
Price: $8.29
Menu description: Italian meatballs, provolone, marinara, and Italian seasoning. Ask for it “Sweet & Spicy” and we’ll add Captain Sorensen’s® Datil Pepper Hot Sauce and red pepper flakes.
Our thoughts: Everyone knows a meal at a firehouse has to be tasty and filling to keep our first responders satisfied. It’s no different at Firehouse Subs. The meatballs are large and moist and full of flavor. Served more as an open-faced sandwich, there is plenty of melted gooey cheese to get through before getting down to the meat, which is covered by a thick sauce that definitely tastes homemade. It’s just enough of it to make your eating experience slightly messy, without soaking through the crunchy bread. Best of all, this sub was generously sprinkled with a nice blend of Italian seasoning.
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