Joe Davola's

Yesterday I made a comment on Facebook about a deli that my friend Laura was visiting and one of the forumites asked me to try his place.
The forumite is Christopher Stockton and he is one of the owners of Joe Davola's at 901 Barret Ave. When I walked in I was promptly greeted by Christopher whom I know from both Hotbytes and Facebook. He knows I am losing weight and on a very strict diet. James (the chef ond co-owner) prepared me a half tuna salad sandwich and half Kickin' Asian salad with water (bottled) it was $8. The salad was very fresh crisp romaine lettuce, mandarin oranges, almonds, cucumbers, red cabbage, carrots and bamboo shoots tossed in a light sesame soy vinagrette.
The tuna salad was served on (GREAT) wheatberry bread. It had very little mayo which a hint of lemon and capers topped with romaine lettuce and sliced tomatoes. Was it really under 400 calories? I am not positive, but they do have a guy that comes in everyday and swears he is losing 5lbs a week and this is what he orders.
I had an opportunity to visit with Christopher who has recently joined James in this venture. The goal is to have the freshest ingredients and serve it at a reasonable price. All of the dressings, sauces, salads are all prepared in house. Christopher said all of the meat was prepared in house, but I don't know if that means it is processed in house or if they are roasting off the meats in house. Since I had tuna I am not sure.
The place has seating for about 40? There were 5 tables of customers in while I was there at 11:30am. Christopher checked with every guest to be sure they were pleased. These guys really have a passion for what they are doing and it shows.
Bottomline I really liked what I had and the other customers all had positive comments. It is at the corner of Breckinridge and Barrett. Give it a shot and be sure to tell Christopher you are from Hotbytes! Here is the website with the menu http://crazyjoedavolas.com/Home_Page.php
Oops, one last thing Christopher said he will deliver anywhere in the city! If inquiring minds want ot know - Joe Davola's is not a customer (but should be ) of mine.

Thanks Kurt. My lovely bride works downtown and is always looking for cool little lunch spots, I'll tell her about Joe Davola's.

Kurt thanks for the nice review mate, I'm glad you liked it..and yes we do roast all our meats in house.

It's true I'm finally back in business and although I didn't anticipate being in the sandwich biz I couldn't be happier. It's amazing what 5 months of being jobless will do for your humility. I was lucky enough to partner up with James Tyler who had this great concept of Joe Davola's and has made what I believe to be, the best quick serve, homemade sandwich and salad menu, I've ever tried. It was a no brainer to jump on board.

I am not going to ramble on about how good I think we are and how everyone should come visit us, I'd just like to say hi to all my Hotbytes friends and let's make 2010 the turnaround year.

Best wishes all

Christopher

This was a regular place for us in the fall when we would stop by after picking up our CSA in Smoketown. It's good - I really like the salads.

Christopher - the website says you deliver box lunches, does that mean we can't just call in a regular lunch order? Is there a minimum? I'm at the public radio building on 4th (next to the Palace)

Hey Robin

Glad to hear you've been in and tried us, I wasn't here during the fall but look forward to seeing you in the future,

We do have carry out orders, some people in the local area like to stretch their legs and come get it but we deliver anywhere in louisville too. There is no minimum and no charge.

You can check our website for the daily soups www.joedavolas.com and if you mention you're from Hotbytes when ordering, we'll be sure to throw in some fresh baked cookies too.

Please excuse the blatant promotion Robin G...

C~

Christopher - great to see you back on the scene. Anything with your name attached has to be a quality product!

I'm with Ken... you'z beast!

Ken, Stephen... thanks a lot guys, that means so much.

This town has been good to me and it's people like you who have made my experiences rich. I'm excited to have another opportunity in Louisville and I'm fortunate to have partnered up with James Tyler. James has a similar drive and the same attention to detail as I do.

Robin F, I'm not sure I answered your question properly. .. Yes you can order regular lunches and have them delivered or pick up.

Damn it's cold this morning!

Thanks Christopher - we may order today!

Well we just finished our delivered lunches and they were delicious. I had the Kick'in Asian salad - very yummy with crisp lettuce, great gingery dressing and fine fixins from the chicken to the bamboo shoots. There was a Wild West Salad ordered (with avocado instead of chicken) and it was also declared delicious! The Maple Turkey sandwich was also a hit. An all around wonderful lunch. thanks!

but we deliver anywhere in louisville too. There is no minimum and no charge.

So you will deliver anywhere in Louisville, is that in the county or old city limits? Just wanting to get clarification.

Robin thank you for ordering and the great feedback, it was our pleasure.... Brian, we deliver anywhere in the metro area (gotta hustle)... we're in the highlands so it may take a while if you're waaay! out there, but we will get it to you. It always helps to order a day ahead if you can too.

C~

I was referring to the no minimum. I live in Fern Creek. So you'd deliver a order for one or two people that far? You'd probably spend the profit on the order on gas getting it here!

Brian

We have no problem doing that. It would be nice to get a larger order but not essential. We deliver to Baptist East almost daily and in order to get the business going it is worth it to us. Perhaps one day we could have a second store that might be closer but until then it all comes out in the wash. Time is the only factor I worry about in the longer distances.

My dad and I got carry-out from here today and these sandwiches aren't just crazy good, they're downright certifiable. We got the chicken salad and the roast beef and they were both top notch with fresh ingredients and good flavor combinations. The sandwiches are beyond generous, and at only $5.25 a piece they're a steal. We also tried the mushroom soup and it was delicious as well. Creamy, buttery, and with big plump mushrooms that still had lots of texture and earthy flavor. (So many places cook their shrooms down to nothing.) I will totally be back - I'm already thinking about how I need to try that BLT with roasted garlic pimento cheese!