6. Carlino's

CARLINO'S, 2616 E. County Line Road, Ardmore

This legendary suburban foodery found its way into my Italian hoagie finals a few years back. Everything they make they do well, and the meatballs are no exception. Some Delaware Valley ex-pats get them shipped across the country.

Carlino's makes their meatballs out of ground chuck, eggs, Romano cheese and homemade breadcrumbs. They're baked, not fried, and doused in a snappy marinara. You can buy them frozen by the quart to take home or you can get a sandwich to eat on their enclosed patio.

That's what we did. The sandwich was stuff with golf ball-sized beauties, slathered in sauce and plopped into a topnotch seeded roll. This was a cheesy meatball, and there was no shortage of parm on top. Good texture, nice flavor, but not the complexity of flavor we found at a few of our favorite spots.

Score: 80/100