Sandwiches – Page 29

Sunday Sandwich’s, the “Say Cheese” Edition: Gaglione Brothers versus…Gaglione Brothers

March 2, 2014 mmm-yoso Cheesesteaks, Sandwiches

Since I've been waving the Cheesesteak flag again, here's the next logical post of a series that I began in 2010. I had first gone to Gaglione Brothers in 2005 and had revisited several times over the years. I've always found their sandwiches to be decent, if not the best, though it could be the garlic fries were the main reason for my visits. Since then, Gaglione Brothers has expanded, opening another location in Mission Gorge.

One evening, I was in the area….and thought, "why not"…..

Gaglione Brothers – Mission Gorge:

My how time flies, the last time I was here it was still Pisa's Chicago Deli, which didn't last very long. Now it's Gaglione Brothers second location….business must be good.

They were pretty busy when I arrived, though thing cleared out quickly. I went with my usual, the 8" Mushroom Steak.

This was kind of interesting. I've always thought the cheesesteaks at Gaglione's were moist with the provolone giving the whole mess a light milky, creaminess. It seemed to lack a sufficient amount of cheese. This was on the dry side and pretty salty. The roll was nice and warm, but I found some of the meat tough.

It's not quite what I expected from a Gaglione Brother's Cheesesteak.

Gaglione Brothers
10450 Friars Rd
San Diego, CA 92120

I was wondering if this was something to do with perhaps timing, or the location….or has GB changed the way they make their sandwiches? Which means that a couple of days later, after a couple of years, I finally revisited the Point Loma location.

Gaglione Brother's – Point Loma/Midway:

**** This location of Gaglione Brothers has closed

I've done a couple of posts on Gaglione Brother's over the years, though I've visited way more times. Still, it's been at least 2 years since I've ben here.

Not much has changed except the price………

I ordered my mushroom steak and had a seat. While waiting for my sandwich I stared off into the parking lot; and quickly noticed that one could easily tell which folks were coming to have something from GB, versus who was heading to the fitness center next door…..just by physique! It was quite entertaining as I was 10 for 10 in guesses. Of course, if one were playing the same game and saw me exiting my vehicle, I'm thinking they'd be able to tell where I was headed to……

And this turned out to be the typical, lovely, "hot mess" that is a GB cheesesteak. Gooey, gloppy, with hot cheese napalm burning your lips…… The beef didn't seem as well incorporated into the cheese as on previous visits, but it was decent. Because of the milky mildness, onions are a must on this sandwich…. It is still a bit lacking in terms of beef flavor, but it does fine by me.

Gaglione Brothers
3944 West Point Loma Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

I did find it kind of strange that the two shops served up cheesesteaks that had very little in common….except for the name on the sign…..

Sunday Sandwiches: The Sandwich Place

February 23, 2014 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

So how many people have passed this place on Convoy Court and thought it was some office's al fresco dining area?

I must have passed this place a st least a thousand times and thought exactly that. I'm not sure why the sign with "Deli" on it never registered. But I was working on a recent holiday and noticed the signs for the first time….and they were open too!

It's a tiny shop, very mom-and-pop. The owners are Korean I believe, quiet, but very nice. The prices are good, just about everything under six bucks.

The offerings seemed very routine and it turned out my Clubhouse Special ($5.70) met those expectations.

It's as advertised, turkey, bacon, ham, swiss, with a bit too much mayo on decently toasted bread.

Man, what a boring post huh?

Well, I decided to see what else they had on the menu a couple of days later; it was a Thursday, a lo' and behold, a Teriyaki Steak Sandwich ($6.30):

You know, the meat could have used a bit more marinade time; it was obviously pre-cooked and microwaved, and it was, as expected not the most tender version I've had. But, like I've mentioned before, this is totally comfort food for me.

