summer sandwiches: hello again to meat cheese bread, goodybe again to portland

1406 Southeast Stark Street, Portland, OR 97214

http://www.meatcheesebread.com/

Two trips to Portland in as many months and I still feel like there's a ton of places there left to explore.  Els and I wrapped up our trip with a quick stop at Meat, Cheese & Bread for some sandwiches for the drive home.  I was going to pick a cold sandwich because I figured that would keep better during the drive, but the guy behind the counter recommended the pulled pork, which is also what my pal Rob rated highly.  How could I say no?  "Pulled Pork: Roasted pork shoulder, grilled broccolini, salsa verde and aioli on a rustic baguette".  The broccolini was a great touch, adding some texture and a somewhat sour contrast to the mushy savoryness of the pulled pork.  The thing is, though, that this sandwich was so wet and greasy that it was pretty soaked through by the time I got around to eating it.  Not that it was a big problem, just that the physical integrity of the sandwich would likely be preserved by eating it soon after it was prepared.  Still tasty later on, just sloppy.  All in all, I got to try some great sandwiches during this visit- maybe not as many as my first trip- but a good number nonetheless.  I didn't go to any food carts, and wish that I had.  But then, I did try a number of non-sandwich options, including some reaaaaally good pizza from Sizzle Pie ("Steve Caballero: vegan pepperoni, seitan italian sausage, green peppers, white onion and shredded daiya mozzarella 'cheese'")  and Hammy's ("Cheeseburger Pizza: ground beef, bacon, tomatoes and onions, topped with yellow mustard"), not to mention the required stop at Voodoo Donuts:

Portland, I'll be back again soon!  Don't eat all the sandwiches before I get back.

summer sandwiches: chicken sandwich & pork sliders at XV in portland

 

 

 

XV, 15 Southwest 2nd Avenue, Portland OR

http://www.xvpdx.com/

 

Most of the places I ate while in Portland I picked based on the recommendation of a friend.  One night, however, I decided to not pick a place in advance of going out and to just see where I ended up.  As I mentioned before, all bars in Portland serve food, which RULES.  Well, they are supposed to anyway.  We were hanging out in one of the bars that kinda sorta doesn't really obey that particular law, but the bartender suggested a nearby bar called XV ("fifteen") as a possibility.  According to their website, XV is a Caribbean tapas bar, but I didn't really pick up on either the Caribbean or tapas vibe while I was there.  It was a Sunday night, so it was pretty empty inside the bar, but there was a DJ spinning hip hop hits and the kitchen had put out a tray of strawberries and pineapple with chocolate and caramel dipping sauces in spite of the relative lack of customers in the club.  I got a chicken sandwich (I think the herb-encrusted one on the menu, rather than the jerk chicken) and Rob got pork sliders.  Because this was a place we had just sort of happened upon and I wasn't really in HARD HITTING SANDWICH JOURNALISM mode, I didn't really pay too much attention to the intricate details of either of these.  BUT I will say that they were both really, really good!  The pork sliders had a sweet and smoky flavor that was especially delicious, but the chicken sandwich was tasty too and even the side salads had character.  I was glad that my suspicion that one could just blindly head out on the town and end up with great food was rewarded, and this bolstered my growing belief that Portland is tightly packed with excellent food options.  This might not be one of the more memorable meals I ate during my visit but it was still very good.

