Primanti Brothers Capone

Today, we review the Capone Sandwich from Primanti Bros. Primanti Bros. is a chain focusing on sandwiches. Primanti Bros. (sometimes called Primanti’s) was founded in 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and it serves some of the most unique sandwiches anywhere. In 1933, Joe Primanti opened the first Primanti Bros. in the Strip District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The restaurant catered to many blue-collar workers and truck drivers. Joe Primanti’s vision was to incorporate sides into the sandwich rather than serving a meat sandwich with separate side dishes. These sides are an oil and vinegar-based cole slaw and house-cut French fries.

Primanti Bros. is over 90 years old and a chain, but not a massive chain (there are 43 locations). They have locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Florida, Michigan, and Indiana. I visited the Linthicum, Maryland, location, which is just a quick jaunt from the BWI Airport.

While I didn’t see it explicitly stated anywhere at Primanti’s or the website, I assume the Capone gets its name from the infamous gangster Al Capone.

The Construction

The Capone was ordered according to the defaults. The only change I made was adding onions to the sandwich. Unfortunately, this assessment was carried out remotely in Linthicum, Maryland, so I was unable to obtain precise measurements or weight for the sandwich.

Capicola (Default)
Salami (Default)
Hot Sausage (Default)
Melted Provolone Cheese (Default)
Sweet and Sour Cole Slaw (Default)
Fresh Cut Fries (Default)
Tomato (Default)
House Italian Bread (Default)
Onions (Option)
Size: n/a
Length: n/a
Weight: n/a
Sandwiches Eaten: 2
Location: Linthicum, MD
Price: $10.95

As for the constitution, it was a little tricky assessing the top and bottom, but the meats are on one half, and the condiments are on the other.

The Experience

For this assessment, the scoring is very similar to what we did with the Turkey Sub Quest:

Meat and Cheese 4 points
Bread: 2 points
Condiments: 2 point
Intangibles: 2 points

Meat and Cheese

Four components make up Capone’s meats and cheese: capicola, salami, hot sausage, and melted provolone. The salami and capicola are lightly grilled. Although they have a slightly processed texture and taste, they are still tasty meats.

The hot sausage is sliced horizontally, allowing it to fit better on the sandwich. This is not a very spicy sausage, so I would put it on the “medium minus” side. It is the most dominant of the meats in the Capone. At the same time, the sausage was the best meat on the sandwich, so I liked that it had the edge over the other meats.

The cheese is a milder provolone, which brings out the sweetness without overwhelming it. Provolone goes well with Italian-cured meat and works well with the Capone.

Score: 3.0 out of 4.0 points

Bread

The bread featured on the Capone is sliced from a large loaf of Italian bread. Both slices of bread are thick cut, which is needed for a sandwich with many ingredients. The bread had a nice crust and was soft and chewy in the center. I could enjoy the bread on its own. The slice of bread that touches the meats holds its consistency. On the other hand, the bread that touches the condiments gets soggy on the other end. I’m not a big fan of bread that gets soggy, so it loses points there.

Score: 1.0 out of 2.0 points

Generally, cole slaw is a no-go for me. But that’s because most cole slaws have a mayonnaise base, which I do not like. The great news, at least for me, is that the Primanti Bros. cole slaw does not use mayonnaise but oil and vinegar. This is the way to go with a Cole Slaw. Primanti’s calls its cole slaw “sweet and sour,” and it’s the perfect description.

This cole slaw is so tasty that I ordered an extra side. Most importantly, the slaw does its job on the Capone quite well.

Though I didn’t get extra fries on the side, I also have to praise Primanti’s fries. They are not overly salty and are very flavorful. They were a little soft on the sandwich but still enjoyable. The tomatoes could have been slightly riper, but they still imparted a nice sweetness and didn’t have any mushiness. The tomatoes contributed nicely to the sandwich.

Finally, the onions weren’t pungent but weren’t sweet. They could probably be left off the Capone, and the sandwich wouldn’t miss a beat. Regarding sandwich construction, the onions were not on the layer with the other condiments but on the layer with the meats closest to the bread.

Score: 1.75 out of 2.0 points

Intangibles

There are two positives and two negatives when it comes to intangibles with the Capone.

On the positive side, the sandwich is appetizing. The combination of the ingredients works. Some of the sweetness from the cole slaw, cheese, and tomato is balanced nicely by the spices with the meat. The other good thing is the proportions are generous and have good ratios. At no point did I feel there should have been more or less of any ingredient.

On the negative side, I always look for the overall experience of the sandwich to exceed the sum of its parts, and the Primanti Bros. Capone did not do that. I look for a more magical combination and didn’t get that. The Capone tastes like meats, cheese, fries, slaw, and tomato layered between bread – nothing more.

The other negative is that this sandwich gets soggy quickly. This is definitely from the condiment layer. The sogginess eventually led to a negative during the eating experience.

Score: 1.0 out of 2 points

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

One thing to note is that the concept of fries and non-mayonnaise cole slaw on a sandwich is uncommon. Joe Primanti’s goal was to create an experience where someone on the go can have a sandwich and sides rolled up into one easy package (in this case, the sandwich itself). Primanti’s delivers on that goal with the Capone. As I mentioned, if you are looking for any magic when these ingredients are combined, you won’t get it.

On another note, I have been to the original Primanti’s in Pittsburgh, and I didn’t see any difference between that one and the Linthicum, Maryland location. I’ve had the Capone in both places, and the experience is pretty consistent. Finally, you can’t complain about the price. For $10.95, you get plenty of food and a satisfying experience. While there may be some other better offerings on the Primanti Bros. menu, the Capone is something I would certainly come back to again.