going home for thanksgiving

ike's place, 16th & sanchez, san francisco

Though perhaps not a seasonally appropriate sandwich for these sunny times, I've been jonesing for some American comfort foods after my recent travels to the southern hemisphere and, besides the already reviewed "Montana to Rice" from Ike's, I couldn't think of anything more distinctly American or generally comforting than the idea of a thanksgiving leftovers-style sandwich: turkey, cranberry sauce, and havarti. While placing my order I was thrown a curve ball and presented with the enticing option of adding sriracha hot sauce to "balance out the sweetness" of the cranberry. Having never considered enjoying my very American sandwich with the accompaniment of an Asian (though really, Californian!) hot sauce, I accepted this culinary and psychological challenge and set out to breadxbread's preferred Ike's testing ground: Dolores Park. While settling into this sandwich, I quickly realized that I probably ordered too many ingredients and would have to contend with an array of flavors and textures that don't necessarily fit the conceptual model of "thanksgiving sandwich." Though there are many ways to adapt this palate of flavors to the sandwich realm, in this instance I am not sure they necessarily benefit from the lettuce, tomato, banana peppers, and everything else that usually accompanies an Ike's sandwich. This surplus of condiments made my eating experience a difficult one to navigate through smoothly (my notes read "drawbacks - messy as shit"), but it was also very enjoyable. This was made possible by the amazingly warm and zesty flavors that surged throughout the "Going home for Thanksgiving." I was so happy to find that the sriracha really did balance the sweetness of the cranberry sauce; and together with the buttery havarti and perfect amount of turkey, it made my re-acquaintance with my favorite American comfort food completely satisfying.

burning betsy

pommard deli, middlefield & loma verde, palo alto

I learned something during my trip to the Bay Area- experimenting does not always pay off. Although I ate at some of my favorite sandwich shops, I made an effort to try new sandwiches that I wouldn't have normally ordered... and ended up not enjoying the new sandwiches as much as my favorites (surprise!). I mean, sure it's good to try something new once in a while, but it's also good to balance that out with some old favorites. By the time I got around to eating at Pommard, I was already feeling a little burned by the sandwich choices I'd been making. Still, this sandwich- the "Burning Betsy"- sounded great! Roast beef, pepper jack cheese, roasted red bell peppers and Pommard's honey mustard (the honey mustard, which I mused about on my last Pommard visit, turns out to be an in-house creation- bummer for me, because it's really good and I'd love to have a supply of some)! I was surprised, when I arrived home, to discover that the sandwich was so wet that the bottom slice of bread had become soggy. This, I soon realized, was because the roasted red bell pepper was the type that comes in a jar, and wasn't roasted at Pommard. The wetness was off-putting, and the peppers had a bit too strong of a flavor. It wasn't a huge deal, because there were a lot of other strong flavors in the sandwich, but in the end I felt like I could have done without the peppers altogether. Interestingly, when I arrived at Pommard on this visit, they had further remodeled, and continued to push the "pizza parlor" aspect of their business. I know that they were bought out by some kind of pizza-man in the last few years, but this continues to baffle me- Pommard does sandwiches so, so well, and I can't imagine ever going there to buy pizza. I hope that this schizophrenic business approach doesn't take away from their attention on their sandwiches.

god bless the USA ;_;

KFC Has A Bacon Sandwich That Uses Fried Chicken As "Bread"

I love that insane things like this actually make it to the market. Does it count as a sandwich if bread isn't involved? It's good enough for me!

the paul reubens

ike's place, 16th & sanchez, san francisco

Ike's Place's take on the reuben, the awesomely named "Paul Reubens", doesn't taste much like an actual reuben. I anticipated that fact before ordering this- after all, it did use italian dressing rather than russian, and perhaps more interestingly, "homemade poppy seed coleslaw" rather than sauerkraut (not to mention that it is served on dutch crunch, rather than rye). The sandwich was very salty in taste, and the italian dressing/dirty sauce gave it a very creamy flavor as well. Although I liked the coleslaw, it did taste very cabbage-y, and I missed the sour bite that sauerkraut brings to a reuben. The lack of the balance that sauerkraut would typically add resulted in the salty meat/creamy sauce overwhelming the sandwich. I felt very full eating this, very quickly. It was a pretty good sandwich, but not the best that I've had at Ike's.

