Best Atlantic City and Vicinity Eats: White House Sub Shop

In its emphasis on gambling and the general encouragement of vice, our own Atlantic City is the spitting image of Vegas; in fact, many of the casinos have the same names. But in one major respect, at least, the two cities are completely different.

That aspect is food. While Las Vegas has lured many of the country's top chefs, who are doing some of their best work there, the food in Atlantic City is worse than awful. In fact, it's often completely inedible. Sure, you can cherry-pick some decent Boardwalk snacks -- such things as apple dumplings with ice cream (which seems like a weird thing to develop a jones for on the Boardwalk), corn dogs (who doesn't love a corn dog?), and saltwater taffy. But when it comes to complete meals, watch everyone line up at Johnny Rockets, exclaiming, "This is way better than McDonald's."

But Fork in the Road has done some burrowing and come up with a few places in A.C. and the vicinity that have great food, and are worth pulling yourself away from the gaming tables to reach.

One of the city's most ancient (founded 1946) and beloved dining institutions is the White House Sub Shop (2301 Arctic Avenue, Atlantic City, 609-345-1564). The deep narrow room is lined with booths on one side, and stools on the other, and photos of celebrities -- from Joe DiMaggio to Carrot Top -- are ranked in tiers above the booths. The place seems to be always hopping, and where you don't see people either making long sandwiches or eating them, you'll see folks waiting patiently with their kids to carry out subs, sometimes for 30 or 45 minutes.