Update Reviews, 2018 & 2019
While I'm not a sandwich girl in general, from time to time, I get a craving. Which lead me to finally try cult classic Ike's in the past (start with
my original review there!). I still don't go for sandwiches often, but when I do, Ike's has become my place ... even though, well, every visit leaves me questioning why ...
2018
My visit in 2018 was ... not good. I don't know what was going on that day.
I got in line at 12:10pm. It took 20 minutes for me to even be able to order, with only 2 people in line in front of me. It then took another 25 minutes to actually get my sandwich. Yes, it was 12:56pm when my name was called. For a *sandwich*.
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| Sandwich Backup. |
The staff were clearly slammed, or, at least they were very backed up. There was a huge line of sandwiches awaiting final assembly.
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| Dirty Floor & Counter. |
And the place was ... a mess. No wonder they couldn't work efficiently? You can see all the outstanding tickets here, but also, the floor was covered in ... bits of food.
It was kinda gross, actually.
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| What a mess. |
There were also boxes half emptied and left all over the space. How could they all move around and work? Yeah, they couldn't, effectively.
I guess, seeing this, it doesn't surprise me it took so long to get my order.
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Pee Wee (with modifications/additions)
All The Toppings, Whole Wheat, Side of Godfather Sauce. $10+. |
"French Dressing, Home Made Poppy Seed Coleslaw, Swiss, Vegan Turkey" ... "Sub Vegan Breaded Chicken for Vegan Turkey, Sub Honey Mustard for French Dressing, Add Veggie Bacon, and include Godfather Sauce on the Side."
My order was a customization of one of the named sandwiches, as they don't have an option to build your own. But really, I wanted to create my own sandwich. There were things I knew I wanted: for protein, the vegan breaded chicken was good before, and I was curious about the veggie bacon. I wanted cheese, and Swiss and smoked gouda both sounded good. I wanted the house made slaw again. I wanted all the standard free veggie toppings, including lots of pickles this time. I wanted sauces, perhaps the Frank's buffalo sauce, as I do adore that. Or maybe ranch, wasabi mayo, red pesto, or the Godfather Sauce that I still hadn't tried. I was tempted by the thought of adding onion rings or poppers. But there was no particular sandwich that sounded more or less like what I was looking for. I also was going back and forth between the idea of a Frank's buffalo based creation, or going really classic and bringing myself back to my college days, where I used to always get chicken finger wraps with honey mustard. It was the later that I settled on. Of course, there was no honey mustard chicken finger sandwich on the menu. And I still wanted the slaw.
So, I made a very modified custom sandwich out of the Pee Wee. I intended to get Dutch Crunch (because, um, its the best), but, they were out (!!!!). My options were Sourdough (no way), whole wheat, or french. As I was saying "French", I changed my mind, and opted for whole wheat. I didn't want either, might as well pick the perhaps healthier option?
I kept 2 of the 4 ingredients, and only added one additional, that's not ... *totally* custom, uh, right? I could have also picked the Love Triangle, and removed 3 things and added 2, or the Handsome Owl (minus 2, plus 2), but this was the one that felt easiest, replacing protein for protein, and sauce for sauce, and, well, the base price was also the lowest, at only $10. The like substitutions did not cost extra, but adding the additional protein (veggie bacon), did.
I opted for all the standard toppings (lettuce, tomato, Dirty Sauce), plus all the other free toppings (red onion, jalapeno, banana peppers, and extra pickles), and since I really wanted to try the Godfather sauce, but wasn't sure how it would go with the sandwich, I asked for a side of that.
Godfather Sauce is a horseradish dijon mayo, basically, um, all the things. I was provided a side container of it, and certainly did not need it with my sandwich (more on that soon), but did try it, and use it, later. It was, well, creamy since mayo based, it had a bit of kick from the horseradish, and then had some dijon kick as well. The dijon was a bit too strong for me, I would have preferred it mellowed out a bit, or perhaps that this just be a horseradish mayo, but, it was an interesting sauce, and I'm glad I tried it. Probably best with something like roast beef?
My sandwich ... well, it took forever as I noted already, but also, it was a rather soggy disaster. I ate it immediately, in the shop, so this wasn't a case where it suffered in transit. It also wasn't entirely my correct order, but, I didn't bother try to get it replaced.
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| So, so, so soggy! |
The biggest problem was ... it was just a soggy mess, just absolutely laden in mayo sauces. I adore mayo, I love aioli, believe me, I really do, but this was just out of control. Both layers of paper were soaked through even when I opened it literally 20 seconds after being handed over.
The poor construction really truly ruined this sandwich, sadly. And this is why I didn't need the Godfather Sauce actually with my sandwich, there is just no way I could have had more sauce!
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| Modified (Soggy) Pee Wee. |
So, what did I have?
Ridiculously soggy whole wheat bread, to start. The bottom bun wasn't even still bread. Seriously. It was just mush. It wasn't toasty and warm in any way, I think toasted long before it was assembled given the backup of sandwiches. The whole wheat was forgettable. I discarded most of my bread, eating this more as a salad. Good thing they had forks available.
The vegan breaded chicken (Gardein Chicken Tenders, if you are curious), were ok. Like the bread, not hot, and certainly not crispy given the pool of sauce they were swimming in. Really a shame, as I know they do heat them, and I know they can be pretty crispy. I do still think they are a decent product, mimicking that style of breaded chicken tender well, and, the serving was quite generous, each half my sandwich had multiple full large chicken fingers on it. I'd get these again.
The veggie bacon was less successful, but I think that is just what the product is. I believe it was Morningstar Farms brand (not vegan, if you care). Not crispy, didn't really taste like bacon, not hot. But again, a generous amount, big full slices, and it was nice to have something with different texture, even if it didn't really have any interesting taste (I was hoping for crunch and smokiness, neither of which I got from these strips).
