Coloradans who think a “famous Brooklyn hero” is second baseman Jackie Robinson or center fielder Duke Snider are in for a tasty bit of re-education.
Deli Zone, a regional chain of sandwich shops, plans to open a DU area restaurant Feb. 12 with proof that the phrase has nothing to do with the old Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team and everything to do with hero sandwiches.
Classes start at the newest Deli Zone location at 2439 S. University Blvd., just south of Wesley Avenue. Let the course work begin!
“It’s a nice little sub sandwich environment,” says proprietor Trey Cronin. “We’ve been looking in the University area for a while now. We feel our concept is tied nicely to the community.”
For those who weren’t around in the 1930s, heroes are alleged to be oversize Italian sandwiches popular in New York. The sandwiches were so large, New York Herald Tribune food writer Clementine Paddleford once quipped that you needed to be a hero to finish one.
Deli Zone hopes to expand on that lore at its DU location, the 13th in a chain that began in Boulder in 1994 and now includes stores in a number of Colorado cities including Aurora, Thornton, Lafayette, Wheat Ridge, Centennial, Longmont, Broomfield and Denver.
The Deli Zone concept is New York-style hot and cold subs, sandwiches and salads, everything from the Manhattan (grilled turkey, artichoke hearts, lettuce, tomato, onions, provolone, garlic spread and pesto mayo) to the New Yorker (corned beef and pastrami with Cole slaw, Swiss cheese and Dijonaise on French bread.)
The 40-seat sandwich shop will deliver from Broadway to Monaco Parkway and Alameda Avenue south to Hampden Avenue and stay open as late as 2:30 a.m. on weekends.
It also plans to open at 7 a.m., offering breakfast items such as the Kong sandwich, an assembly of eggs, bacon, ham, hash browns and American cheese on French bread. Variations on the Kong are named for people such as Joe Namath and Joe Torre, and for New York locations, including Times Square, Wall Street, Central Park and Hell’s Kitchen.
For hours, information and a sample menu, go to www.delizone.net.