20. Foodery Rittenhouse

FOODERY RITTENHOUSE, 1710 Sansom Street

This is an airy sandwich shop with a terrific beer aisle and an Italian hoagie that comes highly recommended. Unfortunately, we can't say the same for their meatballs.

The $11 "Meatball Grinder" comes with four mid-sized meatballs and a dusting of parmesan cheese on a long roll. Kind of pricey, but, hey, it's Center City so you're going to pay premium at most places.  We'd be okay with that if the quality was up to what we expect in the city.

Alas, it was not to be. The roll – fine. The cheese – adequate. The sauce – bill as "house marinara," it tasted no better than any jarred supermarket sauce.

And the meatballs? Certainly Foodery must believe in the theory that you can't have too much flavor, because it tasted like someone had spilled an entire spice rack into these meatballs.  Yo chef, put the brakes on that pepper, please.

"They're a good texture," said my dining partner that day, who also happens to be a professional chef. "But you've got to let the meat do its job. And I can't taste the meat through everything that's been dumped into it."

Score: 45/100