the fidel

bi-rite, 18th & guererro, san francisco

I'd heard that Bi-Rite made sandwiches, but my broke ass tends to stay away from the posh yuppie haven that Bi-Rite is situated in the middle of. Because of this, I'd never actually tried their sandwiches. Ridiculous! Fortunately, I had a chance to remedy that fact over the weekend. While all of their sandwiches sounded good, I decided to go with "The Fidel", the Bi-Rite version of a Cuban sandwich. Personally I wish they had come up with a more clever name, but a rose by any other name still wouldn't taste as good as a sandwich, right? I think that's how that expression goes. Did Shakespeare ever write about sandwiches? I'm losing focus here. The centerpiece of the sandwich was pork- salty, delicious pork. I can't find a Bi-Rite menu online, and to be honest, I didn't take good note of the ingredients, so I can't tell you what kind of sauce was on this. I can say that it was greasy and very tasty, and that the saltiness of the meat was offset nicely by the sour crunchiness of pickles and (I think?) coleslaw. I suppose my one complaint about the sandwich was that it was fairly small, given its price- but then, you are shopping at Bi-Rite because you are paying for quality, right?

UPDATE:
I found the menu, which wasn't hard to find at all and I'm not sure why I couldn't the first time. ANYWAY:
"Slow-roasted Heritage pork shoulder, coleslaw, pickled jalapeno peppers, dijon mustard, and aioli on a toasted Acme roll. "
So if that sounds good to you, I suggest you purchase this sandwich and then eat it.