Try going into your local sandwich shop and ordering a panino. See if you get perplexed looks from the counter person. Strictly speaking, “panini” is plural for panino. So ends this week’s Italian vocabularly lesson.

For the remainder of this column, I’ll be using panini as a singular for a hot pressed sandwich on cibatta bread. Our contestants are JJ’s Market & Deli on Gandy Boulevard in St. Pete and Brooklyn South in the Edge District.

JJ’s MARKET & DELI

During the short ride to JJ’s at 7 p.m. Monday, we discussed whether to bring our panini back to the FFF Lab + Photo Studio™.

Seconds after entering the place — which is located across Gandy from Derby Lane — we decided to hang out and eat.

Don’t be fooled by the generic exterior. Inside, JJ’s is a charmer — a blend of country store and boho cafe. There’s a lot going on: A counter up front with food prepared behind it; wooden shelf after wooden shelf holding an eclectic array of goods; wine racks; a walk-in beer cooler; sofas with throw pillows; picnic tables, and so on.

We placed our order with Jill, one of the owners. Business was slow, so we chatted a while. I got the Pesto Panini ($8.99) with chicken ($3.50), a side of potato salad, and a fountain root beer ($2.69). We had a seat at a picnic table and Jill brought our food out to us.

Appearance

JJ’s roasts it own chickens and shreds it. Kudo for that. I could see strands of poultry peeking out from the lightly toasted cibatta. I’m a snob when it comes to potato salad, but this version looked promising.

Bonnie and I split the sandwich, and I scarfed my half down so zestily that I forgot to snap the standard close-up pic. The chicken, moist(ish) and just chewy enough, blended well with the tomato, basil pesto and balsamic glaze.

The cibatta was soft throughout, and could’ve been slightly more coarse, especially on the outside. I couldn’t detect much mozzarella, though. It may have oozed into the other ingredients and rendered itself moot. Some big melty bites of mozz would’ve taken the panini to the next level.

The potato salad was solid, nicely mayo’d, with a bit of tang. We finished it.

BROOKLYN SOUTH

At 4:15 on Wednesday, we easily found a parking spot on Central across the street from this small sandwich joint.

Women in Snell Isle have shoe closets bigger than Brooklyn South’s dining area. Karen greeted us with a smile and a friendly hello as we walked in. She has owned Brooklyn South with her husband for all of six weeks.

For the record, the owners have no Brooklyn roots. They’re from South Jersey.

We custom-ordered a sandwich to match the panini at JJ’s: mozzarella, tomato, pesto and (rosemary) chicken on cibatta ($10.99). Brooklyn South didn’t have potato salad so we got a single order of Mac & Cheese ($5.99). I also got an Old Brooklyn root beer ($2.49), which I’d not heard of before.

We had a seat at a small two-top and continued our conversation with Karen.

Appearance

The bread looked more toasted than the competition’s. The chicken was chunked, not shredded, and had a generous amount of dark meat (a good sign). The mac and cheese came in a small takeout container like you see in Chinese restaurants.

Texture and Taste

The sandwich came out piping hot. We let it cool for a bit. The cibatta was perfectly toasted — a delicate outer crust gave way to the tender dough within. It made for effortless chewing.

The chicken tasted strongly of rosemary, which took a couple bites to get used to, but ultimately gave the bird plenty of character. The combination of dark and white chicken was pleasantly moist and tender. The pesto added some extra punch, but the mozzarella — and especially the thin slices of tomato — had scant presence.

The mac and cheese, encased in cardboard, was too hot to eat with the sandwich, but when we finally dug in, we appreciated the blend of asiago, provolone and mozzarella that lushly coated the elbow macaroni.

As a root beer connoisseur, I had hopes for the Olde Brooklyn. Meh.

And the Winner of the Panini Square-Off Is …

A razor-thin, split decision.

Brooklyn South.

On atmosphere, JJ’s won going away, and I prefered the potato salad over mac and cheese as an accompaniment to the panini. Both places get high marks for friendly customer service. It’s always nice to kibbitz with an owner.

But the ultimate decider is the panini itself. And while we enjoyed both, Brooklyn South’s gets the edge based on being more full-flavored and its better cibatta.

As a side note: People living within convenient distance should check out JJ’s. In it’s unique way, the place is hip.