I grew up eating stuff like this; teri beef sandwiches……

And it was the mayo and the onion on it, followed by a couple of breath mints that really did the trick for me…..for a short moment, I was 10 years old again, eating a teriyaki sandwich on a table in front of some non-descript shop. The sun was shining and it seemed the rest of the day was going to be just fine. It was just good timing I guess…..

But who's going to complain about that?

The Sandwich Place
7112 Convoy Ct
San Diego, CA 92111

Sunday Sandwiches, the “Say Cheese” Edition: Alex’s Brown Bag (now in PB) and Jin’s Grill

February 16, 2014 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cheesesteaks, Sandwiches

So what were you doing on July 14th, 2010? Well, I'm not sure of a lot of things, but I do know I was typing up my first "say cheese" Cheesesteak Round-up, comparison post. Man 3/1/2 years. Recently, I reader asked me why I hadn't done one in a while, the last one being almost exactly two years ago. You know, I'm not quite sure, but as I mentioned before, just the thought of a cheesesteak can send me off into a frenzy of Amaroso bunned binging……

A couple of things, I like mine "wit", onions that is, and wit-out "wiz", which was introduced to the sandwich sometime in the 1950's. And unlike that "owner" who didn't care for my opinion of his mediocre sandwich, claiming he knew what a cheesesteak was all about because he read about Pat And Geno's on the internet; I have actually been to Pat's and Geno's, which wasn't nearly as good as the cheesesteak I had from a shop in the Reading Terminal Market called Rick's Original Philly Steaks, which has been closed for a number of years. I did read that he's opened shop in Kennett Square.

Of course all that time means some changes; Olde City Grille has closed, Gaglione Brothers opened their second location, and for some reason the Philadelphia Cheesesteak Company keeps rolling along. One place did drop off the map and had me wondering "whatever happened to……"

Alex's Brown Bag at Latitiude 32:

**** Alex's has totally closed

When I worked in the Hillcrest area, we used to order from Alex's all the time…until it seemed that there was some degradation in their sandwiches which were coming up dry and tough. During that last visit in 2010, it just didn't seem like the same cheesesteak I had been eating over the years.

A couple of years ago, Alex's pulled up stakes and moved to PB. After my cheesesteak trigger had been pulled, Alex's came to mind so I decided to find out exactly where they were located…..which turned out to be inside the pub called Latitude 32. Cheesesteak in a Pub? Shades of Monkey Paw.

The drill here is, you can peruse the menu at the bar, but have to go to the back of the pub to place and pay for your order near the kitchen.

The guys here were very friendly; I recalled the folks when I visited 5th avenue were on the surly side. I got a 12" with provolone, which was probably more sandwich than I should have ordered.

This was a nice sandwich ($8.96), much better than the last one I had from Alex's. The Amoroso roll was nice and warm, with that mild, almost imperceptible crustiness to it, along with the gritty cornmeal. The beef was a bit more chewy than I recalled, but the sandwich was nice and moist with a milky edge brought on by the cheese. This was nicely seasoned, edging on almost garlic-salty, but was nice as most 'steaks are on the milder side.

This was better than I remembered, I'm sure to be back soon.

Alex's Brown Bag (Inside Latitude 32 Pub)
5019 Cass St
San Diego, CA

Jin's Grill:

*** Jin's Grill has closed and is now a location of Homestyle Hawaiian

So I see a sign announcing "Best Cheesesteak in San Diego" in the same stripmall as Pho Little Saigon. A couple of days later I return to find the shop behind the sign, which turns out to be a little shop called Jin's Grill.

The place only has various renditions of "Philly's" i.e. sandwiches on the menu.

I was told that the beef for the cheesesteak was angus, which I thought was nice since the sandwich was south of $7, though I did add mushroom for about a buck more.

The sandwich did look nice….especially the strings of cheese stretching across the wrapper.

The was a plus/minus sandwich. The roll was cold and really detracted from the sandwich. This wasn't highly seasoned, which meant I could really make out the beefy flavor. It wasn't as oily as other versions, but then again, this meant that it was also a bit too dry and lacking in that oozy-richness that makes cheesesteaks so good.

