I used to consider myself an “honorary Italian” because I had so many Italian friends and had eaten so much Italian food.
Pizza and calzones are two of my favorite foods. Anything with bread and cheese is a sacred and divine dish in my opinion.
I grew up in Long Island, where Italian Americans make up at least 25 percent of the population. I once dated someone so Italian he swore he had olive oil for blood.
In addition to that, our family loves Italian food and, especially since Z joined us 13 years ago, we’ve spent an awful lot of time in Italian restaurants.
So how is it that I am only now realizing how amazing strombolis are?!
I’ve seen stromboli on the menu at many Italian restaurants. I had just never tried one before, which is especially odd considering how much I love calzones, a close cousin to stromboli.
Strange but true, I had never actually ordered or eaten a stromboli until this month when we ventured into a new-to-us restaurant: Gabby’s Italian Restaurant on Olentangy River Road in Delaware. We’ve driven by it several times and I’m so glad we finally went in. The patio out back is simply adorable!
A quick look at Yelp told me that Gabby’s is known for its legendary stromboli, so we felt we had to try one.
We opted for a simple cheese stromboli since Z can be a bit of a purist with her food preferences. Our server told us you can’t go wrong with a plain cheese stromboli and she was right. Served with a marinara dipping sauce, it was perfection.
Now I can’t wait to go back to Gabby’s to try another stromboli, this time with some more toppings or fillings. The Delaware Destroyer gets rave reviews on Yelp, so that might have to be the one.
I know there are other places in central Ohio to get stromboli, and we’ll certainly try a few of those as well. But for me, Gabby’s will always be memorable as the first place I ever had this delicious Italian-American classic.
Viva la stromboli!
