Some friends and I were debating this a few months back, so we took a long Friday lunch and had a "sub-off" contest. The four of us split up and got Italian subs from Mangialardo's on Pennsylvania Ave. SE., Litteri's over at the DC Market at 4th and Florida NE., Booeymonger's in Georgetown, and the Italian Store off Spout Run in Arlington - cut them in to quarters and had a blind taste-testing. As ever, we ended up with four different opinions on which were the best and worst
My favorite was Mangialardo's "G-Man", followed closely by a tie between Litteri's and the Italian Store, with Booey's distant last. Unfortunately Mangialardo's is only open during the week. The argument continues, though it has morphed into whether they are called Italians, Heros, Subs, Grinders, Hoagies, etc...