Sort of a tweener, but well priced.

Jin’s Grill
3445 Midway Dr
San Diego, CA 92110
Hours:
Mon – Sat 1030am – 9pm
Sunday 11am – 8pm

Now that this has started…..who knows where it'll end. I do need to visit Philly Frank's, Monkey Paw, and perhaps Eddie's, and of course Gaglione Brothers…..

Coimbra: The University and more piggy fun at António dos Leitoes Porta Larga

February 15, 2014 mmm-yoso Coimbra, Portugal, Portuguese Food, Sandwiches, Travel

At the end of my last post, I mentioned dreading the loooong steep walk up the hill to the University of Coimbra. There is a "elevador" that you can catch up and down the hill, but it was closed for repairs at the time if our visit. Sigh. Anyway, even though we'd already had a quick look at the University the previous day, I figured that if we were to see one site in Coimbra, it had to be the University and some if its most famous structures.

On our visit the previous day, we came up the opposite way, directly to the "Pátio das Escolas", the main courtyard. This time we entered via the "Porta Ferrea", the Iron Gate afterr buying tickets to the various sites in the bookstore.

There are limits on visitors so, you need to get tickets and times set-up. The University was founded in 1290, so of course many traditions have been established like Queima das Fitas – The Burning of the Ribbons and Festa das Latas (The Tin Can Parade). Entering through the Gate you'll come to the bright and impressive Courtyard. This actually used to be the courtyard of the Coimbra Royal Palace which was turned over to the University by King John (João III) in 1537. The reflection of the sun on white can almost blind you at times. And that is a statue of John III, back to the Mondego River standing isolated in the middle of the courtyard.

In 2013, the University became listed on UNESCOs World Heritage List. Click on the photo below to enlarge.

There were a couple of buildings we wanted to check out. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed, so I'll try to do links to other sites so you can get an idea of how the place looks. For me, the one building I just had to see was the Biblioteca Joanina, built by King John V (João V), also know as "John the Magnanimous". One look in this beautiful library and you'll know why he had that nickname.

A walk through the ornate rooms illustrates what a great power Portugal once was. What I found really interesting was the prison under the library. The University had its own police and courts, so naturally it had its own prison for students and faculty…….

Next door behind the facade (you actually enter to the right of the doorway) is Capela de Sao Miguel – St Michael's Chapel. There's a beautiful and ornate pipe organ in the chapel.

Up the stairs of the building that faces John III and down the hallways called the "via Latina" you'll find Sala dos Capelos – The Grand Hall. You'll look down upon what used to be the palace throne room and became an examination room. You can get some great views looking out the windows of the catwalk above the room.

We enjoyed our time visiting the university, but man, I was getting hungry……

So we wound our way back down to our hotel and along one of the many alleyways, on Rua das Padeiras we saw this little shop.

It's pretty easy to see how it caught my eye, right?

Plus, in spite of my lack of linguistic ability…..the big joke is that I can't say much except thank you and hello….but boy can I name the various food items. Leitao was one of those words within my grasp……it basically means suckling pig, and this was Porkugal, I mean Portugal.

It seemed like a nice place to take a break. I ordered a Leitao Sandes – basically a suckling pig sandwich. The Missus decided on some soup, which She really enjoyed….porky goodness one and all.

Soon enough my sandwich arrived…..it was a pretty hefty one at that! The most interesting thing was the glass of, well, something that accompanied my sandwich. A quick taste, I'm glad I didn't chug the thing, and it was quickly identified as pork drippings/sauce/juice/mother's milk, whatever you want to call it. It was on the salty side, though when drizzled on the pork it became "elixir of the gods…or swine". The bread was pretty good, the pork a bit dry and bland without the "juice", the skin on the hard side.

I was still in that pork and beer for breakfast mode since Lisbon, so it only seemed natural that I order a Sagres as well. While this was nowhere as good as my Bifana and beer from Beira Gare it did fine by me.

