Syracuse Sandwich: Texas Roadhouse's Mushroom Jack Chicken Sandwich

Who: Texas Roadhouse What: Mushroom Jack Chicken Sandwich
Where: Erie Blvd, Syracuse Phone: 445-4086 Website: Texas Roadhouse
Parking: Yes Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     After visiting Christine’s Aunt in the hospital last Thursday night, Christine’s parents, Christine, her cousin, and myself decided we would go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. If you’ve never been, you must go because the atmosphere is fun and the food is always great. On a side note: if you are allergic to peanuts do NOT go there because there are peanut shells on the floors as well as peanuts at every table. There is a large sign on the door to prevent people from entering if they do have that allergy. Alongside the peanuts, every table gets a basket of hot buttery rolls that are served with cinnamon butter. I could literally just eat the peanuts and rolls as a meal. Naturally, I went straight for the sandwich menu and although limited, I was able to find something. The Mushroom Jack Chicken Sandwich caught my eye right off the bat and I decided I had to order it to make up for the lackluster chicken sandwich I had at Johnny Rockets just days before. The sandwich comes with a large grilled chicken breast with sautéed mushrooms, melted jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, and red onions.

     When I whipped out my phone to take a picture everyone realized I ordered a sandwich opposed to ribs or steak because of the blog, but I really did want it regardless. The lighting isn’t the best inside so I had to use my flash in order to get a half decent picture. It kind of looks like it is glowing. All of the sandwiches are served on Texas sized buns which means they are large but they do a great job of holding in all of the ingredients. Steak fries and a pickle spear come as sides with every sandwich as well. At first bite I could already tell that this sandwich was way better than the one I had recently. The chicken was freshly grilled and had charcoal marks all over it meaning it was cooked over a fire grill opposed to a flat top. The cheese was smoky and did a wonderful job of keeping the individual mushrooms from falling out. The lettuce, tomato, and onion were all fresh and the onion especially had some real snap to it. The sandwich was huge and by the time I finished it and the fries, I was more than stuffed.

Rating: Tasty – Texas Roadhouse is fun and their food it great. What else could one ask for?

Egg Salad from home

     Last week I made Christine some hard boiled eggs to go along with her breakfast in the morning but since I made almost a whole carton, I had enough to make egg salad. I’ve only made egg salad a handful of times but I think this latest attempt came out pretty close to the way I want it to. For one sandwich I used two hardboiled eggs and chopped them using an egg slicer both length and width wise. By doing this there should be small square/rectangle pieces of egg white and egg yolk. I mixed in a dash of salt and pepper, paprika, a tablespoon of mayo, and a tablespoon of yellow mustard. Once this was mixed, I put it in the fridge until I had to go to work. I brought white bread to work along with the mixture, the reason I didn’t make the sandwich at home was because it would be soggy by lunch time. The consistency was perfect, not too runny like you will find from most restaurants. The key to keeping it creamy and not runny is to cut down on the mayo and mustard. I found my sandwich has a little too much mustard taste so I think next time I will maybe use a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon. Also, a piece of lettuce or some chopped celery would have added a nice crunchy texture. I guess it is a work in progress but it still tasted great as it was.

Syracuse Sandwich: Johnny Rocket's Chicken Club

Who: Johnny Rockets What: Chicken Club
Where: Carousel Mall, Syracuse Phone: 474-7406 Website: Johnny Rockets
Parking: Shared lots Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     Christine had been craving a grilled cheese from Johnny Rockets so when we were at the mall earlier this week we decided to fill that craving. It was a few minutes after five and the mall wasn’t really busy so we had no problem getting a seat when we walked in. I didn’t really know what I wanted even after having the waitress give us a few minutes to decide. Christine ordered quickly and I was forced to make a quick decision. I thought about getting grilled cheese because it is so tasty, but I also thought about the blog so I had to pick something else. I ended up picking the Chicken Club but wasn’t really satisfied with that choice. I was hoping it would be as good as the BBQ Chicken Bacon Melt that I reviewed back in June. We received our very acidic lemonades and our order came out shortly thereafter since the place was pretty dead.

