Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Grahamwich

At 615 N State Street, this new restaurant is housed in one of the most inviting old buildings in downtown Chicago so I was immediately taken in.

After all the comments on Yelp et all about the short rib sandwich I just didn’t care – I had to have it. Ever since I made Bill Kim’s short ribs over fried rice, I have been obsessed.

There were a lot of people in line when I walked in at 12:30 PM on New Years Eve day. I ordered and in less than 6 minutes I had my food. I was impressed.

I did not think that the sandwich was overpriced for what I got. In fact I didn’t spend much more than I put out at Jimmy John’s the other day and this was a bona fided sandwich.

Anyone can make a great sandwich. The two key ingredients are the bread and the meat. Get the best quality of both and you have a remarkable one like I did at home the other day.

My Grahamwich: Although it was slightly over sauced and had a few too many picnic sticks on top the flavor was actually really good and that little bit of crunch made it interesting. You have to wonder who came up with that combination?

My advice: Come early and bring cash. No surprise that Grahamwich is now looking at opening several other locations.

I’ll try the Grilled Cheese next time – it got the top vote in the mini survey I conducted of people on their way out the front door.

I sat on a ledge in the sunny front window, devoured my food, washing it down with a better-than-average orange-ginger soda and chatting with everyone who was as enamored as I was and planning their next grahamwich indulgence.

Is tomorrow too soon?

Bon Appetit!