Boy does this country love its pork…….and I was taking good advantage of it!

António dos Leitoes Porta Larga
Rue das Padeiras 35
Coimbra, Portugal

After lunch it was time to head back to our room for a pork induced nap…..

Sunday Sandwiches: Crossroads Deli

February 9, 2014 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

I've been having meetings in the UTC/La Jolla area quite regularly for the past couple of months. The meetings usually finish around noon-ish. At the end of one of my meetings I asked for a recommendation for grabbing a quick bite and Crossraods Deli was mentioned. I had already heard of the place via an email from "Rob", so I decided to check them out.

Finding the place was interesting. It's located in the La Jolla Crossroads Apartment complex off Judicial Drive. I would have never thought of checking this place out…..mainly because I'd never driven past here before. Anyway, there's visitor parking, you'll find the place behind the Boar's Head umbrellas.

The place was pretty busy and the menu is pretty routine, except for a couple of specialty sandwiches and daily specials. This was Falafel Friday, so of course……

I got the falafel sandwich ($7.50). Which I thought would be a great idea, since, well, Boar's Head is Boar's Head, you know what I mean? This is a real Mom-and-Pop place, really…..it's like Mom is working the register and Pop is making the sandwiches. Nice folks one and all.

This was a pretty hefty sandwich, perhaps a bit too heavy handed on the shredded lettuce and tahini sauce as it seems the falafel were a bit overwhelmed by everything else. The pita was nice and warm and the falafel, which were hot and fresh, had a nice texture, not too gritty, just moist enough, with a pleasant flavor. Needless to say, I didn't leave hungry.

I can see why this place is popular, the portion-price point is good. The falafel aren't on the level of Mister Falafel, but I'd have this again.

Two weeks later I dropped by again. The place was just as packed as before. This time I ordered "Al's Famous Club" ($7.50):

This was a pretty good sandwich. I loved that the turkey was thinly shaved, that the bacon were more like Bacon Bits, though there was a good amount of it, not so much. What seemed like a vinaigrette was very nice, the side that was over-dressed with mayo was a bit much. Loved the avocado and the swiss added a nice milkiness to the sandwich. I ordered this on sourdough, which went well with the sandwich. Not bad overall.

As I've mentioned before, I have a great deal of appreciation for these homegrown, neighborhood sandwich shops, I've been going to our neighborhood shop for over a decade. I'm glad we have one in our neighborhood and I'm sure the folks who live and work in the general vicinity of Crossroads Deli is as well.

Crossroads Deli

9085 Judicial Dr, Ste 100 (Inside the La Jolla Crossroads Apartment Complex)

San Diego, CA 92122

Hours: Mon-Fri 8am – 7pm Saturday 8am – 4pm

The strangest Doner Sandwich at Istanbul Kabob/Miramar Pizza

January 28, 2014 mmm-yoso Sandwiches, yoso-silly

**** Istanbul Kabob has closed

After eating at Motor City Deli, I noticed this place while walking to my car.

I walked up to the window which said "Istanbul Kebob"…..really? There was lamachun and pide on the menu….really? Really? How could I not know about this place?

The location did seem kind of strange, but curiosity had already gotten the better of me, I just had to check this place out. A couple of days later I dropped by.

Entering the well worn interior of the place, I looked up at the menu and didn't see any Turkish dishes at all. Until I looked ot my left and saw this.

I had more than enough time to check out the menu, because there was no one out at the counter to take my order. The young guys in the back were cracking up and having a good old time it seems.

By the time someone came out to take my order, I had lost my nerve and decided to go the conservative route and ordered the Doner Sandwich ($8.49), something simple that anyplace should be able to make. I also asked the guy if the owners were Turkish and he told me that the former owners were and when the business was sold they were taught all the Turkish dishes and decided to keep it on the menu. Not a very comforting answer, but hey, I've had some good meals under stranger circumstances and in odder places.

