Boardwalk Sub Shop
1220 S. Main St., Salinas, (831) 221-0110 470 Alvarado St., Monterey, (831) 264-1171boardwalksubshop.com
Oreganato is simple stuff: olive oil with bits of oregano swirled in. But it’s hard to find this classic East Coast sandwich dressing west of the Mississippi. Take a bite of a Jersey Italian here, and indeed, it tastes like New Jersey. And no wonder – these guys have street cred. The restaurant was started by three brothers who grew up in Atlantic City, eating subs most days for lunch at the shop across the street from their school. If the menu – offering the competing Jersey cheesesteak and Philly cheesesteak, the latter featuring homemade Cheez Whiz – isn’t Jersey enough, take a look at the artwork on the walls, with black-and-white photography of the boardwalk. There is an image of a horse diving off a pier into the ocean, apparently a popular pastime the Teplitzky brothers grew up with.