summer sandwiches: portland again! or in this case, grant's pass

1533 Northeast F Street, Grants Pass, OR
 http://parkwayvillagellc.com/gooseberries.php

I had so much fun the last time I was in Portland, I turned around and went straight back!  Actually, Els and I had been talking about going to Portland for a long, long time, and my last trip there was a hastily thrown together journey that didn't include Els.  It was a bro/road trip.  I wanted to say broad trip, but that doesn't quite work.  At any rate, it was time, once again, to drive through hours and hours of mountains to get to that rad city perched in the middle of the cultural desolation of Oregon.  Last time I went, I left San Francisco at something like seven in the morning in order to get to Portland before too late in the day (if you've never done it, the drive from SF to Portland is somewhere between 10 and 12 hours long..... be sure to stock up yr mp3 player before leaving...).  In order to make this drive a little less insane, we left Friday night and stayed in a hotel halfway.  Well it was supposed to be halfway, except Friday night traffic was gnarly and so we only got as far as Willows, which is only a few hours north of SF.   That meant a fair amount of driving left for Saturday, which actually ended up taking up most of the day.  We had a late breakfast (I had Burger King.... don't get the breakfast burrito there, it's awful and small and full of runny salsa, stick to the totally passable breakfast biscuit sandwich), so imagine my dismay when we passed signs indicating a MR PICKLES franchise just south of Shasta!  We were too full to stop already.  I blew it with my breakfast choice!  We would have to stop again for food before getting to Portland though, and by mid-afternoon we were deep in Oregon's mountains and our stomachs were grumbling. We got off the 5 at Hood River Grant's Pass and contemplated the assortment of fast food options, before spotting a grocery called Huckleberry's Natural Market Gooseberries Real Food & Deli (I couldn't remember the name of the market when I was writing this, just that it had berry in the name- hence my mistaken first assumption based on google results that we had stopped at a chain grocery called Huckleberry's).  Els, being a granola eating hippie, wanting to stop there for lunch, and I, being a junk-food loving carnivore who is smart enough to let his girlfriend get her way, acquiesced.  Reluctantly.  I steeled myself for a bland meal of fake meat products and foods advertising their lack of whatever we aren't supposed to be eating these days.  But inside we discovered a deli offering a variety of sandwiches, wraps, and burgers, and I'll be damned if they didn't actually sound pretty tasty (and pretty bad for you!! awww yeeaaaah).  I went with the "Huckleberry Gooseberry Special" or something like that, which was I think turkey, bacon, melted cheese (jack?) and honey mustard.  And pesto aioli, or avocado?  What's that green stuff up there?  I didn't write down the ingredients because I stupidly believed that a natural food store would have a modern website with a menu available.  Idiot.  Anyway whatever it was it was great and undoubtedly bad for me, which I appreciate, Huckleberry's Natural Market Gooseberries Natural Food & Deli.  Els got a wrap, which in my professional sandwich blogger opinion is not a sandwich, but we got photos of it anyway and here it is.  It was bacon, tomato, avocado, lettuce, dressing (caesar or thousand island?) and I'm pretty sure it had turkey or chicken.  Maybe Els remembers.  I'd ask her, but she's back in Portland!  Again!  We can't get enough of that city, apparently.  Also, she just sent me a text about a toothless man trying to trade weed for two machetes at a garage sale.  Oregon!

 

After filling our bodies with this horribly unhealthy food from the health market, we got back on the road and saw some RIDICULOUS clouds.  Look at these dang clouds!  It's hard to get a sense of scale, but this was a massive cloudbank with a really weird shape.  Good stuff, Oregon!

