There's nothing like a great sandwich. Who among us has not been seduced by a great one? Let's face it, we are a tribe of Dagwood Bumsteads held in thrall by slices of bread and all that goes between them.
How easy is it to recall the first time a sandwich lit up your sky? A PB&J. Fried bologna. Grilled cheese. Ham salad. And then as adults that perfect pastrami sandwich. Corned beef on rye. Reuben. Meatball. BLT. Club. Grinder. Sub. Cuban.
Jerry's on West Division is all about sandwiches.
Let me rephrase that: Jerry's is all about too many sandwiches. By actual count, Jerry's menu has 106 sandwiches to choose from. And that just might be 76 too many. As if 106 choices weren't enough, along comes a daily-specials list with five or six more. Give me a break.
Jerry's is complicated beyond belief. Pick a sandwich (this will take some time). Pick a bread (nine or 10 choices). Pick two sides from a list of 10. I was never very good at math, but it seems that the permutations -- 106 sandwich choices, nine bread choices, 10 side choices -- has to be in the millions. I cannot imagine how any kitchen can keep up with this titanic array of choices without sinking into the depths of mediocrity.
And, all too often, sink it does. A chicken fried steak sandwich special was just plain awful. The cornmeal breading was falling off the steak (or got pushed off by the sloppy application of the southwest mayo and the giardiniera). Even worse, the steak was as tough as nails.
This brings me to a few faults in the line of sandwiches here. Too many spreads and such between the bread. Overkill. It actually happens that the main sandwich ingredient gets swamped by this, that or the other thing: onions, chutney, adobo sauce, cranberry sauce, tomato-basil relish ... to the point where at times you can't taste the turkey for the trimmings.
A lot of this adds up to pricey menu items. For example, the chicken fried steak sandwich cost a whopping $10.75. The Marshall F sandwich -- turkey, bacon, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing on a pretzel roll -- goes for $8.75, and it was one of the better ones tried. Also, the Nola O, an Italian sub of sorts (capocollo, soppressata, salami, provolone, olive relish on an Italian roll) was pleasing enough for the price ($8.75).
Overkill came back with a vengeance with the Benny B steak sandwich, which was primed to the point of absurdity with bacon, asparagus, feta, mayo and chipotle chutney.
Kitchen sink chili was on the specials list one day, and it was terrible. Greasy and tasteless, it cost $3.75 for a cup.
The sides tried -- mac and cheese, potato salad, barbecue slaw -- were so-so, but the fries were terrific.
Jerry's desserts were the high point. The carrot cake was excellent -- moist, rich and flavorful. The chocolate/banana bread pudding was quite good, too: big portion, lush and flavorful, with some terrific ice cream crowning the top of the slab.
Pat Bruno is a free-lance writer, critic and author. E-mail brunoeats@aol.com.
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