So I get my Doner (gyro) sandwich which is wrapped in foil and walk to the table where I unwrapped it and "holy …." (fill in the blanks) "…(more blankety-blank) is this?"

This wasn't a flat bread wrapped product….it was a burrito…the darn thing was wrapped in a tortilla. Still, my criticism of such an adulteration would be minimized if it was any good….which it was not. Basically, 50% tortilla, 35% dry gyro meat (at least it was heated up), 15% veg, all served with a insipid, runny yogurt sauce…..for real? I know this is SoCal, where, as Kazumi once told me "anything goes with food", but this just wasn't good. I have a special place in my heart for Turkey, especially Istanbul, and this just seemed wrong.

On the bright side….well, the fries were hot and crisp.

And I guess I've finally had a "Turkxican" Burrito(Doner-rito?)….my first, and hopefully last. And yet, in my twisted mind, I can only imagine what the foreboding sounding "Black Sea Pide" is going to be like?

Istanbul Kebab/Miramar Pizza
7094 Miramar Rd Suite 110
San Diego, CA 92121

Sunday Sandwiches – The not worth reading edition

January 26, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking, Sandwiches, yoso-silly

So are you actually reading this? Gotcha! Just playing around a bit with negative suggestion…..

Actually, this post is made up some odd and ends with regards to sandwiches, and you should probably come back tomorrow for something a bit better…..really!

Since you decided to stick around….here goes……

Curiosity does get the better of us at times and I'm not an exception.

I was doing my usual toilet paper/paper towel/laundry detergent/ etc, etc, run at Costco on Morena. I passed the "home of the $1.50 hot dog combo" aka the food windows and saw something new on the menu. Something I couldn't help but try.

They often test market items at this location, perhaps because Costco's Regional Headquarters are located here. So this time it was……

My curiosity got the better of me and I ordered one….purely for research purposes of course…..

Damn, this thing was huge….with a good amount of oily barbecue sauce oozing down one side. The beef was shredded like a tough machaca, the sauce was fairly bland with just a mild spicy finish, the roll was hard and cold…..colder than the tasteless coleslaw.

In short, if you're after quantity over quality, this fits the bill.

I had two people email me about the Arby's Smokehouse Brisket…….so I decided to give it a shot. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, try this on for size.

One can take into consideration the comparison of the Ice Breakers container to understand the size of the sandwich.

Now let's take a look inside.

I won't go into the too sweet BBQ Sauce, the tough and fatty meat, the cold and greasy onion strings…….all for $5.69? This makes what I recently got from Bristol Farm look like I went to the French Laundry.

And yet, sometimes impulse buys work out well. During my visit to Costco, I decided to pick up one of the prime tri-tips. Seasoning with salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and some Mexican oregano, I kept my expectations low.

My goodness….this was so good.

It was basically a "hot smoke" over oak for about 1 1/2 hours and it came out juicy, tender, with a nice smoke flavor.

There ain't no excuse for tough and dry tri-tip. The only problem I see is perfecting how to keep the product thru the course of a day or two.

I also smoked some garlic which I mixed with horseradish, making a sauce for my sandwich.

If you decided to stick around and read the post; I thank you for being a really dedicated FOY (friend of yoso)! I hope you had a great weekend!

Tropifruit (Fruiteria and sandwiches) (El Cajon)

January 16, 2014 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Fruiterias, Mexican Restaurants, Salads, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog, with writings about random foods consumed at random places sometimes surrounding random events. No such events to speak of in this post, though, sorry. (Cathy is writing.)

Well here we are. A new year. Some of you may have made resolutions to 'eat healthier' or maybe to 'try new things'. Those aren't resolutions to me, since I try to do those already (I also don't use drive thrus, try to only purchase organic milk, make an effort to clean for 15 minutes straight once a day, spend 15 minutes a week rearranging one drawer or shelf…different, attainable goals). So to maybe give you an idea of 'healthy' and 'new', perhaps this post will be an impetus.

Just on the other (West) side of Johnson Avenue from Parkway Plaza Mall is a small strip mall with a tire store, bank and Burger King. There's a Taco shop, a Thai Restaurant some other businesses and Tropifruit.

It's a fruiteria, one of many in San Diego, has been in this East County location for years and was recently re-decorated. We are so lucky to live here, with fresh fruits and vegetables available all year and I really try to buy local and enjoy what we have. (Here are two posts I've written about other currently open fruiterias. This is a link to one that is closed, but just to give you an idea.)

The menu has stayed the same since the remodel; breakfasts, sandwiches, smoothies, juices, waters, ices (raspados), fruits and salads. All fresh and in season, all made to order.

Here is a meal The Mister and I shared. (The photo shows an odd perspective, but that torta roll/bolillo really is HUGE.)

This is a small pico de gallo($5.50)- bite size cut up fruits and vegetables, topped with a squeeze of lime and spicy salt. The fruits included grapes, mango, watermelon and papaya; vegetables were jicama and cucumber. Spicy salt is Tajin (or a similar item), just chiles, lime and salt. This is always refreshing.This was the "Special Torta" ($6.50) which included both pork loin (lomo) and ham as well as lettuce, tomatoes, avocadoes and jalapeño strips on a freshly toasted bolillo roll.

A recent breakfast we enjoyed included mollettes ($5.99), a toasted wheat bolillo roll topped with refried beans and melted cows milk cheese (I think this was Monterey Jack or white cheddar; it was very creamy). This is very much a 'comfort food' item for me…creamy, warm, toasty crunch. The accompanying (quite large) side of fresh chopped tomatoes, onions and jalapeño goes just perfectly.

We also shared a small fruit salad ($5.75) Apples, bananas, grapes, strawberries, pineapple topped with cottage cheese (or plain yogurt), sunflower seeds, raisins and granola accompanied with a side of honey is a good, sweet treat any time of day.

Tropifruit 100% Natural Juice Bar 762 N. Johnson Avenue Suite 103 El Cajon 92020 (619)588-0303 M-F 7 am-8pm; Sat 8am-8pm, Sun 10am-6pm

Sunday Sandwiches: Motor City Deli

January 12, 2014 mmm-yoso Sandwiches

**** Motor City Deli has closed

After returning from our roadtrip, I was still thinking about the tri-tip from Firestone Grill. And though I didn't think I'd find anything even close here in San Diego (I mean really, the place would be more packed than Phil's), I did recall someone telling me about a place I once passed on my now all-too-infrequent drives around San Diego.

In the strip mall located at 7094 Miramar, I recall seeing…well squinting to see "Motor City Deli" right next to the Churchill's Cigar and Wine Bar. For some reason, this fascinated me, so I went home and checked out the menu….which didn't seem like a big deal. A couple of months later someone mentioned that this place mentioned that they smoked their own tri-tip and brisket for sandwiches. After Firestone Grill, I was here in an instant!

Walking in, I was very surprised at how large this place was. The small front area; it looked like it used to be, maybe a pizza or Italian joint, opened up to a fairly large dining area, with a back bar, several local beers on tap as well.

The prices seemed very inexpensive, the advertising for the deli meats were Boar's Head, decent, but nothing special. I noticed the back posters which featured the tri-tip and brisket. I asked the very nice young man behind the counter and he confirmed that they did indeed smoke their own tri-tip and brisket. So I ordered a tri-tip, on a roll, the young man recommended the mushrooms and onions and horseradish sauce.

It was a nice portion for $7.99, but there were several problems with the sandwich. First the meat was pre-cut then placed into a large steam table hotel pan in beef "broth/jus" which basically leached all the beef flavor out of the meat, leaving behind a somewhat artificial-saltiness. I really couldn't make out the smoked flavor and the meat was starting to seize. The onions and mushrooms along with the horseradish sauce actually saved the sandwich, so good call by the young man, as was the time spent placing the sandwich in the toaster oven.

You get one side with the sandwich and I chose the coleslaw….which was a mistake.

There seemed to be no seasoning, sauce, or anything on this….it tasted like eating coleslaw mix plain……..

Don't get me wrong, other than the "faux-slaw", the sandwich wasn't bad, just that it wasn't elevated to the level it could be. I decided to return and this time get the brisket ($6.99).

Just by understanding the differences in smoking time for a tri-tip versus a brisket, I believed the smoke flavor of the brisket would be much more pronounced, which it was, though the brisket was much tougher, in terms of flavor it handled the "jus soak" much better. You could even see a mild smoke ring around the slices. I had the sandwiched dressed exactly as before by the very friendly woman working on this day.

After my coleslaw experience, I decided to let the friendly woman choose my side. She selected the pasta salad which was just made. This was a better choice, very by-the-book, but decent.

Overall, I liked the people here, very low keyed, but nice. This seems like a decent neighborhood sandwich place…I'd visit every so often if I worked or lived nearby. Heck, I'd even drop by for a beer and sandwich for dinner when the Missus is working. Is it worth an special trip to visit? Probably not.

I'm not sure what the "Motor City" in the name of the place is referring to….is it the owners? Or maybe our own Cathy who hails from the area might know?

One interesting note is that SuperNatural Sandwiches is opening a few doors down.

Motor City Deli
7094 Miramar Road Suite 114
San Diego, CA 92121
Hours
Mon-Sat 10am – 9pm

Roadtrip: Firestone Grill – San Luis Obispo

January 11, 2014 mmm-yoso Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, Salads, Sandwiches

**** I have an updated post on Firestone Grill here

The was a reason we dawdled around Solvang for a while. I'd really been wanting to have a tri-tip sandwich for a while. Calculating driving times and such, it was either Firestone Grill or bypassing Solvang and hoping to make it to Salinas. We decided on stopping in San Luis Obispo, driving through the downtown streets of this quaint looking college town, finding parking across the street from Firestone Grill.

Having never been here before; I really didn't know what to expect…..the place is large a cavernous, looking like part College hang-out – Sport's Bar – Chain Restaurant. You order at the counter and wait to be called.

The menu is simple; burgers, salads, pulled pork, hot dogs….smoked grilled, slapped between bread. The food, though simple, is not slapped together. The portions looked huge; which is not always a good sign…..

The Missus was ravenous and had me order the Steak Cobb Salad (Large $9.49), which is served in what looks like on of those metal mixing bowls.

The greens and vegetables were sparkling fresh….the truth of the matter is that the generous amount of bacon and blue cheese made this salad. We didn't use any dressing (on the side) at all. Basically, a solid salad.

Of course I ordered the Tri-tip Sandwich ($8.69).

I was sold after the first bite. I've never had tri-tip this moist and tender ….I still have a hard time believing it actually is a tri-tip, the bottom sirloin. The beefy flavor however, was definitely there along with a pleasant, light smokiness. The meat was tender without being mushy. The roll toasted lightly with garlic butter just heightened the experience. I took a bite and told the Missus, "you're going to love this….." Which She did. She's still talking about this sandwich. It was probably the most pleasant surprise on our road trip. I'm glad I requested the BBQ Sauce on the side. It was way too sweet and would have totally over-powered the flavor of the beef. This was probably the best sandwich I had all year.

Firestone Grill
1001 Higuera St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

I'm guessing there are those who have issues with Firestone Grill – after Tweeting about this sandwich; FOY – MrZ, the Zompus actually mentioned that the sandwich was too tender for his taste! Go figure! Perhaps MrZ had one too many of these in his life and has become jaded? (I do miss the both of you BTW)

Melissa Good Taste, however agrees with me.

After lunch we walked around a bit and ended up getting some stuff from here.

All in all a successful stop…….