ox cafe's cochinita pibil torta

 ox cafe, 19th & south van ness, san francisco

Ox Cafe is a new family owned/operated hole-in-the-wall coffee shop at 19th & South Van Ness (if you've been to Bender's in the last few months you've likely noticed this popped up across the street).  This location means that Ox Cafe is now the closest coffee shop to my house, and since I am a supremely lazy person (hello first blog update in 2 1/2 months!), I was very hopeful that I would have a new place to go when I don't want to travel more than two blocks to get food.  The menu seemed interesting: in addition to standard ham+cheese style sandwiches, there were a few very intriguing tortas on their sandwich board.  Since I'd run out of coffee at home and wanted to spend the morning (read: afternoon) lazing around my apartment playing New Super Mario Brothers on the ol' Wii (thanks Nicole!), I figured today was the day I'd pop over to Ox Cafe, grab some coffee and a sandwich, and get back home with a minimum of human interaction.  I decided to start at the top of their menu and picked the Cochinita Pibil torta, a sandwich made with slow-roasted pork made in the Yucutan style.  I think.  I didn't write down any info from their menu, so I'm going by memory (or what "sounds about right").  At any rate the pork was cooked in banana leaves or something and had a bunch of spices.  Also on the sandwich were pickled onions, and that's it.  And honestly, with the exception of perhaps some avocado, this sandwich really didn't need anything else.  It was delicate, flavorful, unique, and very satisfying.  Even the side salad, despite its sparsity of ingredients, was tasty when submerged in the surprisingly vinegary dressing.  The coffee was (as I had anticipated) bitter and burned and terrible, but I wasn't expecting Blue Bottle or anything.  Maybe next time I'll try a Mayan Mocha instead of their regular coffee, because I definitely see myself returning to try the rest of their tortas in the future. 

saigon sandwiches bánh mì at the KUSF rally

saigon sandwiches, larkin & eddy, san francisco

Two weeks ago, KUSF was abruptly and unexpectedly taken off the air by USF, who had arranged to sell the frequency 90.3 to USC in a deal that would result in 90.3 turning into a classical station.  Being a former KUSF volunteer and DJ, I found this turn of events shocking and deeply saddening.  I can say that over the last two weeks I've felt like the geography of the city has changed- I have a constant and nagging sense that something is missing, like a persistent phantom limb.  So last week, I attended my first ever Board of Supervisors meeting at City Hall, where Supervisor Mirkarimi introduced a (symbolic) measure condemning the sale of 90.3 (he was backed by Supervisor Mar, who had some great things to say about the value of community radio).  There was a rally with a fantastic and spirited turnout in front of City Hall before the meeting, and it was amazing to see how much vocal protest exists against the sale.  And of course, if there's any upside to having to protest in front of City Hall, it's that Saigon Sandwiches is a mere two blocks away- so before the rally, I made sure to stop by for a couple bánh mì.  I went with the chicken (delicious) and the combination (even better!), and I was stuffed!  The combination in particular seems hearty enough that only one sandwich would get the job done- otherwise, bánh mì usually just isn't filling enough that I can be satisfied with just one.  There's another KUSF rally TODAY (2/1/11) at 1 PM, and in today's Board of Supervisor's meeting there will hopefully be a vote on Supervisor Mirkarimi's resolution.  If you want to show your support for community radio (or just want an excuse to get some bánh mì), please come out and join me!  Your taste buds and ear drums will thank you.  And be sure to check out SAVEKUSF.ORG to see what else can be done to stop this sale and get KUSF back on 90.3!

saigon sandwiches' bánh mì

saigon sandwiches, larkin & eddy, san francisco

I miss summer!  I miss bánh mì!  I guess that I don't really have to wait until the weather gets better to have bánh mì again, but it seems like such a perfect sunny day food- the jalapeno and cilantro give it such a bright flavor, and the meat and dressing are so sweet.  And of course, Saigon Sandwiches have a well earned reputation of being THE place to go when you want bánh mì.  Although there may be some places closer to where I live that serve these tasty little Vietnamese sandwiches, none compare to getting one (or two or three) from Saigon Sandwiches.  Come back sunny days, I want to eat bánh mì in a park!

RUMBLE AT 24TH AND HAMPSHIRE, PT 4: THE WINNER

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This is the final sandwich in this epic competition, and it was far and away the best: Pal's "home cured and coffee smoked" pulled pork, served with buttermilk slaw, house made pickles and bbq sauce on a poppyseed kaiser roll. The thing that struck me most about this sandwich was how well balanced it was- for a bbq sandwich, none of the flavors were especially strong. I liked this fact- I could taste the tender and smoky flavor of the pork, which was complemented by the sweet flavors of the pickles and bbq sauce, and tangy crunch of the slaw. Even though I love pickles, I normally despise bread and butter pickles. But even though the house made pickles were very sweet like bread and butter pickles, I thought they were perfect in this sandwich. I don't often get pulled pork sandwiches, because they need to be done right- but when they are done right, like this instance, they are fantastic! My only complaint was that this sandwich was on the smaller side, and I would have been happy to eat more.
So now that all of the sandwiches have been accounted for, which shop reigns supreme at the intersection of 24th and Hampshire? Dagwood and Scoops has the advantage of better hours, and a much, much larger menu. Pal's may not necessarily be serving the sandwich you want on a given day, and might not even be open when you want it. Dagwood's does not have these drawbacks, but despite offering creative and appealing sandwiches, their actual product is underwhelming, especially given their prices. So although Pal's offerings are much more limited, I defintely would pick their sandwiches as the superior lunch. WINNER: PAL'S (VICTORY BY BBQ)

