RUMBLE AT 24TH AND HAMPSHIRE, PT 1: DAGWOOD'S

Both relative newcomers to the block, Dagwood and Scoops and Pal's Takeaway offer the Eastern edge of 24th street different takes on deli sandwiches. Pal's only exists for part of the week, crammed into a tiny corner of a liquor store during weekday (and now Saturday) lunch hours. Dagwood's, kitty-corner from Pal's, is a full-time sandwich shop, but with some assorted groceries and an ice cream counter awkwardly shoe-horned in. Although we had tried both shops before, the fact that we ate at both this week means that a showdown was inevitable! Kicking off this battle is the Holy Mole sandwich from Dagwood's. This chicken sandwich featured chicken, molé sauce, queso oaxaca, slaw, and avocado. The guy behind the counter asked what kind of bread, and if we wanted it toasted. This is a minus to me, because I think that if they came up with the recipe, they should know which bread is best- or at least make a suggestion. It's not a huge drawback, however. We went with toasted sweet roll, which seemed like the most appropriate choice. The end results, unfortunately, were mixed. The molé sauce was very creamy, almost mayo-like, and had a very subtly sweet flavor. In fact, the taste of the molé was so subdued that it was virtually overpower by the slaw. On top of that, the chicken was not chunks of roasted chicken in molé sauce, but rather deli slices of packaged chicken (like Boar's Head or Primo Taglio). In effect, this was not a chicken molé sandwich, but more accurately a sandwich inspired by chicken molé. It wasn't bad, but it certainly fell short of our expectations, and given the fact that it cost eight dollars, seemed very overpriced. Still, it we both agreed it was better the other sandwich we got from Dagwood's that day...

los picudos, oh yes

tortas los picudos, 24th & alabama, san francisco

There's not a whole lot I remember about this place in the Mission
except that this sandwich was freakin amazing
and my biggest regret was that I couldn't eat both halves in one sitting.
No problem, I had the second half later that night.

What's in it? I can't recall, although
it looks like breaded chicken or turkey,
that crazy good crumbly mexican cheese
red onion, avocado, jalapeno, tomatoes perhaps?
Who cares! Just look at that thing
and vast in it's holy scrumptious-ness.

carnitas torta

la torta gorda, 24th & york, san francisco

the night before eating this sandwich, I had a dream that I met some friends for dinner at a restaurant. I had arrived late, and everyone else had already ordered. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries, and although my friend's food came, mine never did. I tried to flag down waiters, but to no avail. and I woke up knowing that my mission for that day was to get that cheeseburger that had been denied me. well, the waking world proved just as cruel to me as my dream world. after weighing my options (Big Mouth Burgers? nah. Jay's Cheesesteak? no. Whiz Burger? nnnno.) I walked all the way to St Francis, only to discover that they had closed at three because of their "winter hours". fie on that! I don't even eat before three on most days. well, not all was lost, because I had heard good things about La Torta Gorda, practically next door to St Francis. they even had a counter to eat at, which was something I had been looking forward to. I decided to try the carnitas, which is almost always a sure bet in taquerias (chicken can be too dry, carne asada too fatty, but carnitas.... mmmmm). the tortas were available in "junior" and "regular" sizes, so I opted for the regular. I don't regret the decision, but man it was a lot of food! as you can see, they really piled the meat high on this one. some other taquerias, like Farolito or Can Cun tend to use a lot of beans on their tortas, but here, it was a relatively thin spread of refried beans. I didn't mind though, because the carnitas tasted so good that the occasional bursts of beans, or avocado, or jalapeños were welcome but not necessary. also, the red salsa pictured was pretty strange- much sweeter than most salsa. it almost tasted like ketchup with chili flakes in it. I decided to use it sparingly, as it had such an unusual taste that the sandwich was a completely different experience depending on whether the sauce was used or not.

tabouli hot dogs

JoJoJoJo and I were eating some hot dogs the other night, and she offered me some tabouli (which honestly, I had never eaten before) on the side. I tried a bite of it, liked it, and lacking pickle relish, decided to try some on my hot dog. now, I don't know if this is an offensive use of the salad- perhaps my brother, who is more knowledgable about Greek culture can tell me- but I thought it tasted great. a couple of days later I tried it again, and the result are the photos above. lacking feta, I added some queso fresco on top, but that turned out to be a mistake, as it was a particularly strong flavored queso fresco and I wanted more to enjoy the flavor of the hot dog and tabouli. also, I didn't use ketchup or mustard this time around, although I thought they worked well the first time, and I would probably use them if I made this again. one last note: we were using turkey dogs, which were tasty, although pretty puny. I'd be interested to try this again with a different hot dog.

la cubana

WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT

la piñata tortas y jugos, 21st and mission, san francisco

although right around the corner from where i live, i'd never actually ventured into this shop. and so today, after a long walk, i decided to grab a torta for dinner. "try the cubana" my friend dan advised me, unaware of the deadly potential of this sandwich. so i did. despite the fact i wasn't really all that hungry, and am trying to lose weight and save money... i ordered the sandwich described as "the mother of all tortas - a little of everything". i was not prepared.
this sandwich is a monster. this sandwich is the kind of thing you hear about hicks making at county fairs, when you think "who in their right mind could possibly eat something like that". this sandwich, if served in a chain restaurant, would prompt an outraged study about the caloric content and what that says about the health of the nation. when this sandwich arrived, it stared deep into my soul and asked me what kind of man i was. i had no answer.
THIS SANDWICH HAS A FRIED EGG ON IT. it also has "two cheeses, huevo milanes de res (egg breaded steak), grilled chicken, ham, a FREAKING HOT DOG, chorizo, and queso de puerco (head cheese. HEAD CHEESE)" in addition to the regular sandwich toppings like veggies and jalapeños. i am pretty sure this thing was served on a loaf of bread. it was larger than the hispanic children eating at a nearby table. the second half of it is sitting in my fridge, and i'm pretty sure i can hear it whispering to me in a forgotten tongue.
as far as the taste goes... what can i say? what do you expect an insane pile of meat on a loaf of bread to taste like? but i can say that the aftermath of this sandwich was intense feelings of guilt and spiritual anguish, as though i had offended the very laws of the universe by consuming this sandwich. i considered deleting this blog so that i would never have to admit to anyone that i ate this thing. for gods sake, save yourselves.