     A club sandwich is a meat in between two slices of bread with bacon, tomato, and lettuce piled on top with another slice of bread on top of that. Obviously other toppings could be in place of the regulars but Johnny Rockets stays with the classic style. The sandwich comes on toasted white bread with a smear of mayo under the top slice of bread. The vegetables tasted fresh while the bacon was warm and salty. The disappointing factor in this sandwich was the chicken breast. I could taste that it was frozen chicken, not that it was fresh and then frozen, but cooked and then frozen like you can buy in the store. I know the BBQ Chicken Bacon Melt had the same kind of chicken but the other flavors masked the cheap taste of the precooked breast. I don’t think precooked chicken breast can stand up on its own when it has to be the star. I can’t expect much from an almost fast food type place but I had the feeling when I ordered this sandwich that I would be let down and I was. I ate one half of the sandwich and took out the chicken breast in the second half leaving me a mock BLT.

Rating: Edible – The third time wasn’t a charm, but first and second were so I won’t give up on JR’s.

Syracuse Sandwich: Liberty Deli's Turkey Pastrami

Who: Liberty Deli What: Turkey Pastrami
Where: Irving Avenue, Syracuse Phone: 476-8214 Website: None
Parking: Shared Lots Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     I miss going to Liberty Deli on a monthly basis as I used to when I worked on the boulevard. Luckily for me I was downtown at a training session so during my lunch break I was able to swing by and pick up a cheap sandwich. I was tempted to drive out to Brooklyn Pickle, which I still haven’t reviewed, but this was closer and it was on the way to my old branch where I wanted to check out the remodeling that is being done. When I walked into Liberty, a guy was lingering around the counter but says he wasn’t ready to order so I was able to swoop right in and put my order in. I got caught off guard by him letting me go because I didn’t really know what I wanted either. But I went with a safe choice that I have gotten many times, turkey pastrami on marble rye. Turkey pastrami is one of my favorite meats and I happened to come across it by accident when Liberty was out of regular pastrami one day. While I still love regular pastrami, turkey pastrami is lighter and better for you. To complete my sandwich I added lettuce, onions, and mayo.

     If you read my last review of Liberty you’ll remember that Harrison Bakery supplies their bread and that last time the crust was too tough. This time the crust was fine and the crumb fluffy like before. The turkey pastrami was Boar’s Head brand which by now, if you read my blog, is the best brand of deli meat. The curing process gives the turkey a peppery flavor but doesn’t overwhelm or take away from the turkey taste. If anything it just enhances the turkey and makes it just that much more flavorful. The mayo gave the sandwich the little bit of moisture that it needed while the lettuce and onions provided the crunchy texture with some added bite from the onions. I was happy with my sandwich and for $4 it was certainly worth the cost.

Rating: Tasty – I’m glad I was able to get my Liberty fix.

Syracuse Sandwich: Bruegger's Turkey Chipotle Club

Who: Bruegger's What: Turkey Chipotle Club

Where: West Taft Road, North Syracuse Phone: 458-17755 Website: Bruegger's

Parking: Yes Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No 

     Since Christine and I both had the holiday off on Monday, we decided it would be a good day to sleep in. This caused us to not leave the house until about 11 a.m. but we still “had” to get breakfast. Christine needed coffee and I didn’t want to go to a diner because we had things to do before poker started at 6 p.m. Christine came up with Bruegger’s which was a great idea since we both love bagels. When I got there however, I noticed they have expanded their sandwich menu and even bake loaves of bread in house. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to grab a sandwich and while I could get a sandwich on a bagel, I opted to try one of the new breads. I ordered the Turkey Chipotle Club which is made up of turkey, peppered bacon, chipotle mayo, lettuce & tomatoes on honey wheat bread. The loaf of honey wheat bread was huge, as were the slices that were used to build the sandwich. Christine went with a bagel and we split a rice crispy treat.

    The picture above does the size of the sandwich absolutely no justice. The slices of bread were about six inches long and an inch thick. Compared to the bread, the fillings were barely equal in thickness to just one slice. This would have been a recipe for disaster but the honey wheat bread was very airy and light. The crust of the bread was very chewy so I didn’t eat most of it. There wasn’t a ton of flavor to the bread, I couldn’t taste much sweetness that the honey was supposed to bring nor did I taste the earthy wheat flavor. The turkey was your basic 99% fat free that you can buy at any deli counter. It tasted okay but I would have like to have seen some roasted type of turkey instead. The lettuce and tomato tasted fresh despite it no longer being the peak of tomato season. The bacon was crisped up on a Panini grill giving the sandwich some warmth. Unfortunately the girl making it jammed all the pieces in the middle of the sandwich. This could have been easily fixed but it took some maneuvering since the chipotle mayo was keeping every stuck together. Speaking of the mayo, it could have been spicier but it reminded me a lot of Panera’s chipotle mayo which I love. All in all it was an okay sandwich and even with better execution wasn’t going to get any better that that.

