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Heat gets to North End chef, who goes public with hatred of neighboring sub shop's giant lobster roll
By adamg on Mon, 07/08/2013 - 3:03pm
Maybe the cooler weather will help restore order to the fetid streets of the North End.
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Comments
Lobster Roll Price Wars
I can't remember the place that was there before Pauli's. But doesn't Rabia's down the street charge like $24 for a lobster roll? Which is a ridiculous price IMHO. I am sure Neptune's is also overpriced.
Of course I have not been able to eat lobster since they day of the James Hook fire which was across the street from my office at the time. The smell of burnt lobster has put me off it for some time.
I know the feeling
I lived behind a Dunkin Donuts back when, and the smell of donuts turned me off to them for years.
At the very least, Pauli was
At the very least, Pauli was quite civil about the matter.
What a baby
Pauli's is a takeout sandwich shop...and one that has a pretty creative menu at that. So 5 other places on the street serve a lobster roll, does he hold the patent? It's a popular item (even panera serves one now), and places shockingly want to make money, so they serve them. The Pauli's gimmick is just that, a gimmick, but they also serve a regular sized roll and I'm 100% sure it's not taking any business away from Neptune.
Sullivan's on Castle Island
Sullivan's on Castle Island still has the best deal. All meat lobster roll for 10 bucks. No room for mayo or celery.
The 1,568,127th person in
The 1,568,127th person in Boston selling lobster rolls is complaining that the 1,568,128th person in Boston selling lobster rolls is copying him. Sounds like he might have a case.
Beyond Twitter's limits, Serpa defends his words
Eater Boston let Serpa expand on his previous comment and defend the point he was trying to make about the North End food scene.
I have to agree and disagree with Serpa. He's right to say that even within the "Little Italy" genre of the general North End food scene, there could be more variety and interpretation on Italian food sub-genres.
However, where I disagree is that his own restaurant is WHY there are copycats just down the street from him. Clearly, Neptune Oyster is a great restaurant (been there, really liked it every time). But it's a bandbox. You could even say that its exclusivity due to its size is what helps drive some amount of its popularity and thus also helps them justify their higher prices. If you are going to play that game, then someone is going to open up next door with more floor space and attempt to mimic you to scrape even a fraction of the customers who come by but can't get in that night. If they can even come close to your quality, they can match (or beat) your prices and rake in the dough because people who came to your restaurant to be turned away don't go home and make a sandwich.