#26

as aw has recently pointed out the mr pickle's on 20th and south van ness has expanded their menu and today i thought i'd try something from it.  normally, my go to is #2, the vegi, on a wheat roll with avocado, no pickles and no pepperocinis (i don't like them).  but today i thought i'd go for something that i wouldn't normally get, it wasn't bad but it wasn't great, it was really just a new thing to try that i don't think i'd get again.  i'm not bummed out i got it though because it was interesting.  #26 is also known as "sweet pea" it features both provolone and pepper jack cheese, pickled hot and sweet peppers and for a dollar more you can add tofu, which i got.  i was expecting a light and mild sandwich and this was anything but.  rather it was sorta intense, the heat from the peppers made me sweat a little, i ended up having to take some of the jalapeno's off. 

i think that there are people out there that will love this sandwich, i was maybe not one of them but i wanted to let you all know that this existed and that some of you may want to get this.

mr. pickle's new boilermaker!

 

mr. pickle's, 19th & south van ness, san francisco

 

Boilermaker: Chicken breast, ranch dressing, bacon and cheddar
Remember when I was all excited about Mr. Pickle's new menu, but said that their new sandwiches (particularly the Hipster) seemed like clumsy attempts to compete with other more exotic sandwich places, then said I was going back for another sandwich?  Remember?  No?  Come on, it was only like last week.  HERE.  Alright, so now that we're all caught up, I have to admit that I was wrong about something.  I went back to Mr. Pickle's for another sandwich, and talked a little to the guys who were making the sandwiches, including that one guy that's been there forever.  And when I mentioned that I'd tried the Hipster, he was all excited and told me that it was his creation and that he'd been making it for years as an occasional daily special and that it always sold like hotcakes.  So my unnecessarily cynical theory about the origins of that sandwich was wrong, and now I feel kind of like a jerk.  Sorry Mr. Pickle's!  Of course, that doesn't really change the fact that the Hipster seems like an odd fit for Mr. Pickle's.  The Boilermaker, on the other hand, is basically the prototypical Mr. Pickle's sandwich and fits on their menu like a glove.  Um.... a menu-shaped glove, I guess.  There's nothing weird or wild about the Boilermaker: chicken, bacon, cheddar, ranch.  Plus pesto and the works, like all of Mr. Pickle's sandwiches.  Makes sense, right?  A total crowd-pleaser, just a lot of things that are pretty bad for you but that you know you want to eat.  The ranch that Mr. Pickle's uses has a pretty mild flavor, and gave the chicken a nice creamy texture.  The bacon was subtle and I actually forgot it was on the sandwich for the first half, and was pleasantly reminded when I got a bit with a lot of it.  So that was cool.  All in all, this is pretty much the kind of sandwich that Mr. Pickle's excels in making.  It just feels so right!  Next time, however, I'm going for another one of their weirder new sandwiches- but this time I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

hello old friend

mr. pickle's, 20th & south van ness, san francisco

There's little I can say about Mr. Pickle's that I haven't already!  My love for the home of Señor Pepino has been extensively documented on this website.  But when I got this Tony Soprano sub, it had been a long, long time since I had eaten there.  In my quest to find new and different places to buy sandwiches, I had neglected my first love.  So I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Mr. Pickle's.  I promise I will never go so long without one of your sandwiches again!

pesto turkey burger pt 2

After making my last sandwich too strongly flavored, I tried to make this one a little more reserved. And it was more mild, both in flavor and in appearance. As you can tell, this wasn't the most colorful or appetizing sandwich to look at. Still, it tasted pretty good. You can't really go wrong with a combination of turkey, cheese and avocado.

pesto turkey burger pt 1

Once again, I decided to try out something new from the grocery store. This time, I bought frozen pesto turkey patties, which I believed to be fully cooked and in the shape of a normal burger. However, when I got home I discovered that that they were uncooked, as well as being rectangle in shape. Because the patties were greenish-grey, it was kind of hard to tell when one was done cooking. But I decided to take a risk and call it done. I threw on some of the sharp provolone I had from before, some tomato and red onion, and put the whole mess on a burger bun. It tasted pretty good, but a lot of the flavors were really sharp and acidic and it gave me a little of a stomach ache. I decided the next patty I cooked would be paired with more mild flavors.

