intrigue! suspense! adventure! SANDWICHES (the thrilling conclusion)

When last we left, your intrepid hero (and his equally intrepid companion Els) were about to get into a car with a strange man named Kiya, who was taking us to an undisclosed location in Hunter's Point.  What followed was one of the most punishing, physically exhausting fights of my life, one that tested every one of my limits and left me on death's door.  A battle in which I was forced to admit defeat, despite my most valiant efforts.

It was a battle against a giant-ass sandwich.

Kiya, naturally, turned out to be a really cool guy.  Actually, I knew before going on this adventure that Kiya was the proprietor of Self Edge in the Mission, so I was pretty sure that this was not an elaborate kidnapping attempt.  It turned out that not only is Kiya an expert in denim, but he is also extremely knowledgeable about under-the-radar destinations in SF (dude was telling me about a bar that has been open continuously (like 24 hours a day) for like 30 years or something?? like they only closed once for the '89 earthquake?  what??).  He also knows his shit when it comes to sandwiches.

(resident bxb scientist JPP did the math on this dubious factoid and it came out to an average of nearly 550 sandwiches sold every day.  uh, really???)

piccolo pete's, bayshore blvd & tunnel ave, san francisco

Piccolo Pete's is a liquor store and deli out in Visitation Valley, just off the Caltrain stop and near the ball park.  But, as Kiya pointed out on our way there, this isn't like the gourmet liquor store sandwich counters that are spreading around the Mission like the flu after a Bridez show.  This place is strictly old school, offering cheap and hearty meals at a reasonable price.  And HOLY CRAP you could you could get virtually anything you wanted at this place!  They had a full deli case offering salads and beans and puddings and stuffed eggs and whatever your cholesterol-clogged heart desired.  They had sausage and lasagna and short ribs.  They had, like, six different hot soups!  Not to mention the typical offerings of a liquor store.  Oh yeah, and they had sandwiches.

This thing was a beast!  Called "The Godfather", it was Piccolo Pete's specialty sandwich.  It had basically every kind of deli meat that you could want: salami (6 slices), prosciutto (2 slices), cappicola (3 slices), and mortadella (2 slices).  The menu was VERY specific about what came with this sandwich.  It also featured provolone (2 slices), as well as all of the regular sandwich adornments (AND artichoke hearts!!).  Now, I don't usually back down from a sandwich.  I eat entire sandwiches from Mr. Pickle's with gusto and then fantasize about going back for another.  I'm reasonably sure I could take on a few sandwiches from Ike's Place in a single go.  I have stared into the face of madness and laughed (actually, that one might have taken more than one sitting)!  But oh lord, this sandwich beat me.  I tried my very best, I ate and ate and ate and yet the sandwich remained.  If you come to Piccolo Pete's, bring an appetite.  And hey THANKS AGAIN KIYA!  Everyone should go buy some nice clothes at Self Edge, and maybe you'll find about some rad SF spot you've never heard of.

From hell's heart, I stab at thee!!

intrigue! suspense! adventure! SANDWICHES

???

"Yo, email me, i have a special sandwich spot to take you to in SF. You need to review this spot, it's special."

I love a good mystery.  And, obviously, I love a good sandwich.  So when the above message was left in the comments of one of my recent entries, I couldn't resist.  Special sandwich spot???  What does this dude know that I don't??  Maybe this dude was just yanking my chain.  I had to find out!  I took the bait and responded, employing my finest investigative skills:

"Woah what special sandwich shop??? I gotta know!"

His response was, maddeningly, no more revealing than his initial comment:

"I can only take you there, i cannot tell you about it.
I can pick you up.  Thursday? Friday?
You tell me the address and then i will get you in my twelve year old
Celica or my [other car].  You pick.
And you give me address, i pick you up.  No problems.

-kiya"

I must admit that, at this point, I felt somewhat trepidatious.  I seemed to recall being told something, in my youth, about not getting into cars with strangers who promised you candy.  But then, this dude wasn't offering candy, duh!  So nuts to that rule.  Plus, I had a journalistic obligation.  Sandwiches were on the line!  I knew, deep in my heart, that there really was no question about what to do.  The meet was arranged.  The 12-year-old Celica was picked.  Friday was to be the day the mystery would be solved.

