Ode to Rollin'

Worship-worthy homemade potato chips.

Cuisine: Italian/ Sandwiches

Location: 910 Noyes St., Evanston, IL

Price: $

Food: So amazing, you'll cry tears of joy.

Service: The guy behind the counter who always greets me as "bro" is positively awesome.

Overall: God, I really want to go and get a sandwich from there RIGHT NOW.

Website: http://rollin2go.com

It took me a whole year of being at Northwestern to make my way out to Noyes St. for food. Armed with a meal plan bequeathing me a never-ending supply of grilled chicken, sandwiches incorrectly made to order, and whatever the disgusting vegan option of the day was (Quinoa! Seitan! Tempeh!), I ate most of my meals in the dining hall¹. This was made easier by the fact that I lived in a dorm where the dining hall was in the basement, so dinner consisted of knocking on everyone’s door at 5:30² and traipsing down the one flight of stairs to the lovely Elder dining hall.

So, in retrospect, it was entirely reasonable that I would never bother to make the 10-minute walk west³ for an entire school year. Which is a shame, because on Noyes St., one can find the greatest sandwich establishment known to mankind – Rollin’ to Go.

I wouldn’t formulate that opinion until sometime during my junior year, when, finally weaned off of dining plans, I ate out significantly more often, and it was the closest option to where I lived. The very first time I went, it wasn’t exactly a memorable experience – at about 4 PM on Dillo Day, having eaten a few pancakes but having also drunk approximately my body weight in shitty tasteless rum or whatever the alcohol du jour was, I was not only completely inebriated but also so exhausted from waking up at 8 AM and going to three concerts in a row that I passed out at the table waiting for my sandwich.

Now, if there’s one thing Rollin’ is famous for in the Evanston/ Northwestern community, it’s their Chicken al Forno sandwich. So many people I know swear by it, it’s amazing how popular it is. Rollin starts by using ciabatta bread – thick enough to hold up to the enormous amount of chipotle mayo slathered on the sandwich, but not too dense as to turn it into a mouthful of carbs. The chipotle mayo is the unquestionable star of the sandwich – spicy enough to make your eyes water, I usually take a half-time break between sandwich halves to allow my body to cool down while sweating up a storm. It’s fiery, tangy, and absolutely delicious, giving the sandwich the spicy taste where it’s almost painful to take another bite but the thing just tastes so damn good that you can’t help but wolf down one mouthful after another. The mayo goes with house grilled and marinated chicken, which is tender and manages to never be dry. Then, it’s topped with some simple accoutrements – lettuce, red onions, plum tomatoes, and some gooey, melty muenster that blankets the chicken. There’s nothing complicated about this sandwich – just an amazing chipotle mayo that I would buy by the gallon if available, and some very tasty grilled chicken.

The Al Forno, which is Rollin’s claim to fame, is hardly the only star on their menu. Having gone there countless times, I’ve eaten my way through about 3/4^th of their menu – which comes to about 15 different specialty sandwiches, plus I’ve tried their margherita pizza (deliciously thin pie and crust, heaped with mozzarella cheese, pine nuts, basil, tomatoes – and a huge pizza for just $6), homemade chili, and soups before, all of which are worth getting if you’re in the mood for something a little different.

The best thing I ever ate in Evanston.

Of course, anyone who has been to Rollin’ knows that the sandwich is only half the story – Rollin’ serves all their sandwiches with a side of homemade chips, seasoned with a spicy, salty rub and fried to crispy perfection. These chips are amazing – more often than not I’ve gone to Rollin because I’m craving potato chips and use the sandwich as an excuse to get some. It’s not just that they make potato chips but that they take the time to ensure every single component of the meal they are giving you is homemade (save for, I believe, the bread, which they buy). There’s something to be said about the three or four people working in the back when you go in to order, making everything to order, piling on fresh ingredients and sauces made daily. And that’s before they even transform your meal by sending your sandwich into the great conveyer oven⁴where it rolls out shortly thereafter piping hot and filled with melty cheesy goodness topped over delectable sandwich yum-things.

