Suppa's Pizza And Subs
94 University Ave.
Lowell, MA
Lowell, MA
I am always looking for something different, but yet, something that feels like home, i think deep down thats what all people who love to try and discover new foods and places to eat truly are doing deep down, in that respect, growing up in Lowell MA, I, like generations before and after me, lived and died by the corner pizza and shop, every neighborhood had one, and people would argue for days over which was the best, you can literally travel across the city and no pizza or sub will taste the same at each little corner place, its amazing really, sure people from larger cities can argue that its the same where they are, but I don't care, its where my adventure in food began, and thats all i really care about honestly. Ofcourse now I am older and living in another state, and able to travel for food if its worth it, but i'm sure you can all imagine the smile on my face, when i started hearing about a little corner pizza and sub shop back in Lowell that was starting to make some rumble on the food tv shows, websites and blogs all over the New England area, its a place called Suppa's, and alot of people are saying its the best in the city, if not the region, and with claims like that, you know i had to give it a look, and oh boy was i glad that i did.
Tucked behind UMass Lowell's main campus, Suppa's from the outside looks like just your average little hole in the wall pizza dive, and well to be fair from the inside as well, the ceiling is low, atleast for a guy my height, and the booths are small and cramped, and not really accessible to the larger people of the world, but thats just a personal thing, I get the feeling most people do take out or delivery from this place, which for what it is, is pretty much par for the course. Honestly, none of that really matters in the bigger picture, what does, is their menu, and whats on it, normally when there is a giant menu that worries me, and normally when on that giant menu they have the word "specialty" in atleast three places; as well as have a gimmick feature of a 3lbs. pizza, thats 3lbs. BEFORE the toppings mind you, thats a sign to run for the hills, run for them fast, run for them and never look back. However, in this case, the large menu and specialty sections are honestly what makes this place amazing, because that little crew that slaves rather tirelessly in the little kitchen this place has, truly makes magic happen, delicious amazing magic. I knew we were in for a good time when, while doing my pre-trip website scouting as i do, there was a list of atleast 20 different things i wanted to try out. That sort of thing never happens, ever. And in truth it just made me more excited for my trip here.
We decided on ordering afew subs and a pizza, to try and get the full range of their food, and because, well it all looked so damn good we just had to try it. I ordered a "Fat Cow" which is Bacon Cheeseburger w/Mozzarella Sticks on Bottom and French Fries on Top,
Covered w/ Mozzarella Cheese & BBQ Sauce, a "Fat Chicken" which is Chicken Parmesan w/ Mozzarella Sticks on Bottom and French Fries on Top, a Buffalo Chicken Pizza, which, well is self explanatory, and i just had to try their specialty that got them onto local television, "Steak On A Stick" which, though not on a stick, is infact, basically a steak and cheese sub wrapped in fried dough, and then deep fried, you know, because food is awesome, and if you're gonna die from eating unhealthy, you might as well die happy as can be right? The wait for the food wasn't really all that long, maybe 20 minutes tops, which for three subs and a pizza isn't really all that bad honestly given the size of the operation, and all together cost me about 50 bucks total, which honestly when you see the actual size of what you get per sub and pizza, thats actually pretty good. I have discovered a new rule of life, if the subs come in a pizza box, not in a wrapper or one of those new sub containers, a pizza box, no matter what you order is gonna be a good time. A real good time.
Whats the best way to describe the food? Honestly, I am hard pressed to find a place from memory that might be anywhere near as good at what Suppa's does, their pizzas are incredible, i love the way they make it, not greek style with the big thick crust, not italian with the thin crust, but somewhere in the middle, where you got a nice light fluffy pizza, but a nice thick lovely crust as well, truly its the best of both worlds. As for the subs, well, the Fat Cow was amazing, the burgers were grilled on a charcoal grill with just enough scoring and char to give them the perfect flavor mixed with the moz sticks and the fries, and just enough BBQ sauce to make it interesting, the Fat Chicken, was incredible as well, even though part of my normal order at local favorite Sandwich Master is similar to it, the Fat Chicken stands out as its own and is great, the mix of chicken parm with the moz sticks and fries is every person that wants to mix food genres till they mash just right's dream. Though i will admit they might have added just abit to many fries to both subs, don't get me wrong the fries were amazingly good, perfectly golden and crispy, but by the end they and the cheese on them had sort of formed a cement like wall that almost seemed to much to get through, but again thats a personal nitpick. As for the Steak On A Stick, if you had told me a week ago, i would be raving about what is basically fried dough stuffed full of steak and cheese sub, i would have told you that you were full of crap and made it up, but honestly, i would drive the 2 hours to Lowell JUST for this thing alone, truly its amazing and something i could eat over and over and over and never get tired of, though to be fair the grease would probably kill me eventually. But i would die very very happy. And really, isn't that what we all want in life?
Honestly, I was leery going into Suppa's worrying that the hype might be to much and just overblown, but I was completely surprised and overjoyed to find out everything they said about the place is true, so honestly, if you are down by UMass Lowell, or don't mind the drive down to that part of my hometown, swing by and have a steak on a stick or a sub or pizza, you honestly can't go wrong no matter what you do.
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Chris