"Just to make sure, you've never had a sandwich in Hunter's Point, right?

-kiya"

There was no way this could end poorly!

Tomorrow: I reveal whether or not it ended poorly!!

R.I.P.

33 Revolutions, El Cerrito (CLOSED)

Not so much a review here, than an obituary. Yet another recession casualty, 33 Revolutions was one of the few great East Bay coffeeshops that sold quality coffee, food, and the only place to get it Ritual style. In frickin' EL CERRITO. But miracles are fleeting and it closed doors Christmas Eve after a few months of rain damage and insurance problems. I mostly went for coffee and wi-fi, but once or twice I managed to sample some sandwiches.

Here is the Tofu and Avocado, a pretty standard vegetarian option. It was slightly above average for a coffeeshop entree, but not terribly memorable either. The tofu had that nice slightly-grilled tangy taste, but the real delight lay in the pesto mayo. I should note that once upon a time I worked briefly at a cafe that made sandwiches. The job was shit but I got to make my own lunches and I put pesto mayo on everything. That stuff just spoke to me. So imagine how pleased I was to discover it here, on accident! Previously kinda forgettable but now with something to enjoy. That was this 33 Revolutions sandwich. I probably would've slathered it with more tofu and mayo, but that's fine.

Rest in peace, sweet coffeeshop.

anotha rainy day sandwich

 kitchenette, illinois & 20th, san francisco

Kitchenette SF is this great little lunch stop in the Dog Patch serving out of the back of the American Industrial Center Warehouse. Based on fresh, organic and local ingredients, their lunch menu's change on a daily basis.

If I happen to not bring lunch to work and have $10 in my wallet, this place is my favorite lunch spot. And today this was the case, I had not made lunch and I happened to have enough money for a $10 lunch.

My co-worker and I both decided on the beef and pork polpette, aka, meatball sandwich and at the end, we both wanted to relive the experience of devouring it. Tender and juicy meatballs were coated in an amatriciana sauce (tomato, pancetta, chile flakes) and sprinkled with pecorino cheese. Quit delish, Kitchenette just never seems to disappoint!

korean steak sandwich

rhea's deli, 19th & valencia, san francisco

This was my second go-round with Rhea's Korean Steak Sandwich- the documentation of my first was lost when I stupidly lost my nice digital camera on Halloween.  Losing my camera, however, gave me a great excuse to get another one of these sandwiches, though!  The steak is marinated in honey, soy sauce and spices, and has an incredibly soft and moist texture.  The menu claims that the sandwich comes with the cheese of your choice, but the guy making the sandwiches didn't inquire and we ended up with cheddar.  That's fine by me, but I could see maybe a jack cheese being good with this too.  This sandwich also supposedly comes with THREE kinds of onions: grilled onions, pickled onions, and fresh onions!  It was kind of hard to verify the validity of that claim, but I'd believe it.  When presented with the option, we asked for the sandwich spicy, and it was fairly hot- just not burn-your-mouth, chug-your-drink hot.  I think that the hotness (hot sauce + picked jalapeños) was a perfect match for the sweetness of the meat.  This sandwich is definitely a great choice if you like sweet and spicy.

Rhea's Deli: The Lexington, Hot? or Cold?

rhea's deli, 19th & valencia, san francisco

I took mine Hot!

... they gave me the option... it was cold... it was the right option.

Visually, it leaves a little to be desired, but I think the simplicity of a ham and cheese sandwich is, sometimes, all a girl really needs for comfort on a rainy day. Yet, really, this wasn't that simple of a sandwich. Melted swiss covered Boar's Head Black Forest Ham and Honey Maple Ham whose sweetness was complimented by the heat of Rhea's Sweet Pickled Jalapenos. A little extra kick of sweet and spice came with welcome taste buds from Boar's Head Honey Mustard. And the pickles, which I must admit I normally NEVER eat and I did pass most of them along to my eating buddy, wrapped this whole thing up with a punch of tang.