tony soprano vs tony soprano, pt 1

mr. pickle's, 20th & south van ness, san francisco

a king among sandwiches! the first time I ate this sandwich, years ago, I was in disbelief. this is definitely one of the sandwiches that falls into the "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" category of Mr. Pickle's sandwiches (see also the Station 7 and the Gaucho). it's got salami, ham, mortadella and provolone, and salad dressing, in addition to the requisite pesto that is a feature of every Mr. Pickle's sandwich. this thing is a beast. this time I got it on sourdough, which is probably the appropriate choice, although I also like it on dutch crunch quite a bit. as you can imagine, the flavor is intense- salty, oily, vinegary. it's like eating a great salad on top of a great sandwich. it's also intensely delicious. this sandwich is what started my Mr. Pickle love, which played a large role in the decision to start this blog.

intro
round two - Ike's Place
the verdict

meatball sub

mr. pickle's, 20th & south van ness, san francisco

I had such success with trying new menu items recently at Mr. Pickle's that I thought I'd keep it up. this sandwich as came recommended to me by my roommate, so I was pretty excited to try it out. but it ended up not being as amazing as the Dog House had been, perhaps it was because I ate this sandwich just after finding out about the disappearance of Mr. Pickle. the meatballs were the small, grayish kind, and I didn't really like the texture... kinda... rubbery? also, the cheese on this was supposedly provolone (UPDATE: my mistake, it was actually pepper jack), but I could have sworn it tasted an awful lot like ricotta. anyway, it wasn't a bad sandwich, but there are other sandwiches I'd definitely order over this one.

mortadella and salami

lucca ravioli company, 22nd & valencia, san francisco

I'd heard good things about the sandwiches from this deli, and I'd even wandered in once to try one. however, there is no menu, you have to take a number and wait when you arrive, and the place was packed. I got too self conscious about not knowing what to order, and so I left without buying anything. yesterday I decided to work up the nerve and just ask the guy behind the counter what was available. it turns out that, well pretty much everything is available. they have a wide variety of high-quality meats at the deli, and so thats exactly what their sandwiches are about. there is no produce, and the only condiment offered is pesto (packets of mustard and mayonnaise are included on the side). I decided to go with mortadella (since its basically like eating bologna without feeling all trashy, and I do enjoy some bologna), and when the guy asked if I wanted a second meat, salami was the first thing that sprung to mind. the roll that this came on was quite good, very cripsy on the outside but not so hard that it tore up my mouth. and the meats were very tasty as well. I thought perhaps that this sandwich would be too dry, and so I used the mustard and mayonnaise on the first half, but it seemed like they weren't very necessary, and so the second half went unadorned. I think the next time I go I will think a little more carefully about the meat selection, and probably go without pesto, as it gave me a little bit of a stomach ache (for some reason, pesto sometimes does this to me- usually the stronger flavored varieties). I wonder if Lucca's has good ham- I've been wanting a good ham sandwich for a while, and I'm not sure where to get one around here.

dog house

mr.pickle's, 20th & south van ness, san francisco

awwww yeah this was a good sandwich. I had just come back from a great run, it was sunny and warm in SF for a change, and there are really only two options for a reward after a great run: Mr. Pickle's or Farolito, and this isn't a taqueria blog (that one is forthcoming).
so Mr. Pickle's it was! now, a couple of notes before I talk about this sandwich: one, is that I am a creature of habit. risk-adverse. I have my favorite sandwiches at Mr. Pickle's, and I don't usually mess with the ones I don't know. but this one came recommend by the fine folks at missionmission, and the idea of a great sandwich at Mr. Pickle's being uneaten by me was maddening. if I knew the latin for "let no great sandwich go uneaten", it would probably be tattooed on my body somewhere. so that's one. two, is that the last few sandwiches i've bought have kind of been a disappointment. and since this blog is all about sandwich appreciation, this worried me. was I getting burned out on sandwiches? was this the end of my sandwich love?
thankfully, this sandwich eased my worries. what an awesome sandwich! missionmission were right in pointing out that pastrami and bacon, the two main ingredients of this particular sandwich, are an odd combination. but they go so well together! in fact, the difference in flavor between the two salty red meats is subtle, and it wasn't clear in any given bite where the pastrami ended and the bacon began. also, since the meat was relatively similar in flavor, this sandwich was far less wild in taste than the station 7 or the gaucho. the result was that I was more clearly able to taste the flavor of the pesto, and the swiss cheese, and the sourdough roll- all of which were nice balances in flavor to the meat. sandwich love = restored.

