Jamaica Plain

This place opened up in the middle of 2008 in a spot previously occupied by at least two other restaurants in the past 5 years. Hopefully Real Deal stays because it's a great sandwich place. The prices are quite reasonable for the quality of the food that you get here. They have pizza slices that are big, delicious, and only a few bucks. I usually saunter over to the display and see which one looks like it just came out of the oven and order that. It's the cheapest thing to have for lunch. You can also get whole pizzas if you like.

The deli sandwiches are the real draw here. Some of their sandwiches are depicted in cartoon form on the wall as part of their decor. One of the pictures here show one of those cartoons. All of the sandwiches and wraps have unique names such as the "Tony Soprano," which is a roast beef wrap with horseradish sauce. It's pretty good. They use Boar's Head cold-cuts, in case that means anything to you.

The burgers here are cooked the way you like. It took quite a while for mine to cook so if you're into this kind of thing, bring a book to read while you wait. They fry the thick burgers and honestly, there was a little too much char on mine, which was ordered medium. This was not my favorite thing here.

They also have soups and a display case full of baked goods. The clam chowder is pretty good for dunking your pizza crusts. I haven't tried the other soups but they're comparable to most soups that you would get at any other place. The baked goods are awesome! If you like stuff with icing, they usually have several cupcakes with various types of sugary goodness. I personally like their chocolate chip cookies for only a buck each. They're made in house. The other baked goodies are made by another bakery. Oh, the black & white cookies are also very good.

There are several tables but depending on the time of day, you might or might not get a seat. Late afternoon is good for getting a seat. If you're into good American food, try this place.

The orange line and commuter rail go through Jamaica Plain. Forest Hills is at the end of the orange line and also a commuter rail stop. Green Street and Stony Brook stations are also on the orange line. If you want to go to the Sam Adams Brewery tour, take the orange line to Stony Brook and it's a short walk from there.