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| - Basis for my starred ratings (which skews heavily to the food or drink):
1 star: Never again.
2 stars: Poor food, poor experience, extraordinary measures in order for me to come back.
3 stars: Average, nothing really special, nothing particularly bad.
4 stars: Very good, would definitely return.
5 stars: A favorite, one of the best.
Used to live down the street and miss the place. Came back after a long hiatus to see if anything has changed for the worse or better.
My first foray into Defalco's was the cheesesteak. This is not your traditional Philly cheesesteak. The Italian cheese mix is thick and rich, almost creamy, like a mornay. This is very filling, stick-to-your-ribs cheesesteak. And it's good. The bread is substantial and chewy enough to stand up to the filling and there is plenty of cheese and plenty of beef. Definitely one of the best menu items, but again, don't expect a taste of Philly.
On our last visit, ordered a couple sandwiches and a pasta dish. The linguini with clam sauce is substantial. It comes with a side salad and an order of garlic bread, and the pasta itself is quite large. Some fresh clams on top and what I presume to be canned clams throughout. The noodles were al dente enough - maybe just a little overcooked. The main issue was seasoning. It was underseasoned - almost criminally so. It needed a big hit of salted butter or some parmegiano, something. It wasn't a bad linguini and clam sauce, but it wasn't great.
Also ordered the Maximus and the Il Purista. The Il Purista is quite good, and they put in enough prosciutto to balance out the rest of the sandwich. I can't say the same for the Maximus. Came in expecting an overstuffed Italian grinder given that it lists ham, salami, mortadella, pepperoni. Just one or two slices each didn't give the sandwich enough substance, as opposed to the Il Purista.
One other small critique - if you order in, the place is a maze of Italian dry goods, so the server has a tough time finding you, especially when it's busy.
So come. Definitely come for the sandwiches. The cheesesteak especially, but the cold sandwiches are good too. We'll give other pastas a try but I don't really recommend the linguini with clam sauce.
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