If you’ve worked in Downtown Toledo at any point in the past few years, you’ve probably either eaten at or had takeout from Focaccia’s on Summit Street, a ubiquitous noon time location with a packed eating area during weekday lunch hours.
Focaccia’s sits at the base of 333 Summit, next to the wonderful fountain in the building’s lobby. The menu at Focaccia’s is inspired by New York delis, as is the decor. The large dining room can get packed quickly during lunchtime, but it has a separate counter to deal with to-go orders and bakery items. For those outside the downtown area, it’s worth the trip to see what makes Focaccia’s such a lunch hotspot.
Midtown Munches
Though not a traditional deli dish, this Focaccia’s meal started with an order of loaded tater tots ($7). There’s not much to say about these— a batch of tots with cheese, bacon, green onion, and sour cream are just so good. Even when treated as leftovers the next day (thanks to the large portions), these tots were delicious.
Next was Murray’s Steak Salad ($15), the kind of thing that will get an entire office talking. Topped with green pepper, tomato, onion and fries, this steak salad is big enough at its smallest size to be eaten by two.
The included peppercorn parmesan dressing might be our new favorite salad topper. It tops and pairs with the steak and fries perfectly, with a cheesy bit of funk that rounds out the dish.
Tasty Toledo
Speaking of sandwiches, to show some hometown pride we ordered the Holy
Toledo sandwich ($14). And holy cow, what a sandwich it is. A riff on a club with bacon, honey-roasted turkey, lettuce, tomato, and rosemary mayo, the highlight of the dish is the bread. As you’d expect from a place named after it, the bread is astounding. Herby and cheesy, fluffy and pillowy, this is the kind of bread that
people would (and should) travel from miles around to get.
The meal ended like a traditional New York deli meal, with a black and white cookie ($3.50). The spongy-soft cookie, topped with almost a yin-yang of fudgy chocolate frosting and vanilla fondant, each side varying in taste and consistency. It was the kind of finish I’d expect in the heart of Manhattan, but you can get it in downtown Toledo just by visiting Focaccia’s.
333 N. Summit St., #100. 419-246-3354. focaccias419.com
Mon-Fri, 7am-3pm Sat & Sun, 9am-3pm
