There are a dozen different sandwiches on Joey Tomatoes’ menu, but it makes no difference which one you order. You’re there for the bread. Not that there’s anything wrong with what’s between the slices, as the crowds at the proudly Italian deli can attest. Ever since Joe Spiotta and George Sarkis rebranded their shotgun luncheonette on Chuck Dawley Boulevard, I’ve been trying to feature the restaurant in the food section’s “Now Open” column. But the restaurant’s been so busy that nobody’s had a chance to return my calls. Or maybe the prospect of the throng multiplying is just too much for the owners to contemplate.

When Spiotta and Sarkis in 2014 took over the building that used to house Puree Organic Café, they called it Bricco Bracco Cucina, thinking it would function as an offshoot of their established Mt. Pleasant restaurant. Sarkis explained to the Moultrie News that Cucina would serve the southern Italian dishes that didn’t align with Bricco Bracco’s northern Italian menu. But the distinction confused customers: Within one year, Cucina became The Kitchen, serving oyster stew and etouffee.