This week’s edition has a New York-vs.-Philly flavor, with a healthy side of David-and-Goliath. 

For our meatball sub skirmish, we pit Wawa, which was founded as a dairy in suburban Philadelphia in 1902, against Gianni’s New York Pizza, which should need no explanation, but for good measure, a little background: The St. Pete restaurant is owned and operated by Johnny Colandrea, whose Italian-immigrant father opened his first pizzeria in Brooklyn in the mid-’70s.

In this corner: Wawa, aka Goliath, with 1,027 locations in 478 cities in seven states. In the opposite corner: Gianni’s, aka David, one location in St. Pete.

Chain vs. local indie. These are fun.

GIANNI’S NEW YORK PIZZA

Tuesday, 2:30 — we pulled into a parking spot near Gianni’s small storefront in a St. Pete’s Tyrone Gardens shopping center. Kind meh outside, but kinda fun inside. The compact, brightly lit space was adorned with vibrant murals on each side wall depicting Sophia Loren, Madonna, NYC team logos and, most prominent of all: Francis Albert Sinatra.

The young front-of-house guy issued us a hearty hello as soon as we entered — not, however, in a New York accent. But hey, whaddya gonna do?

We grabbed a spot at one of the simple tables with padded bench seats. Oldies played on the sound system at low volume.

I ordered my Meatball Sub ($10.29) from across the dining room while I was shooting photos. The place had an easygoing vibe that I instantly took to.

Appearance

Our food arrived quickly. The presentation epitomized simplicity, and was very typical of what you’d find in New York pizza joints. My first impression was that the sandwich looked, not exactly small, but less than big. I was okay with that.

Texture and Taste

Some meatball subs are so huge and stuffed that they can be a messy chore to eat, not to mention risking a gut bomb later. This sub was not that.

The roll was expertly toasted, a light crust giving way to the interior fluff. The meatballs were evenly textured — smooth, not coarse —  and mildly spiced. The sub had a healthy helping of cheese — mozzarella and pecorino — but, again, in the right measure. The velvety sauce had an exquisite balance of sweetness, spice and acidity. I asked for and was granted a small container of it for dipping.

In all, while this sandwich did not make a statement or offer much in the way of surprise, it easily lived up to what we expect from a meatball sub in a pizzeria. Put another way: It delivered.

WAWA

Wawa #5252 expedited my order of a Toasted Meatball Classic ($7.99) at 1:29:17 Thursday.

I understand why the chain employs a touchscreen ordering system, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I tapped my way through so many screens that I was worried about a blister. Apparently Wawa’s touchscreen ordering system doesn’t like me, either, which I’ll explain momentarily.

The counter person handed me my sandwich within three minutes.

Appearance

Not pretty. Not meant to be.

Wawa doesn’t have interior seating so we parked ourselves at a round metal table just outside the store window. I can’t imagine eating a meatball hoagie under these conditions in the dead of summer. Contemporary pop music played on tinny speakers too loudly.

Texture and Taste

First, the part about the ordering system not liking me. I was eating the hoagie and complaining to Bonnie about the cheese. “It tastes like cheese product, like white Cheez Whiz,” I groused. I took another bite or two. “Man, the cheese ruins it,” I groused some more.

Flummoxed, I glanced at the photo I took of my touchscreen order, and saw the culprit: SLICED AMERICAN (Cheese). How’d that get in there? A ghost in the machine? User error? We’ll never know, but I guarantee you I would not order a meatball sub with American cheese.

I explained the situation to the sandwich manager and she gladly made me another one — with provolone (and some parmesan shake-cheese on top).

This sandwich was better.

The bread collapsed on the first bite, rendering it a bit gummy, and without much in the way of crust. The meatballs were adequate, if a bit pallid and too salty. The cheese was fine. So was the red sauce, although there wasn’t enough of it. The latter bites boiled down to mostly meatball and bread.

I got a 16-oz Blueberry Pomegranate Lemonade ($2.89), which initially had a promising flavor but proved way too sweet.

Can a Feisty Local Pizzeria Wallop Wawa #5252 in a Meatball Sub Showdown?

Yup. Gianni’s by unanimous decision.

Look, Wawa makes a more than edible — you might even say credible — meatball sub (excuse me, hoagie). But its quick-serve concept simply can’t reproduce the TLC I experienced at Gianni’s — in both food and atmosphere.

And the ordering snafu at Wawa didn’t help.