Rating: Satisfying – While I’m happy Bruegger’s is in the sandwich game, they need practice and lots of it

Grilled Ham and Cheese from.....work?

     The branch in which I work has a complete kitchen including a microwave, refrigerator, and oven. The oven especially comes in handy when I want to crisp something up like left over pizza or French fries. Nobody at the branch had utilized the stove top until recently when I wanted to make grilled ham and cheese for lunch. I had some left over ham from the pinwheels I made for Sunday football and I hadn’t had a grilled ham and cheese in a few years. So I packed up a pan, spatula, butter, ham, and American cheese. If you notice bread was not something I packed, I actually had to go back home to grab two slices of bread. Once I returned from my bread run I started on my sandwich. Spreading butter on both slices of bread as well as adding some to the pan is the key to getting the perfect golden brown. Before adding the butter, I put the ham in the pan to warm it up some. Once the ham started to brown in a few spots, I took it out of the pan and placed it on top of one of the bread slices. I topped that with a slice of cheese and the other slice of bread then placed all of that in the pan once the butter melted. The bread should only take a few minutes on each side to brown up and the cheese will be melted before the second side is done. Eating this sandwich brought me back to my childhood when my parents would make them for me.

Syracuse Sandwich: Barbieri's Chicken Philly Sub

Who: Barbieri's What: Chicken Philly Sub Where: Route 11, North Syracuse 
Phone: 458-8070 Website: Barbieri's Parking: Yes 
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     On Saturdays, we got to church with Christine’s parents but before we do, we normally eat dinner with them as well. This past Saturday we didn’t end up going to church but we did have dinner but since nobody was in the mood to cook, we went out. Nobody could decide on what they wanted so we went to Barbieri’s II in North Syracuse. If you’ve never been to Barbieri’s, the best way to describe it is an Italian diner. They have a huge menu like any other diner but a large selection, especially the lunch/dinner menu, are Italian dishes. Everyone in the party was thinking differently and it showed in our order: a bacon cheeseburger, soup with mashed potatoes, fried clam strips and a chicken philly sub. As you can probably guess I chose the chicken philly. Before our dinner arrived, we ordered chicken tenders for an appetizer and what we received was four tenders and one “nugget” of fried batter on a plate of grainy iceberg lettuce leaves. I only bring this up because I hate diner-esque type places trying to fancy things up with greens like parsley and lettuce. Accept what you are because you’re not doing yourselves any favors by doing things like that. While we waited we talked and while we talked I kept getting a whiff of what smelled like septic overflow or something. It wasn’t strong but it wasn’t going away. Since the clientele is mostly made up of the elderly I figured maybe somebody had an accident. I tried to not let this bother me and once my sandwich came out I realized I had something else to worry about.

     While it was a generous sized sandwich, I could tell just by looking at it that there were many flaws. I ordered it loaded with mushrooms, onions, peppers, and cheese. When the waitress asked me if I wanted barbeque sauce, I thought to myself “Why would I want barbeque sauce?” Looking back, I wish I took her up on her offer. The chicken was dry because it was over cooked and it was probably over cooked because they put the chicken on the grill at the same time as the onions which take longer to cook. Speaking of onions, they were plentiful which wouldn’t be a problem but they were very oily. The mushrooms and the peppers looked and tasted like they came out of a can. Provolone cheese is the norm when it comes to philly subs but this one came with American, that’s right American. Neither slice of cheese was entirely melted, a fault that could have been avoided by simply placing it under a broiler for a minute or two. The roll was a typical sub roll, airy, fluffy, and dominating in terms of bread to fillings ratio, which is why I don’t order subs often. I was disappointed at the lack of fresh ingredients used in this sandwich because most diners make everything from scratch and can’t get away with doing that using canned and processed ingredients. Everyone else enjoyed their dinners which made my sandwich just that much more frustrating. When we were leaving, the odor that I was getting whiffs of was very strong in the upper dining room which sat empty; however there is a bathroom up there so I think they may have a plumbing problem. On a closing note, I have enjoyed a bunch of meals at Barbieri’s even dating back to when it was Oscar’s, unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be returning any time soon.

Rating: Edible – I ate most of it so I guess a rating of garbage isn’t in order.