Slamwich Scratch Kitchen

FRENCH FRIES are not a personal weakness. Potato chips do not call my name. Other foods beckon, some with annoying volume and urgency, but these do not.

- Teresa Politano

So when the plate of fries — crisp, thin, salty, perfect — disappeared in front of me, I was astonished. Not even a hungry teenager nearby to blame.

Slamwich Scratch Kitchen in Madison is an adorable little place precisely because the owners have been smart enough not to try to make it adorable. It remains a roadside diner, cleaned up but still veritable, with fluorescent lights that will remind you of those that illuminated your grandmother’s kitchen and an abundance of purposeful stainless steel. This is a no-nonsense setup, one that is producing some of the best sandwiches in the area.

You’ll have to scramble for parking — no options along Main Street, in front of the cemetery next door — but we parked in a nearby shopping center parking lot. The lot is not readily noticed as you drive by, but is actually just behind the deli.