Midtown Lunch

Last fall I judged the 3rd Swedish Historical Museum  Meatball Contest. There was a tie for the amateur 1st place  winner between a 77 year old man and Michael Antinore, who confessed to me that day that he was interested in opening a food truck and the win had given him more confidence in that dream. Fast forward to July and Mama’s Balls is a regular at City Hall and LOVE Park. If Michael wants to compete in the competition again, he will have to enter in the professional category.

A hoagie with 3 meatballs is $8. I tried the classic Mama’s- a blend of beef, pork, and veal in homemade tomato sauce topped with a generous amount of parm and some arugula for color. These were some moist, flavorful, classic tasting meatballs. They won the competition, after all.

If you are just interested in a snack, a single slider is $3.50. Sometimes one ball is all you need, right Lance? My sister, visiting from out of town, loved the “Rabe-father”, a turkey, broccoli rabe, and asiago cheese meatball served with a little bit of sauce and pesto.

Your other meatball options include a vegetarian version, one with sausage and hot pepper, and according to Facebook, a new meatball with bacon and blue cheese that sounds divine and I am now sad I didn’t get to sample it.

Mama’s Meatballs, follow on twitter or Facebook for location