this little piggy

kitchenette, illinois & 20th, san francisco

I say I'm a bad girlfriend when I don't have food to make for lunch, but really I just want an excuse to try a new sandwich...

Monday came around and I knew I had to have Kitchenette, it had been awhile.  Nevertheless, I did have to confirm that Kitchenette was what I truly wanted, as there are two other places I enjoy grabbing a sandwich from in the Dogpatch.  10am came around and their site hadn't been updated... 11am same... finally, the moment before walking out of the office for lunch my options were posted and yes! Kitchenette was what I wanted.  The tough desision fell between the choice of the "Grilled Berkshire Pork Sandwhich" and the "Spring Veggie Baguette" and after eating at Rosamunde's the night before, I felt I needed to be nice to my body by going with the veg option.

But that's always what I tell myself and once I was standing there about to recite my order my mind changed and even though I'm positive the baguette was dee-lish, I'm really glad I went with the pork sandwich!  This meal was all about featuring the curried onions and cabbage.  Everything else, though entirely perfect and delicious in it's own way took second stage and only served to compliment the earthy mild spice of the curry.

That being said, the entirety of it was sublime!  The pork was tender and dissolved in the mouth and had the lightest sweet flavor.  The rustic deli roll I was afraid of being too crisp and large to bite into to but the mixed juices of the curry and pork softened the bread making it not soggy but spongy and easy to eat.

I have to admit that sometimes I eat at Kitchenette and even though the food is almost always wonderful, it isn't always savored the same in memory as it is at the moment of consumption.  I've eaten a good handful of sandwiches that are forgotten by the end of the day, however, I was ready to go back for seconds today!

The Oinkster's BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich

The Oinkster, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, CA

I guess the story here is that there's suburban good, and then there's city good. I would definitely argue that food is generally better in city areas. The clientele are pickier, have more money, and there's something about it just being in a proper city that gives it an edge. The suburbs aren't lacking in quality establishments by any means, but sometimes it's like comparing major and minor leagues.

LAist put the Oinkster burger in their top 5 burgers of LA, and while I haven't tried that one specifically, the pulled pork BBQ sandwich I had was solid, but not comparable to the stuff I've tried in LA proper. Father's Office, Canter's, and even a couple random downtown joints all rank higher. Maybe the guy at LAist got a little too excited before putting them in the top 5, but definitely not in the same league as the other 4.

The bread was good, soft and fresh, but not super high quality. The pulled pork was tender and juicy to just the right degree but the quality of the meat wasn't super awesome, and it had black pepper on it which is kind of unnecessary in my book. The lettuce was alright, pretty standard fair. And the BBQ sauce tasted extremely similar to Arby's BBQ sauce. I had to sit there for a few moments to recall where I had experienced that flavor. Luckily, I actually kind of like Arby's BBQ sauce, so it was actually pretty good; watery and vinegary. The fries can be ordered just like In-N-Outs 'animal style' fries, with grilled onions, thousand islands dressing, and cheese piled on top (best eaten with a fork). They were good, but In-N-Outs are definitely better (and heavier).