Pesto Chicken: Pesto marinated grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, mozzarella, more pesto, ciabatta bread

But when it comes to Rollin there’s nothing more important than their sandwiches, and through my years as a frequent customer I’ve settled on a cycle of a few sandwiches that I eat over and over again. From the St. James, featuring an amazing creamy remoulade sauce over chicken on flatbread (and there’s bacon, too!) to the Paulie Walnuts, a meal for a king with grilled steak, portabellas, peppers, and pesto, no matter what you’re looking for, Rollin has something for your tastes. If you’re craving a slightly drier and less sloppy sandwich? There’s the Pesto Chicken, with chunks of fresh mozzarella dousing the chicken and some fantastic pesto to top it off. Or if you want something lighter, there’s the Classico, a take on caprese, feature basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella, served on a thin French baguette. In the mood for something unique? They have their Italian Philly, which subs out the cheesestake with spicy Italian sausage, then finishes it off with sweet or hot peppers for a little kick.

Paulie Walnuts: Steak, pesto sauce, roasted red peppers, portabella mushrooms, red onions, plum tomatoes, provolone, mozzarella, ciabatta bread

I haven’t even gone through a third of their menu – and I’m already salivating at the what I’ve just covered. That sandwich board to the right of the cashier, glistening with chalk and listing all of their delicious offerings, can sometimes be the bane of my existence – many times I have stood under it, wondering which one is the right one to order today. The best thing about living a whole year within a 5 minute walk from Rollin’? There’s never buyer’s remorse – I can always come back the very next day and get what I wanted to get yesterday (and, of course, more potato chips).

Chicken Parmesan: Grilled chicken, marinara sauce, provolone cheese, Italian roll

If there’s one minor downfall to the food Rollin’ pushes out, it’s that it’s sometimes inconsistent – but even that is part of the charm of going to a place where you know everything is made fresh, not in large industrial sized batches where it sits and festers for days on end. Sometimes the chipotle mayo is so spicy you’ll sweat into your eyes in a haze of bliss and pain – sometimes it registers much lower on the Scoville scale, a mild prick to your tongue as you bowl your way through the sandwich. There are days when their potato chips are over-seasoned and give you a salt rush – and there are days when their potato chips are a little under-seasoned, the crunchy texture not quite balanced enough by the tangy seasoning. As someone who came here an average of two to three times a week for nine straight months, you notice those slight nuances, when something is just a little off or a sandwich is merely good but not great. 

But these stretches are few and far between – usually, I walk home munching happily on my bag of perfectly seasoned, beautifully crispy chips, sit down, and dive into that first bite, a perfect mixture of saucy goodness, tender meat, crisp vegetables, and fluffy bread with a crunchy exterior. And I am absolutely, positively, ecstatic that I am eating a sandwich from Rollin’ for lunch/ dinner. To live by a sandwich shop that churns out food as great as this? You can have your Potbellys and Paneras, your Corner Bakeries, your Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives – just give me my Rollin’, to go, please.

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^{1. Also, for a glorious three-week stretch my freshman year, the dining hall was never locked, so we made a habit of going down at 2 AM after binge drinking shitty tasteless vodka in our dorm rooms for late night munchies. I will never forget how gloriously exciting it was to realize we could go into the refrigerators and make our own sandwiches with the endless platters of cold cuts staring at us. This will always remain one of my fondest memories of college. And to the bastard who got caught pilfering food one night, causing the dining room to be locked thereafter – you are the worst.↩}

^{2. Like waking up at 6 AM to get ready for school from K-12, this is another habit I can’t fathom keeping anymore. Normal dinner hours for me are now anywhere from 6:30 to 10:30, with delays thrown in if I’m too lazy to leave the couch to make food.↩}

^{3. With every campus building to the east of Elder, going west was reserved for attempting to find parties to crash during new student week and wandering aimlessly until some upperclassmen took pity on our poor souls and yelled at us from their porch to come in and drink shitty tasteless beer in a dark and crowded basement. ↩}

^{4. There are few things I want more in my kitchen than a conveyor oven. Think about how awesome all your sandwiches would be. Perfectly baked EVERY TIME! Too bad these things retail for a couple thousand dollars (yes, I’ve looked it up before).↩}