Nonna's Bakery & Deli

For lunch, a co-worker and I checked out Nonna's Bakery & Deli. I had heard great things, and I was looking for some cookies to bring into the office. Nonna's is located on Burroughs Street. But honestly, the only way I know where it is is because I take that route to go the back way to Walmart. Regardless, Nonna's is located in a small plaza. A small black sign distinguishes it from the other shops.

On this side of town, parking isn't really an issue, so we parked and walked inside. The door dings and announces that it's open. That was a little alarming. So the fellow patrons inside looked at us as we were announced. There are only three tables, with four chairs each. And there are a few menus, so it's not in one central location. That kind of confused me. One is right by the counter, and another is near the door. I walked up the counter and told the woman I wanted to order lunch, but also some cookies or something. She directed me to the menu. The menu near the door had their sandwiches, so I looked over that until something caught my eye. Most of them looked good. I opted for the Tory, which included fresh ciabatta with smoked mozzarella, fontinella, aged provolone, feta, tomatoes, hot peppers, red onion, and basil pesto. It was panini style - so all those ingredients melted together. I chose a water with it. I looked at the case of their goodies, but nothing had a name or price on it. So, I chose what looked good and I knew what it was - pumpkin sugar cookies. I ordered a dozen. I honestly wanted a variety or mixture of all the little pastries and cookies they had in front, but when I seemed confused about how to order, the woman didn't offer much in the way of support. That's okay, though, the cookies looked good enough.

She rang me up, and my order came to about $33. Whew - that's pricy for a sandwich, a water and a dozen cookies. But hopefully the quality would justify it. I took a seat at one of the three tables, only one other was occupied at this point, and waited on my meal. The woman brought over my box of cookies, with their signature sticker on the top, and I couldn't wait. I opened it up to see inside. I figured I could have just one, but for dessert. We waited for a little while before my panini finally came out. But it was wrapped up steaming hot. I opened the package to see tons of mozzarella and onions oozing out. The panini was fairly large, with two halves stacked on top of one another. The panini wasn't super thick, but it seemed to have a good bit of ingredients. The mozzarella was oozy, and crunchy chunks of onions and peppers were throughout the sandwich. The cheeses blended together, and I could still taste the hint of feta. The sandwich was good, but I think next time I might opt for something with meat. It tasted fine, it just seemed to be missing something for me. I'll definitely try this place again, because it is tasty, but another sandwich might be better suited for me.

Regardless, their cookies are what I heard amazing things about, so I was excited. The cookie was very sweet, and the icing was smooth and creamy. This sugar cookies was so rich, I can't imagine buying store-bought sugar cookies again. The sugar cookie was a sugar cookie, but it was very fresh and tasty. It was moist and delicious. Their other desserts looked great, too. I'll have to try those at some point.

Grade: B