In January I asked my readers where to find the best meatball subs in the Raleigh area (and congratulations again to Lee for winning a $25 gift card to Harris Teeter for responding!) Since then, I’ve been working my way through most of the suggestions (my mouth and tummy have been quite happy – my waistline – not so much.) Anyway, when I’m not in the mood to make my own (click here for the recipe for Kel’s spicy, saucy meatballs), I’m happy to visit any of these places for a great, tasty meatball sub. Just remember not to wear white.

Antonio’s Gourmet Market  (8460 Honeycutt Road #112 Raleigh, N.C. 27615)

(Note: Since my original, the meatball sub is no longer available as the market has restructured and the deli has changed. However, you can still buy the meatballs for $7.99 lb. – worth it if you want to make y0ur own sub or serve them on pasta. Special shout out to reader mghicks for the update!)

This was my favorite meatball sub, hands down! Messy and delicious doesn’t even begin to describe this sub, which is called the Goomba. The Italian meatballs are a house specialty, and I can see why. The hoagie roll is a New Orleans French bread that nice and soft on the inside. Lots of tasty mozzarella cheese on top! Well worth $9.99, and it comes with a pickle and a choice of potato salad, slaw or pasta salad. I saw another person eating this and he was using a knife and fork, which I wound up using as well, after my third napkin.

Assaggio’s Italian Bistro and Market (3501 W. Millbrook Road Raleigh, N.C.27613) This meatball sub was excellent. You order at the counter, and then someone brings it to your table. I got the 5” Meatball Parmigiana ($5.95), which came with chips. There were two huge and spicy meatballs on a toasted sub roll. Nice and hot – the marinara sauce is good and just the right amount. Lots of gooey cheese! The service was fast and good. One small drawback for me is that Assaggio’s only serves Pepsi products, but it does have iced tea as well as beer and wine. I can also recommend the Chicken Parmigiana, but that’s another post. I’ll be back!

Milton’s Pizza and Pasta (8853 Six Fork Road Raleigh, N.C. 27615) I’ve been going to Milton’s for years. Before I met Brad and was living alone, I would occasionally stop by on my way home from working at Duke and get the lasagna as takeout – good stuff at a reasonable price, and enough leftover for lunch the next day. I can vouch for Milton’s pizzas as well – great crust and fresh ingredients. So I knew I had to try the meatball sub (known as the ACC) and I was not disappointed. The meatballs were nice and spicy, and the sauce was good, too – you could tell both were homemade. Lots of provolone cheese as it should be. I could have used a little bit more sauce and it did need some salt. It came with fries and a pickle for $8.49. Milton’s recently added a new bar at the Six Forks location, which looked pretty nice.

Mellow Mushroom (601 West Peace St., Raleigh, N.C.  27605) I love Mellow Mushroom’s pizzas as well as a number of its sandwiches, so I knew I had to try the meatball sub. Very good and messy! I got the 5-inch sub ($5.25) on French bread with melted mozzarella. Chips were $1.10 extra – kind of pricy if you ask me. The meatballs were spicy and there was a lot of gooey cheese. The sauce was a little on the sweet side, but still quite good and there was plenty of it. I thought it needed some salt, but that was all. Groovy.

Amedeo’s Italian Restaurant (3905 Western Boulevard Raleigh, N.C.) Located across from N.C. State’s campus, Amedeo’s has been a Western Blvd. fixture since 1963. This sub came with big spicy meatballs and good crusty bread. The sauce was tasty and there was lots of it. My server brought extra napkins without asking because he knew I would need them (and I did!) While the sub had a fair amount of cheese, a little more would have been perfect. $8.95 included a choice of fries or chips. Very nice and messy!

Lynwood Grill (4821 Grove Barton Road Raleigh, NC 27613) This meatball sub was excellent – great bread, right amount of sauce, meatballs were spicy and it had lots of provolone cheese. I needed more than two napkins for this one! $6.99 included a pickle and choice of fries, chips, roasted potatoes, pasta salad or pickle chips. A great deal!

Honorable Mentions

Sub Conscious on Hillsborough Street, Anvil’s Cheesesteaks and Piccolo Italia all had decent meatball subs, but were just not messy enough. I’m sure I could order extra cheese or sauce on the side, though, and they would be fine.

Bon appétit!

Eat, drink and be merry!