bent cheeseburger

bender's, 19th & south van ness, san francisco

You may notice, from the staggeringly beautiful quality of these pictures, that I have a new camera! Undoubtedly I will still take a lot of cell-phone cam pics, but hopefully I'll have this camera on hand for sandwich eating experiences. You may also notice that I have started this review by not talking about the sandwich. That is because... well this sandwich was kind of a let down. I kind of thought I was going all-out and ordering the most awesomely decadent thing on the menu at Bender's, and yeah its a giant cheeseburger with bacon on it, but... well that's about it. As you can see, there is no produce and no condiments (I added some ketchup but didn't see any sign of mustard). The jalapeños were a nice touch, but overall I found the burger to be too minimal. Maybe I should have been more drunk! And don't get me wrong, it's not as if I didn't enjoy eating a giant bacon cheeseburger- but after the awesomeness of the pulled pork and hellcat, I was maybe hoping for more. Also the fried pickles were way saltier than I remember them being! Still, Bender's is rad.

sucka free city and Ike's Place

I'm about to embark on a journey to the 'sco, and was trying to do a little bit of research into sandwich joints I haven't tried yet before I set off. Fortunately for me, this link was on the front page of a popular link-ranking webpage (cuz everyone loves sandwiches!). I'm proud to see that the Mission/Castro's (wait what neighborhood is that exactly?) Ike's Place made #6 on the list for their Doomsday sandwich! Awesome! I've been thinking lately about taking more risks in my sandwich eating ways, and Ike's Place is definitely a good place to find some more adventurous sandwiches. A variation on the #1 sandwich on the list- a Pittsburgh sandwich that features coleslaw and french fries among the ingredients- can apparently be found at Giordanno's on Columbus, according to this excellent SF sandwich guide. I don't usually go to that part of town, but I'm intrigued. Also mentioned on that website, and intriguing as well, is Little Piglet Cafe, which I think I'm going to have to try. Finally, check out this goofy youtube ad for Ike's that is featured in the Divine Caroline article!:

okie bbq pork sandwich

pecos bill's bar-bq, victory blvd & justin ave, glendale

Occasional breadxbread poster jonnnp's parents are from Glendale, and he says that they love this BBQ joint. In fact, he says that they went back for some BBQ 20+ years after moving and that the folks running it remembered them! He encouraged me to try the place out, and while looking up a map online I stumbled across the Pecos Bill's Yelp page. Personally I don't put too much stock in Yelp (sorry Yelpers), because I've worked at businesses that got slammed on Yelp because the "reviewers" were a bunch of stuck-up morons who thought they had the world coming to them (haters!). So normally I ignore Yelp altogether, although I was intrigued by the extremely varied reviews this place was getting. Some people were absolutely trashing the place, calling the BBQ sauce flavorless and mucus-like; others were singing praise to high heavens in Pecos Bill's favor (almost invariably, the positive reviews came from native Glendaliens who have been eating at Pecos Bill's since they were children). Since this was going to be the first sandwich that I'd bought in a month (yeah really, I'm super broke), I was a little concerned that I was going to blow a sandwich-eating opportunity on something that might not be too great. But the positive reviews convinced me that there was something good about this place, so I decided to check it out. The first time I tried to go, they were already closed- at four in the afternoon. It turns out that this place is only open 11 AM-3 PM, or until they run out of meat! So today, a week after my first attempt, I returned. It's take-out only; there are some shaded picnic tables out front, but those were already taken when I arrived. I ordered a pork sandwich, some BBQ beans, and an iced tea (I was hoping it was sweet tea, but no dice). While I was paying, an older customer lined up behind me to order what was his second (or possibly third) sandwich. According to him, Pecos Bill's is the best BBQ in America, and he'd been to Texas and Oklahoma. I took a seat on the grass nearby and dug in. And... well... I can see why some people would give negative reviews. The BBQ sauce isn't your typical shade of red (that's hot sauce in the second pic up there), nor does it taste like your average BBQ sauce. The comparison to mucus isn't completely off base, at least visually. And there's nothing on the sandwich other than your meat of choice- just meat, and bun. But to all those negative review giving Yelpers I say- YOU HATERS! Hating on any BBQ is a possible indication of Communist sympathy, in my opinion- BBQ is as American as democracy and rap music, and if you don't like it, the terrorists win. I really enjoyed my sandwich. The pork tasted great, and it was clear that they are serious about their meat at Pecos Bill's. It was great to eat my sandwich and think that if I'd come twenty years earlier, the sandwich would've been exactly the same. After wolfing down my sandwich (truthfully I could have eaten another one or two) I enjoyed eating my baked beans out of a styrofoam cup. And I enjoyed sitting near customers who have been coming to this BBQ shack all their lives and truly believe it is the best BBQ in America. It felt really good and summer-y, sitting on the grass in the sun, with a BBQ pork sandwich in my hand. Next time I'm going to get the BBQ beef.

100th post!

Wow, that's a lot of sandwiches! I'd like to say thanks to all of my friends who have contributed, and thank you everyone for reading and commenting. This blog has lasted longer and been read by more people than I ever expected, and I'm grateful for that. Now, I am off to eat 100 sandwiches in celebration.