Wally & Agador’s Gourmet Deli

Photo: Danielle Schön

Camp is usually a good sign of mediocre food. Those female impersonators at Kit Kat? They can kick and lip-synch to Britney until your head spins. But that’s the only reason to go. Nobody actually goes there to eat.

So when I walked into Wally & Agador’s—a deli named after its chef-owner Michael Lachowicz’s dogs—and found that the sandwiches were named after camp icons like Judy Garland and Elton John, I wanted to run up the stairs and out the door. Hearing the gentleman behind the counter sing along to show tunes as he made my sandwiches didn’t help.

But now I know that this joint is making a coy connection between its aesthetic and its food. Camp is an indulgence that is shamelessly over-the-top; so are this deli’s sandwiches. The “Marilyn Monroe” boasts luscious slathers of duck pâté, chicken-liver mousse and Brie between its baguette slices; the Wham Sammich pairs delectable, slow-cooked lamb with goat cheese and soft eggplant. And the Valrhona chocolate soufflé, already rich and silky enough on its own, is topped with a creamy housemade truffle—for no reason, really. Just because.

It’s lovely food, masterfully done, but at the end of the day it’s only a certain breed of person who can eat like this daily. For the rest of us, it’s akin to Garland’s pouty “Over The Rainbow” shtick: best taken in small doses.

3310 N Halsted St (773-325-9664). El: Red, Brown, Purple (rush hrs) to Belmont. Bus: 8, 22, 77. Sun, Tue–Thu 11am–8pm; Fri 11am–9pm; Sat 11am–10pm (closed Mon). Average sandwich: $9.

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