Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The lure of fresh bread in the morning

Torpedo repeat

A long, pleasant, two-sandwich lunch
A long, pleasant, two-sandwich lunch

BMH Italian wasn’t open yet, but I could smell the bread baking, so I parked it on a bench outside and waited. 10:30 a.m. may have been a little on the early side for lunch, but I hadn’t eaten breakfast, and I’d been eager to return to the little family-owned spot in La Mesa since stumbling upon it while getting my car serviced in the neighborhood a couple of years ago.

This small Italian deli in la Mesa says it’s not going anywhere

That time, I’d picked up a five-dollar torpedo — the classic Italian deli staple synonymous with a hoagie — served here with ham and both cotto and genoa salamis. The torpedo goes for $6.75 these days, and it’s worth it. For a little more, BMH offers other, similarly provolone-topped cold sandwiches that introduce Italian meats such as capicola, mortadella, or soppressata, but I had been happy enough with the torpedo to repeat.

Sponsored
Sponsored

What I really wanted to dig into was the hot sandwich side of the menu. There’s a lot to try, including a housemade sausage, an au jus roast beef, and muffuletta that I would have ordered had I made it that far down the menu.

But right there on top of the list was the meatball sub. I looked no further. Aside from the deli restaurant, which is basically a handful of vinyl covered tabletops, BMH — which bears the initials of its three original founders — sells a few shelves’ worth of imported Italian goods, including risotto and canned San Marzano tomatoes. I had to suppose the meatballs and marinara would be decent for $7.75.

Place

BMH Italian

7670 El Cajon Boulevard, La Mesa

And it was. Succulent, finely ground beef, seasoned with a little fennel, a little oregano. That bread really cinches it, soft and chewy, absorbing the tomato sauce and holding up well against the melted provolone.

It serves the torpedo well too, and probably any sandwich you throw at it. Lunch started at 10:30 a.m., but with a couple of tasty hoagies at my disposal I managed to drag it out past 2.

A Reader story last year suggest BMH might get swept up in property development in the area, but one of the owners assured me all that’s happening across the street and this restaurant will be around for years to come.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Elevated ice crystals lead to solar halos, Cottonwoods still showing their tawny foliage

New moon brings high tides this weekend
Next Article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
A long, pleasant, two-sandwich lunch
A long, pleasant, two-sandwich lunch

BMH Italian wasn’t open yet, but I could smell the bread baking, so I parked it on a bench outside and waited. 10:30 a.m. may have been a little on the early side for lunch, but I hadn’t eaten breakfast, and I’d been eager to return to the little family-owned spot in La Mesa since stumbling upon it while getting my car serviced in the neighborhood a couple of years ago.

This small Italian deli in la Mesa says it’s not going anywhere

That time, I’d picked up a five-dollar torpedo — the classic Italian deli staple synonymous with a hoagie — served here with ham and both cotto and genoa salamis. The torpedo goes for $6.75 these days, and it’s worth it. For a little more, BMH offers other, similarly provolone-topped cold sandwiches that introduce Italian meats such as capicola, mortadella, or soppressata, but I had been happy enough with the torpedo to repeat.

Sponsored
Sponsored

What I really wanted to dig into was the hot sandwich side of the menu. There’s a lot to try, including a housemade sausage, an au jus roast beef, and muffuletta that I would have ordered had I made it that far down the menu.

But right there on top of the list was the meatball sub. I looked no further. Aside from the deli restaurant, which is basically a handful of vinyl covered tabletops, BMH — which bears the initials of its three original founders — sells a few shelves’ worth of imported Italian goods, including risotto and canned San Marzano tomatoes. I had to suppose the meatballs and marinara would be decent for $7.75.

Place

BMH Italian

7670 El Cajon Boulevard, La Mesa

And it was. Succulent, finely ground beef, seasoned with a little fennel, a little oregano. That bread really cinches it, soft and chewy, absorbing the tomato sauce and holding up well against the melted provolone.

It serves the torpedo well too, and probably any sandwich you throw at it. Lunch started at 10:30 a.m., but with a couple of tasty hoagies at my disposal I managed to drag it out past 2.

A Reader story last year suggest BMH might get swept up in property development in the area, but one of the owners assured me all that’s happening across the street and this restaurant will be around for years to come.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pedicab drivers in downtown San Diego miss the music

New rules have led to 50% drop in business
Next Article

Could Supplemental Security Income house the homeless?

A board and care resident proposes a possible solution
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader