Sandwich Comparison: Amighetti's Special vs. Schnuck's King of the Hill

Left: Schnuck's King of the Hill, Right: Amighetti's Special

Today after we visited Brentwood Material, we were close to the Brentwood Schnuck's on the corner of Brentwood and Manchester so we picked up some things we needed there. Since it was close to lunchtime, we also looked for something to eat for lunch, and we found their Italian sandwich, the "King of the Hill" priced at $7.99. This thing looked big and had all the ingredients of an Amighetti's Special so I will willing to give it a try. However, my son wanted an original Amighetti's sandwich since it was just down Manchester in Rock Hill. So we thought we would try a taste test, getting both sandwiches and sharing and comparing them.

I thought the Amighetti's Special would be a bit more expensive than the grocery store sandwich, so I was surprised to see that it was only 40 cents more at $8.39 for a whole sub. When I received it from the counter, however, I did  realize that it was quite a bit smaller than the Schnuck's sandwich, and also smaller than I had remembered them being in the past. However, the Amighetti's sandwich was definitely thicker, so I would have to take them both home and measure them. With our trusty tape measure the Schnuck's sandwich was 13.5 inches long where the Amighetti's Special was only 10 inches long. However, the wider Amighetti's sub was almost 4 inches wide compared to the 3 inches of the Schnuck's sandwich.

Top: Schnuck's King of the Hill, Bottom: Amighetti's Special

Both my son and I decided to eat the longer Schnuck's sandwich first since we were more familiar with the Amighetti's version. The bread Schnuck's used was softer and not so dense, with not much flavor or substance to it. We noticed the pepperoncini peppers they used were sliced and more numerous than in the Amighetti's sandwich, and that the sandwich lacked any sauce of any kind. They were generous with the meats and cheese, but the lettuce and tomato were a bit sparse and did not taste super fresh. The cheese and peppers helped to give it some creaminess and "sauciness" and it was definitely a very decent sandwich, and there was plenty of it.  Due to the fact that its bread was not as tough and dense at the Amighetti's bread, however, it was not as filling as one would think and we both still had room to eat one half of the Amighetti's Special.

The first thing you notice when you bite into the Amighetti's sandwich is the difference in the bread. There is really no comparison. Whereas the Schnnuck's bread tasted like a standard grocery roll, the Amighetti's bread tasted like fresh baked Italian bread. The second thing is Amighetti's creamy, mustard tinged sauce. Whereas the meats and the cheese between the two sandwiches were similar, having the sauce and bread really makes the real Italian sandwich shine. Amighetti's probably makes all their sandwiches fresh that day and you can taste a difference with fresher lettuce and tomato as well as the daily baked bread. The pepperoncini that Amighetti's uses are also hotter and do not taste straight out of a jar. Using whole peppers keep them tasting fresher and not as pickled. The sauce makes the Amighetti's Special a bit messier to eat, but a much more pleasant overall culinary experience as it blends perfectly with the meats, and vegetables and bread to make a great sandwich - a St. Louis original.

Amighetti's Special Sandwich

Schnuck's King of the Hill sandwich