Man, that's a sore spot almost as bad as pizza & bagels for me. There are a handful of us CT ex-pats on the r/pittsburgh subreddit who pine for actual hard rolls.
However, the best I've found in the past decade weren't in CT. They were from a bakery in Carle Place, LI.
I have a pretty good recipe that gave me the crumbly crust and soft innards, but I don't use it as wife no longer eats bread and they don't freeze well.
I'll also add that a summer fresh garden tomato slice bumps your standard BEC to 11 and cheddar is too greasy, it needs American, although you can get away with Colby or ColbyJack.