Also, I will admit I feel some of the ingredients advertised were left out of my sandwich. There were no roasted peppers or tomatoes in my or my eating buddy's half. Not to say that this bothered me. It's no longer tomato season and I must admit I greatly dislike out of season tomatoes. And, again, this was a simple sandwich and did not need extra frills of such things.

This was by no means a mind blowing sandwich experience, however, it was a great version of a classic.

MSSN BRGR MSSN BRGR MSSN BRGR

Only one more day til Mission Burger is open again!  This was the specialty breakfast sandwich last week.  English muffin, country ham (I think?  It had some kinda fancy-ass title), poached eggs, hollandaise sauce.... oh yeah, and FRIED PICKLED OKRA.  I, unfortunately, did not get to eat this.  I merely bore witness, as an impartial and salivating observer.  Who is buying me a chicken sandwich this weekend???

Roxie Food Center

(second image from yelp)

Roxie Food Center, San Jose Ave & Havelock, San Francisco

Liquor store sandwiches are the new big thing in the Mission, but these guys have been making sandwiches in a little liquor store in the Ingleside/Outer Mission area for over 20 years. I had never heard of them until recently, but after reading their yelp reviews, I wanted to try it out. So today I stopped in on my way home. From the outside, this place looks like any other liquor store in the city, and a pretty small one at that. About a third of the store is given over to the deli. Lots of old 49ers memorabilia, old city college sports stuff, and signed pictures of local celebrities.

Their sandwich selection is classic and huge. Lots of different meat choices, lots of cheeses, and lots of breads, including both regular sourdough and extra sour sourdough (!). The people working there were really friendly, and didn't flinch when I ordered my veggie sandwich without mayo and cheese. There's three sizes of sandwiches here. They aren't as cheap as you might imagine from the humble exterior. The junior size was $6, I think the regular was $8, and the large somewhere around $10. I ordered the junior because I wasn't that hungry. But seriously, calling this thing a junior is kind of a joke. Do you see it? It's fucking huge! I can't imagine how big the large must be.

Anyway, on to the sandwich. Great sandwich. You could put just about anything on toasted extra sour sourdough bread and I'd be happy, but this was a really interesting veggie sandwich, not just a meat sandwich without meat. Mustard, pickles, tomatoes, jalapeño, onions, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, avocado and, most surprisingly, kidney beans! I used to dislike artichoke hearts, but I've been coming around to them lately.  The mushrooms were the briney, canned kind rather than fresh dry mushrooms.  Italian flavors.  Rich and tasty.


This place is definitely out there, but it's worth the trip.  Not much of a place to sit but Balboa Park is down the street.  Excellent. Ahhhhhhhhh I will go back.

mission burger!!!!! aaaaaaaah!!

mission burger @ duc loi market, 18th & mission, san francisco

GUH.  LOOK AT THAT FREAKING BURGER.  My long, slow-burning desire to try Mission Burger was finally satiated today when I swung by with BXB contributor Jonnnp and hypothetical BXB contributor Dan.  Dan had been eating at Mission Burger with near-obsessive frequency lately; after trying one of their burgers, I immediately understood why.  This shit is insane!  The flavor is INTENSE.  It explodes in your mouth and maybe makes you want to cry a little bit- and there's nothing wrong with that, dammit.  The beef patty is "granulated" (Mission Street Food's explanation can be read here); I imagine it as a sort of loosely held together "beef log" that is sliced into burger patties.  I may be entirely wrong in my conception of this, but, that doesn't really matter.  The point is that the burger patty is super good and I would have happily eaten it plain.  I didn't eat it plain though; it came topped with caramelized onions, monterey jack cheese and a caper aioli, all of which were delicious.  There was also a bottle of "Wolf Sauce" on the table, a bright-red hot sauce that reminded Jonnnp of Sriracha, but reminded me of.... spicy Doritos or something?  That doesn't make it sound all that appetizing, but it was hella good.  If I had one complaint about the burger, it would be that it was salty as all hell. BUT, that fact does not negate the overall amazingness of this burger.  Mission Burger is open from noon to three, Saturday through Wednesday- I suggest that you have even the slightest desire for a burger that you make your way there at your earliest opportunity.  If I wasn't dead broke, I'd be back tomorrow for their chicken sandwich.  That shit looks NUTS.