ps- did you know that there is a variant of the reuben called the rachel, which substitutes pastrami and coleslaw for the corned beef and sauerkraut? I didn't until just now.

turkey and brie panini

valencia whole foods, 20th & valencia, san francisco

Valencia Whole Foods is a nice little market on the corner of 20th, one that i would love to shop at more often, if it were not for the astronomically high prices. still, they have some great products and recently they started offering a selection of sandwiches. it was grey and windy the day I went, and the streets were wet from rain. I wanted something warm, but not too heavy, and this sandwich turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. all of the flavors in this sandwich were mild; the turkey had a slight smokey flavor, the pesto was not overwhelming as some can be, and the bites that had big pieces of tomato were almost dominated by the flavor of the vegetable. but the best was the gooey brie, and it tasted so good that I ate this sandwich almost too quickly!

grilled turkey & pesto chicken

literati cafe, wilshire boulevard, los angeles

the Literati Cafe is a cozy place, attached to a much fancier (and pricier) restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard. the walls are adorned with posters of famous counter-culture icons. and the sandwiches are quite good! both were served on ciabatta rolls, which were very soft and delicious. also, both were served with pesto- this seemed odd to me, as the chicken sandwich had pesto in the name, whereas the turkey sandwich did not. and also, the turkey had cheese (some sort of white cheese (JoJoJoJo says swiss)). but the biggest difference between the two was the meat. the chicken, to be honest, was not terribly flavorful and maybe undercooked. but the turkey was delicious! it was exceptionally moist, and served hot. the heat and intense flavor of the sandwich was nicely balanced by the caesar salad, although i wish i had eaten less of the salad.

turkey on sourdough

turkey, monterey jack, a really fresh avacodo, and pesto. i wish this tasted as good as i had hoped, but it ended up not being so great. the store bought turkey was pretty flavorless, as was the cheese, and the sourdough wasn't the best i've had. maybe a stronger tasting mustard (i used yellow) or more pesto would have helped. i think i'm going to go back later for a second serving, so i'll make some changes and see how it comes out.

the gaucho and the station 7

The Gaucho

Station 7
mr. pickle's sandwiches, 20th & south van ness, san francisco

Mr. Pickle's is one of the main reasons I wanted to start this blog. Although my enthusiasm for the shop has waned somewhat over the years that I have been eating there, I still enjoy one of their immense sandwiches every other week or so. Today JoJoJoJo and I had a rooftop picnic consisting of two of my favorite Mr. Pickle's sandwiches, the Gaucho and the Station 7. Mr. Pickle's has a strange menu; most of their sandwiches are actually pretty boring or unappetizing (The "Porky Pig": Ham, bacon, American cheese). But then at the very end of the menu are these two totally insane sandwiches. The Gaucho, served on sourdough roll, is chicken in Frank's buffalo wing sauce and ranch dressing. This, I should note, is in addition to the pesto that all of the sandwiches come with. The resulting flavor is mind-bending, spicy and creamy, with the vinegary flavor of the wing sauce being augmented by the pickles and pepperoncinis on the sandwich. The vibrant orange color of the wing sauce popped next to the neon green pesto, and the resulting drippings of sauce were an unholy swirl of colors. We followed the Gaucho with the Station 7, although we realized that the order should have been reversed, as the Station 7 is a little more subtle in flavor (although still pretty out there, as far as sandwiches go). The Station 7, named after the local fire station, is chicken "marinated" (slathered) in honey mustard, served with avocado and pepper jack on a dutch crunch roll. The sandwich was an appealing spectrum of greens, from the pale green chunks of chicken to the bright pepperoncinis. Despite the fact that the sandwiches today were smaller than what Mr. Pickles normally serves, we were quite satisfyied and unable to finish the two sandwiches between us.