Ike's Place

You'd think the simple sandwich would not be something most people would line up for. After all, we can easily to do this at home. Take 2 slices of bread (or a something similar), apply condiments, sauce, possibly cheese, veggies and meat. Presto! A sandwich. Hold on a minute there. If it were that simple, we'd be craving for our homemade sandwiches all the time. Well, I'm sure some people make kick ass sandwiches, so I guess that would be an exception. I have lined up for a sandwich before. There have been varying degrees of satisfaction ranging from excitement to total disappointment. I tried the sandwiches from Salumi in Seattle and they were extremely underwhelming. I've been told that I ordered the wrong ones. Well, honestly, if I have to "order" the right ones, then why are the ones I had (which were crappy) on the menu? I've had the fabulous sandwiches from Grotto del Fromaggio in Vancouver and I am still thinking of them right now. The simple grilled cheese from the Grilled Cheese Grill in Portland truly rocks, even though you'd think it would be easily replicated at home.
Today, I lined up with my cousin Cable Car Guy and AZee for some popular sandwiches in San Francisco's Mission district at Ike's Place. Again, why am I in line? I hate lineups. It's merely taking time out of my day where I could be doing something else. With anything that requires a lineup, expectations are heighten and hunger begins to set in. I randomly chose the Phil'er Up's KC BBQ which is roast beef slathered in BBQ sauce and Ike's Dirty sauce. Cable Car Guy had the Tony Soprano which consists of turkey, ham and pepperoni. AZee had the Papa Sam which is essentially a wild salmon burger with cheese. So what makes Ike's sandwiches so special? First, it's the aforementioned Dirty sauce, which essentially is a garlic aioli. Second, the bread for each and every sandwich is baked to order. Yes, this is not a typo. They bake your bread when you order. You can't get any fresher than that. When I took a bite into the sandwich, it was messy, it was fresh, it was tasty; but most of all, it had the greatest quality of good food - love. I know it sounds sappy; yet, you can tell when food is made with care.

The Good:

- Sandwich is made-to-order, including the bread

- They are quite large and full of ingredients

- Reasonably priced

The Bad:

- Lineup anyone?

- Not a whole lot of places to sit, get it for takeout