So, pretty good. I guess this review was negatively affected by the hype of LAist, so definitely take that into account. It was still pretty damn tasty. I wouldn't go out of my way to come back here, but I would definitely go there again if I were in Eagle Rock. Seems like it might be the best place on a scale of relatively average suburban joints, but doesn't compare to the legends in the city.

shana's pulled pork sliders @ the KO

the knockout, mission & valencia, san francisco

The Knockout, at Mission and Valencia in the Outer Mission, used to be my employer and still is one of my favorite bars in the city.  So imagine how dumbstruck I was to learn that, for the last few months, bartender-extraordinaire Shana had been cooking up some slow-roasted pork and serving sliders during her Tuesday happy hour shift?  It was if some cosmic entity had gone through a checklist of things I think are rad and decided to put them all together in one night.  So last week Els and I walked out to the KO, enjoying the newly extended hours of daylight.  We arrived shortly after the bar opened at 6 and sidled up to the bar.  Thin Lizzy on the stereo?  Check.  Metallica: Behind the Music on the TV?  Check.  Delicious pork sliders? Check, check and check.  Shana's got a serve-yourself type situation going on: there's a crockpot full of sweet, soft and savory pork, and a bag of buns.  Each slider will set you back a mere dollar; they go great with a cold beer, or if you have a sweet tooth, one of Shana's sorority-shots.  I ate something like six of these, I think.  Definitely a great way to wind down a warm spring day.  Tonight's Tuesday, so head out and get yrself some!

pork torta from kitchenette

kitchenette, illinois & 20th, san francisco

Here's Kitchenette's version of a carnitas torta- I have to admit that I ate this one a few weeks ago, and my recollection of it is somewhat hazy.  But that's not to say that the sandwich wasn't noteworthy- the pork was tender and delicious, and it was served with cabbage slaw, jalapenos and dried chile salsa.  It was a really spicy sandwich!  I definitely have yet to be let down by anything from Kitchenette.  I might quibble that a torta without beans isn't really a torta, but I'm not the sandwich police so whatever.  Today's Kitchenette menu looks pretty fantastic, so expect a new (and more specifically recalled) Kitchenette review soon!

lao sausage from pal's takeaway

 

pal's takeaway, 24th and hampshire, san francisco

"Fuck Leno...me and the staff ain't goin nowhere without our Pal's sandwiches!"

-Conan O'Brien, on today's Pal's menu

After multiple failed attempts to get a sandwich from these gourmet-liquor-store-sandwich innovators, today was the day I finally managed to stop by during Pal's limited hours of operation (M-F, 11-2:30 PM).  The Friday menu consisted of a thai chili-marinated chicken sandwich, a Lao sausage sandwich, and the veggie sandwich of the day (more on this one tomorrow!).  Since I came for two sandwiches, and had already decided that one was going to be the veggie, it was either the chicken or the sausage.  But what was the Lao sausage?  Chicken?  Pork?  I asked the dude behind the counter, and he explained all about how his Laotian neighbors made this homemade pork sausages with rendered fat and.... and.... I was spacing out.  But now that he had gone through the effort of telling me all about the sausage, it would be rude to then not order it, so sausage sandwich it was!  Fortunately, this turned out to be a great decision.  The sausage itself was black-peppery, greasy and crumbly; reminiscent of breakfast sausage, but not dry and crappy like Jimmy Dean or whatever.  It was salty and very, very spicy.  Balancing out the sandwich was a kimchi mayo (which I think was also spicy, as well as very creamy) and a cucumber-cilantro relish which cut the saltiness and spiciness somewhat (but not too much!) and added a little crispness.  The bread was a delicious crusty sour roll, and given the greasy sausage and creamy mayo, I'm frankly amazed at how well the sandwich held together!  I also picked up some of the "Full Belly Farm yellow creamer potato salad", because I'm a sucker for potato salad and can't say no to trying a new type.  This also turned out to be a great decision- the potatoes were cut in generous chunks, mixed with hard-boiled egg, edemame and celery in a Dijon-mustard vinaigrette.  It was an excellent take on the old deli standby.  Even Els liked it, and she claims to not like potato salad (yeah right)!  I can't believe I didn't try Pal's sooner, and if this sandwich was any indication of their typical quality, I'll be back soon.

