Misto is a great little shop that sells Italian groceries. It is also a deli and cafe. It's in…read morethe Hampton Park Plaza and is so unassuming that I've walked past it countless times over the last decade and only very recently went in for the first time. I got some food to go from Misto and the food was delicious, but I did find it a bit pricey, and I did not like the fact that food was exposed on the counters at sneeze/cough level, especially in the middle of cold and flu season!
I ordered the panini special which was a porchetta panini ($8.99) and an arancini ($3.50). Or is it panino and arancino, since I only bought 1 of each? Hmm. I'll just call them sandwich and rice ball, as not to offend any Italian Grammar scholars! LOL. I thought that my sandwich would be made to order, but there was a tray of pre-made sandwiches on the counter (well, I assume that the tray had a bunch of pre-made sandwiches on it, because when I arrived there was only 1 sandwich on the tray, and when I ordered the Porchetta, the lady took it from the tray and put it in the panini press. Did I get the last one? The last pre-made one in anticipation of the lunch rush? Or was it a rejected sandwich made in error and sitting there until someone ordered it? I don't know.). Since I'm short, it was not at mouth level for me, but for average heighted people, it was at the level where people would be breathing on it, and talking over it. Gah, I hope the heat from the panini press killed any germs! The arancini were also sitting in a bowl, exposed on the same counter. I microwaved it real good, when I got home, lol. They really should cover the food. The biscotti by the cash register were enclosed in a glass dome. They really should consider covering all the other stuff too.
The person behind me in line ordered a custom made sandwich, and of course, that was made to order. Next time I will customize my sandwich!
Anyway, the sandwich was delicious. It had thinly sliced porchetta, which was lean and not fatty at all, edam cheese, arugula, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, and fig jam. A bit pricey in my opinion for just a sandwich, considering I was still hungry afterwards. Nonetheless, it was very tasty. The rice ball had cheese and little flecks of ham in it. It was also tasty, but the cheese was a little too nippy for me.
There is a very small dining area towards the back with a few tables and chairs. They sell soups, salads, pizza, pasta, sandwiches, coffee, biscotti, cannoli, and a few other items. Service was nice.
They would have gotten 4 stars from me if they had covered up their food, and 5 stars if their prices were a little bit lower (AND their food was covered).
I couldn't take a picture of the inside of the store for y'all because it was full of people, and rather small (the act of talking photos would be very conspicuous) and I couldn't even take a picture of the storefront because people where standing around the front. Maybe next time I walk by, if no one's there, I'll snap a shot fer y'all! ;)
It's in the Hampton Park Plaza, so lots of free parking.