The Skyway Sybarite: Allie's Deli

Last Wednesday, AC, kHm and I headed to Allie's Deli at 5th and Marquette. This has long been one of AC's and kHm's favorite lunch spots, but I of course, had never been.

kHm ate: Bowl of White Chicken Chili
AC ate: Half a BLT and a cup of Chicken Wild Rice

I ate: Half a Rueben and a cup of Chicken Wild Rice

kHm writes:

It's no secret that I am a White Chicken Chili fanatic. Once the chill in the air evolves to the demi-ice that lingers until the frosty climes of the Frozen Tundra thaw mid March, this soup is my lifeblood. I can't recall just when or why I first ordered it, but I have almost never strayed since that fated day. I love it because it reminds me of ski-hill soup at the slopes I learned to ski on in Northern New Mexico. The soup has a little zesty bite thanks to the green chiles sporadically swimming in the broth, which is infused with sautéed onions and garlic. Allie's Deli is not shy with the shredded chicken and the white beans are the perfect balance of firmly squishy- perfect to smoosh on one's hard palate when savoring this 10 out of 10 for skyway soup (at least in my book).

If the soup wasn't enough to bring you in, the place is always hopping, the staff is attentive, speedy and friendly. Jokingly, AC and I nicknamed Allie's "Muppet Deli" after Pete's Deli in "Muppet's Take Manhattan"- I am still not sure just why, but it reminds me of that little coffee shop. Everytime I go, I expect to see Fozzy chopping up lettuce for the salads, Skeeter spreading mayo on a sandwich or Rolf operating a cash register.

The only drawbacks are the fact that it is compressed in terms of square footage- better as a pick up for lunch than a sit down and the fact that Muppets do not actually operate this hidden jewel in the skyway system.

AC writes:

AC Likes: Super friendly people who are genuinely happy you chose to come to their deli for lunch. I can appreciate that. They also have good prices, tons of choices and will make any and all of your substitution requests. I love the BLT on bread w/o mayo plus guacamole and the sliced fruit topped with cottage cheese. If they run out of the pre-packaged fruit/cottage cheese they will always make you one.

AC would skip: The whole sandwich - half is more than enough.

My two cents:

Although I ordered what was possibly the unhealthiest thing on the menu, I didn't feel like a glutton. The half sandwich was a nice size, the whole thing would definitely have been too big. The Rueben was stuffed with saurkraut and was piping hot in less than three minutes! The Chicken Wild Rice soup (always one of my favorites) was a creamy, delicious treat. I love that Allie's uses shredded chicken instead of chunks.

AH likes: Fast, friendly service and top-quality food. Isn't that what we're looking for?

AH would skip: Less is definitely more at Allie's. Ths sandwiches are big, so just get a half.