Rant: Poor Sandwich Architecture

[themiddle54]

If the kitchen can't deliver the sandwich so it stays together* they should just 86 the sandwich and re-work it until they can make it so it stays together. Or just don't serve the damn thing. There's nothing more frustrating than a sandwich falling apart all over you, and you have to like pick up the bits that fell apart and try to get them back on to the bun or bread or pita or whatever so that you can eat the sandwich. This is even worse when it's a hot/wet/saucy sandwich that makes a total mess of your hands if you do have to put it back together.

Like, if your middle eastern place has dry flaky pita that breaks apart spilling falafel or schwarma all over the tray/paper wrapper, get better pita.

Like, if your reuben is so wet and piled high with sauerkraut that the bread practically melts and the guest needs a spoon to eat it, get rid of the damn thing or make it better.

Like, if your sub sandwich has so much wet/cruch on it--tomato, harder lettuces, sprouts, cucumbers--that when someone bites into it everything slides to the back or out the sides, fix that [expletive] or stop serving it.

A sandwich should, like everything else, be a pleasure and not a frustration to eat. It should not take more work on my part to keep it together than it takes on the staff's part to put it together.

If, say, Johnnie's Beef can make a Chicago-style beef sandwich, dipped in jus and covered in peppers, that doesn't fall apart even though it's soaking and laden with greasy goodness then there's no excuse for a sandwich that falls apart.

*Obv stuff that's supposed to fall apart, like a Sloppy Joe or a Maid Rite is a different deal, but those are the outliers.

[stlouie_lipp]

Rant approved.

[Freed Roger]

I approve.....sort of. Nothing worse than eating something that was meant to be a sandwich with a knife and fork.


The sort of is for sandwiches that aren't really meant to be sandwiches. I would never kick this one from Beast BBQ out of my bed

http://www.beastcraftbbq.com/

[themiddle54]

There will definitely be outliers. I mentioned a Sloppy Joe or a Maid-Rite. That Beast thing looks sloppy and awesome. If the sandwich is meant to be sloppy and awesome then sign me up, as long as I know ahead of time that it's supposed to be sloppy and awesome I'd not rant about it. It's like ribs or wings. Both of those things are awesome and it is implied/widely understood that these things will be sloppy and that you are a philistine if you opt to eat them with cutlery.

But if it's like, a traditional sandwich and your House Version or whatever is a disgusting sloppy mess and the traditional version--or the version everybody else makes--is not sloppy then rant applies.

[GeddyWrox]

How about this bad boy:

[SHOW]

Available at my buddy's newish place on Dorsett just east of 270 -- BigBabyQ

He made Ian Froeb's best 100 restaurants list and hasn't even been open a year yet.

[GeddyWrox]

Also, introduced my older daughter to Mom's Deli this weekend. We both had the Mom's special. And it's one of those ones where stuff squishes out the back. You have to reconstruct it a couple of times as you eat. But G-D it, it's so delicious, I'm Ok with the stuff squishing out the back.

[themiddle54]

How about this bad boy:

[SHOW]

Available at my buddy's newish place on Dorsett just east of 270 -- BigBabyQ

He made Ian Froeb's best 100 restaurants list and hasn't even been open a year yet.

I've had BBQ sandwiches garnished with slaw that hold together, and they are my personal baseline expectation for a sandwich like this. If the slaw is kind of wet and the 'cue is kind of saucy and the bread is not holding it all together and it slides out onto my chin and my plate and my lap then it would make my list of obnoxious sandwiches. Even if the flavors are dope.

[lukethedrifter]

I approve of this rant. Moreso as I think back on otherwise good sandwiches.

[TGantz]

Toothpicks save lives.

[haltz]

Also, introduced my older daughter to Mom's Deli this weekend. We both had the Mom's special. And it's one of those ones where stuff squishes out the back. You have to reconstruct it a couple of times as you eat. But G-D it, it's so delicious, I'm Ok with the stuff squishing out the back.

I think the allure of Mom's Deli is mostly nostalgia. Objectively it's not that great and Legrand's is too close to bother.