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.

Syracuse Sandwich: Spera's Egg Salad

Who: Spera's What: Turkey Sub

Where: Route 31, Cicero Phone: 699-4422‎ Website: Spera's
Parking: Yes Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     I have been craving egg salad for about a month but I haven’t had it because I’m too lazy to make it myself. Peeling the shells off of they eggs is tedious and I guess that’s what’s stopping me. It’s sad that I can’t bring myself to just boil water and peel some shells. Luckily, Spera’s has egg salad and while I haven’t had it from there before, I figured it couldn’t be that bad. I figured if they screwed up egg salad, one of the simplest salads to make, then they shouldn’t be in the deli business. I put my order in with one of my coworkers and waited anxiously for my sandwich to arrive. My order was egg salad on rye with lettuce. Very simple, like the egg salad and I order it this way every time regardless of where I go.

     When my received my sandwich, I was blown away at the thickness of the sandwich. Usually you have a thin layer of salad spread between two slices of bread and the bread dominates in terms of flavor. This was defiantly not the case with this sandwich. The hard boiled eggs were cut up into large chunks and mixed with just enough mayo to keep from falling apart. The mistake most places make is using way too much mayo which not only distracts from the main ingredient but I terrible for you. The eggs were boiled to perfection with the whites being soft and the yolk being creamy. The lettuce comes shredded opposed to a whole leaf which took away from the crunchy texture that I was going for but it worked to some extent. The light rye was flavorful and I think it is the best choice for any deli sandwich but especially egg salad. I added some salt and pepper to taste which made this the best egg salad I’ve ever had. Brooklyn Pickle’s egg salad, which I love, has been dethroned. The simplicity of the egg salad itself is what won me over. Most places over complicate it by putting in chopped onion, celery, or even olive.

Rating: Delicious – If you like egg salad, you must try Spera’s.

Syracuse Sandwich: Panera Bread's Chipotle Chicken

Who: Panera Bread What: Chipotle Chicken
Where: Route 11, Cicero Phone: 458-9436 Website: Panera Bread
Parking: Shared lots Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     If you’ve read my blog over the past few months, you’ll know that I get out of work late on Fridays which drives us to go out for dinner. This was the case this past Friday night so we went to our go to spot, Panera Bread. This is the sixth review of Panera I will be doing. While placing my order I felt like I should’ve gone to find other places for sandwiches but that got me to thinking. If a place like Panera or Spera’s has a multitude of sandwiches, isn’t it my duty to try them all so you know that to avoid and what you must have? So I quickly dismissed the idea of not ordering a sandwich to review and chose the Chipotle Chicken. The reviews I have done thus far of Panera have been hit or miss so I was taking a chance by not ordering soup to go along with my trusted BBQ Chopped Chicken salad. As usual our food came out quickly but we were stuck grabbing a table opposed to a booth on this busy Friday night. My phone battery was dying as I tried to take a picture and despite my efforts, I was unable to get a picture. In hindsight, I should have used Christine’s phone but oh well.

     When I set my plate down and saw the size of the sandwich, I was expecting some disappointment. But before I get to the flavors and all that let me describe how the sandwich comes. Small slices of pepper-mustard chicken, smoked bacon, smoked cheddar, and tomatoes come on toasted French bread with an ancho-chipotle spread. The “half” a sandwich that I got as a part of my meal seamed more like a third of a sandwich but maybe because I’m used to big thick sandwiches. This half a sandwich was quite thin and was oozing with the ancho-chipotle spread. Since it came toasted I opted to eat this before my salad because I wanted to eat it warm like they intended. The pepper-mustard chicken is the same chicken that comes in the salad I ordered as well as a few other items on the menu. While I like the taste if the chicken, I wanted more. The bacon was crispy like it normally is and not greasy which is a nice touch. The cheddar was semi melted but kept the surprisingly fresh tasting tomatoes from sliding around. I say surprisingly fresh tomatoes because I’ve had quite a bit bad luck when it comes to tomatoes at Panera. The real kicker in more ways than one was the ancho-chipotle spread. It went wonderfully with the chicken, cheese, and bacon by adding a creamy texture that the cheese failed to deliver. It had a smoky flavor with a side of spiciness that brought it up to the next level. The French bread didn’t help or hurt the sandwich but it did serve a good vessel to hold all the ingredients. I wasn’t wrong about the anticipated disappointment because had I had more sandwich and had it been toasted a bit longer, this one could have been the best one yet, from Panera.

Rating: Tasty – So close Panera, so close.

Syracuse Sandwich: Cracker Barrel's Chicken Biscuit Sandwich

Who: Cracker Barrel What: Chicken Biscuit Sandwich
Where: Pardee Road, Cicero Phone: 698-4311 Website: Cracker Barrel
Parking: Yes Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     Cracker Barrel is one of our favorite places to eat breakfast because we can have it at any time of day. We had breakfast there on Sunday, during breakfast time, at approximately 9:30 in the morning. Despite an almost full parking lot in the front of the restaurant, we were able to walk up the hostess station and were seated immediately. Christine ordered the country fried steak which is so big that I ended up eating the other half on Monday morning. I was going to get the same so it wasn’t my intention of getting a sandwich; but upon looking at the specials I decided to try one of their new entrees that had two. Along with two eggs, toast, and hash brown casserole, I received two fried chicken tenderloin sandwiches on Cracker Barrel’s famous biscuits. Whenever you order anything that has biscuits, you will get a bowl of their country gravy. I believe that you could put their gravy on a shoe and it would taste good, but I digress. Our food came out promptly and just by the look of it, it made me excited to try this southern comfort food favorite.

     I started by eating my hash brown casserole, which is a must have whenever we go. I ate some of my eggs with knife and fork before turning the rest into a simple breakfast sandwich by putting the egg between two slices of toast. I saved the sandwiches for last so I could savor their flavors alone instead of mixing them with the rest of my meal. I ate the first one all by itself, just chicken tenderloin in a biscuit. The biscuits are by far the best that you’ll find anywhere around Syracuse. They are warm and buttery with a hint of saltiness that puts them above any I’ve ever had. The chicken tenderloin was a good size for the biscuit, sticking out of either end. The breading had a slight pepper taste that reminds me of southern fried chicken; I’m not talking KFC either. For the second sandwich I went a little bit different by slathering it with the country gravy. It’s a sin to waste country gravy for those of you who didn’t know. The gravy added another level of pepper flavor that goes so well with the saltiness in the biscuit. When I thought about what I was eating, it reminded me of McDonald’s McGriddle sandwiches because it combined two different entrees into sandwich form. Where as a McGriddle combines pancakes with bacon and eggs, I was eating southern fried chicken paired with biscuits and gravy. It was truly a match made in food heaven.

Rating: Tasty – It took some extra steps but I made a delicious sandwich, perhaps an email is in order to Cracker Barrel’s HQ.