It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a sandwich

John Volo

As I was leaving the gym, I picked up a flier for Super Hero’s

sandwiches. The eclectic sandwich offerings with names, such as the

honey bee, the cattle drive and the Don Ho, piqued my interest.

So, the following Tuesday, my wife and I went with our friends,

Ron and Beth, to Super Hero’s for lunch. We soon discovered that for

innovative sandwiches, creative sodas and refreshing smoothies, it’s

Super Hero’s to the rescue.

The inside decor, however, could use some rescuing. The lone table

that could accommodate all four of us was occupied. There was a

two-seater by the front door and jukebox, and another nestled in the

back under the big screen, adjacent to the fish tank and the Super

Mario Brothers game.

Out of necessity, we saddled up to the wooden bar that seats

eight. This turned out to be fortuitous, thanks to Julie -- the

helpful bartender/server/unofficial spokesperson for Super Hero’s who

patiently fielded our inquiries and serviced our requests.

Every menu item seemed delectable. We painstakingly whittled the

choices down to four, and then requested each item be cut in

quarters, so we could easily share. We got foot-long versions of the

major leaguer ($7.39), the southwest dip ($7.19), and the cordon blue

($8.19). We also got a specialty sandwich, the Russian three wood

($6.89).

The southwest dip earned top honors from me. This spicy creation

has hot, thinly sliced roast beef, Ortega chilies, and pepper jack

cheese on a grilled French roll. The dipping sauce is a tasty au jus

with red peppers added. The au jus not only perfectly softens the

crispy roll, but adds a little zest to this delight, while the melted

pepper jack cheese clings nicely to the Ortega chili. A stellar sub.

The Russian three wood was also scrumptious. This thickly piled

sandwich, which comes on grilled Parmesan sourdough bread, has

turkey, smoked ham, provolone cheese, roma tomatoes, shredded lettuce

and Russian dressing. With apologies to the dressing, what makes this

sandwich great is the bread. They actually melt shredded Parmesan

cheese onto a potent sourdough. Unlike my golf club, this three wood

hit the spot.

The cordon blue was pretty good, but skimpy. Skinny chicken

tenders are topped with warm ham and melted provolone cheese, and

served on a mayo-slathered French roll. This was our most expensive

item, yet it was our least substantive item. C’est la vie.

Our only cold selection was the major leaguer. This is a turkey

sub with avocado, bacon and blue cheese crumbles on a French roll. I

love blue cheese crumbles on anything, so suffice it to say I loved

this sub.

I washed everything down with an awesome raspberry-vanilla Italian

soda. Flavored syrup is poured in the bottom eighth of the glass, ice

is added and club soda is dispensed. It’s topped with cream (like

you’d use for coffee) to create a tri-level, tri-colored triumph.

When mixed, the Italian soda is less sweet, yet tastier than us

Americans are used to.

Beth, who was drinking water, quickly switched to a mango soda

after witnessing the creation of my drink. Ron enjoyed the mango

meanie super smoothie, a mixture of mango, pineapple, banana, and

orange juice. The smoothie alone warrants a trip to Super Hero’s.

The real show stopper was the Hawaiian crunch dessert. Peanut

butter, bananas, and a warm (melted) Nestle Crunch bar, are

sandwiched between grilled Hawaiian sweet bread. Whoever came up with

this scrumptious treat should have their statue erected out front. I

was just bummed they didn’t have any milk to go with it.

Like Superman emerging from a phone booth, I strode out fully

confident, the food and drink having met my lofty expectations.

* JOHN VOLO is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have

comments or suggestions, e-mail hbindy@latimes.com.