Data Info

Location: 2210 W Taylor
Cost: About $10 per person

During med school, I had a bunch of rotations over in the West side medical district at either the VA or Cook County. Interestingly enough, as a resident, Im pretty much isolated to home base. Youve all heard my complaints over the years of the Streeterville food selection, although NMH is making some strides with its pseudo food court on the second floor. Either way, I was on a transplant surgery rotation, and when the opportunity arose to take a "field trip" to those aforementioned hospitals, I was more than eager. Id been to Conte di Savoia enough times, so this time, a bunch of us tried the other sandwich shop down the road, Ferrara Bakery.

Logistics
Theres not much setup to worry about at Ferraras. Theyve got a long, winding bakery counter and a bunch of tables strewn throughout a medium sized room. On a busy weekday, you might run into a lunch wait, but we were in and out without any such problems. Theyve got the order at the counter and put a number on your table thing going on. The cost is very reasonable with some large sandwiches running around $6 a piece.


The Food
There were a good amount of sandwich, salad, and pastry options, but the vast majority of my colleagues and I went with the meatball sub. As you can tell by my picture, it was messy, saucy, and delicious. The meatballs themselves were not dry in the least, and the bread was nice and soft. It was easily worth the day and a half of heartburn that followed. The only other item to note was the cannoli that Jorge ordered.



Overall
Ferrara Bakery has a long history in Chicago. The sandwiches are well prepared, and it is logistically very simple. Having only tried one sandwich of the rather extensive menu, I feel somewhat limited in my abilities to judge. That being said, Im giving them 4 out of 5 Pearls and would say that Ferrara is relatively equivalent to Conte down the block.