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.

katsu sandwich

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

I'm intrigued by this recent trend of recent trend of moderately-expensive gourmet deli counters setting up in otherwise unassuming corner stores (see also: Pal's Takeaway, Mission Burger). In fact, next time I'm in SF I think I'll try to do a comparison and determine who has the best liquor store sandwich. The thing that intrigues me about this is that these places aren't cheap- I don't know about you, but I don't normally spend almost 10 dollars on a to-go sandwich. That's restaurant prices, dammit! So, in some way I see these new shops as indicative of the further gentrification of the Mission, co-opting local foodstuff providers in order to pander to the nouveau-riche who can actually afford to eat these sandwiches. On the other hand, I love sandwiches. With that in mind, I couldn't resist checking out the new deli counter at Rhea's Deli, at 19th and Valencia. In addition to their $7 dollar gourmet sandwiches, Rhea's offers a cheaper grilled cheese sandwich that I'm told is quite good- but I was there to check out the good stuff. The Katsu Sandwich consists of breaded pork loin, coleslaw, roasted red pepper, garlic aoli and katsu sauce- and man, was it good. The varying textures in this sandwich- chewy pork, crunchy coleslaw, creamy sauce, soft bread- made eating it an engaging experience. I'm eager to try out their other sandwiches soon.

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.

torta ahogada

tortas los picudos, 24th & alabama, san francisco

after I ate at La Torta Gorda the other week, the consensus in the comments seemed to be that Los Picudos should be my next torta stop, and so JoJoJoJo and I swung by a few days later. one commenter, Subframe, mentioned that Los Picudos had tortas in "el estilo de DF" (in the style of Mexico City), and I assume that referred to this sandwich- the torta ahogada, which I have previously only encountered in DF. a torta ahogada ("drowned sandwich") is just that- a sandwich covered in a somewhat sweet tomato sauce. the meat inside was carnitas, in this case cooked on the crispier side, rather than moister as some carnitas are. it was pretty messy- I think when I was in Mexico we just went for it with our hands, but this time I decided to make use of the knife and fork provided. the bread pretty quickly soaked up the sauce, and soon I had a mushy pile of bread, carnitas, and an absurd amount of red onions. I could have done with considerably fewer onions, but on the whole this was good torta. and I've never seen this type of sandwich served anywhere else, so Los Picudos seems to be the place to get one.

pulled pork sandwich

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

in this previous post, I mentioned my desire to seek out a superior pork sandwich. this sandwich forever quelled that desire. JoJoJoJo and I were relaxing at Bender's one saturday afternoon, idly speculating about their kitchen, and decided to get a pre-dinner snack of "yo yos"- deep fried pickles. the pickles were served with vegan ranch and a chipotle dipping sauce, and they were so good that we were persuaded to stay for an entire meal. that turned out to be one of the best decisions we've ever made, because this sandwich was insanely good. i'd lived around the corner for Bender's for years, and for some strange reason had never wandered in until recently, which I regret deeply. this sandwich.... oh man. the pork was so, so tender. it was marinated in a sweet BBQ sauce and served in a heaping pile, with coleslaw, on a hamburger bun. a fork definitely would have helped eat the huge gobs of shredded pork that fell out of this thing, but I had no shame in resorting to the use of my fingers. ah, what a sandwich. the rest of Bender's menu looked great too (JoJoJoJo will write about her sandwich soon)- burgers, fish, and plenty of vegan options like fried seitan.

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.

the texan

big mouth burgers, 24th & valencia, san francisco

what I really wanted was a chicken milanesa torta from Tortas El Primo on 22nd, but apparantly they are closed for construction right now. bummer. but I didn't want to give on my plan to pad this blog out with a little more content, and so my quest for a sandwich took me to 24th. it was either Big Mouth Burgers or that new cheesesteak place, but there was not much seating in the cheesesteak restaurant and I like to root for the underdog anyway. which is how I ended up with this, "The Texan", a sandwich featuring sliced pork loin in BBQ sauce and coleslaw. I was given the choice between coleslaw on the side or on the sandwich, but on the sandwich was definitely the right place for it because the sourness counterbalanced the sweetness of the BBQ sauce. this thing was a mess though, served to me in a pool of coleslaw drippings with chunks of pork falling out the sides. the fries were thick and tasty, the beer was cold, and the sandwich was piping hot and initially very tasty. as the sandwich cooled, though, it became considerably less appetizing. overall, it was decent, but it made me want to seek out a better pork sandwich.