The swiss cheese was fine, nicely melted, but of course, it was long since freshly melted, and was all congealed. Even though I ate it immediately. Again, I think the sandwiches were all just all backed up at each assembly station, so it was toasted long before anyone got to finishing it and handing it over.
The slaw was about what I remembered, nice to have cabbage and crunch, and it came in its own mayo base. I liked the slaw, and would get it again, although, I think this inspires me to ask for all the sauces on the side, as it isn't clear that you need any sauce if you get this slaw.
All Ike's sandwiches are served with lettuce, tomato, and Dirty Sauce, but, mine was missing the lettuce. Is that because they assumed I didn't want it because I had slaw? Last time, they overloaded me with lettuce even when I had slaw, so, not sure. I did actually want it this time, and maybe it would have helped absorb some of the sauces! The tomato slices were again entirely lackluster, just not great tomato, although the slices seemed fresh enough, and were nicely laid on the sandwich. The signature Dirty Sauce was ... well, everywhere? I know they layer it on both sides of the bread, and toast it on, but it was really just everywhere. I have no idea how, but it just took over everything. There was soooo much of it. Perhaps I'm confusing some of the mayo based dressing from the slaw, which was in the middle, for the Dirty Sauce, but, wowzer. So much mayo based sauce. I like it and everything, but, yeah. Soggy and overwhelming.
I also added all the other free toppings, and kinda regretted it. The red onion was fine, as were the banana peppers, but neither were necessary. The jalapenos though I ended up really not liking, they were the pickled kind, still very spicy, but, not a taste I like, and there were lots sliced up and distributed throughout. I asked for extra pickles since I loved them so much last time, but I'm honestly not sure why I liked them so much before. They were just ... pickles? Fine, but nothing special, and I didn't need that many.
So that was that. Soggy. Cold. Way too much sauce. Oops on ordering the jalapenos and pickles, cuz they took over. Missing lettuce. Oh, and what about that honey mustard, the inspiration for the creation in the first place? I think it was missing too. Maybe they just added more Dirty Sauce in its place, lol. I really didn't taste anything else, nor see anything that looked like honey mustard, so, I really do think that was lost (unless their honey mustard is also a mayo based sauce?).
I still would want to try something like this again, but, my order would be ... no jalapeno, no tomato (I give up on their tomatoes, otherwise, yes, I'd want these), probably no banana peppers or red onion, and both Dirty Sauce and honey mustard on the side. Oh, and Dutch Crunch of course. But the honey mustard chicken finger with slaw concept I do want to keep working on. And maybe I'd go for good old American cheese ....
August 2019
A year later, I still went back to Ike's. Why? Well, I had a serious craving for a sandwich I used to get in college at our on campus diner. I had visions of kinda re-creating that. Sorta.
So I returned, same Polk St location, 6:15pm on a Tuesday.
There were only 4 other patrons in the store, two groups of two, waiting for their sandwiches. Ordering was easy, even though I was making an entirely custom thing "people do it all the time, its totally normal!", I was assured.
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| Ike's redeemed itself! |
It did take a while to get my sandwich, longer than I expected, and it was confusing how it could really take that long ... at one point, I saw all 4 staff members working on a single sandwich, trying to assemble it. I know they were handling a decent number of online orders, but still, it certainly wasn't speedy.
But ... I didn't mind, in the end. I was thrilled with my sandwich. I'd happily get exactly the same thing again, no question.
Ike's sandwiches are very large, and I found a half was more than enough for my appetite at the time. I ate the other half a day later, which seems crazy for an assembled sandwich, but it was still glorious - I just put it open faced into the toaster to crisp it all back up, and honestly, essentially as good as new!
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| Custom Sandwich. |
When my name was finally called, I was asked "wanna sucker?",which made me giggle a little, and yes, I accepted the caramel apple sucker. I know Ike's is a big chain now, but I'm glad they have kept some little touches like this.
You can see I also learned from my past notes, and got my sauce (well, one of them) on the side. This was no problem.
For my creation, I basically knew what I wanted ... but I wasn't sure how to order it. That said, I know Ike's will make you anything you want, if they have the ingredients, so I just asked the person taking my order if it was easier for me to try to tell her a modified sandwich, or to just tell her what I wanted - as in, do I just say "I want X, Y, and Z" or do I say "I want a {Sandwich Name} but with X instead of Y, add Z, etc." She just said, "it depends, let's figure it out. What do you want?" I was really thrilled with how easy she made the experience, when I thought I was going to be super annoying.
What I wanted? Vegan breaded chicken, melted American cheese, honey mustard (but on the side), dirty sauce, lettuce, extra pickles, and, um onion rings. This is not on the menu ... at all. But it is what I wanted!
Her solution was to order the Danny Glover, but, um, *very* modified, as I literally only kept one component of it. She said it would price the cheapest this way, and I believed her.
So I started with the base Danny Glover: vegan chicken, BBQ sauce, and cheddar cheese ... where the only part of it I wanted was the vegan breaded chicken (my goto). I swapped out the cheese (American instead of cheddar), I swapped out the sauce (honey mustard instead of bbq, and had it on the side), I added beer battered fried onion rings ... and then included the standard offering of dirty sauce, lettuce but not tomatoes (they are never very good), and added optional pickles (extra, in fact).
I felt like a huge pain in the ass, but she really didn't treat me that way at all.
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Modified Danny Glover: Vegan Chicken, Onion Rings, American Cheese,
Lettuce, Extra Pickles, Dirty Sauce on Dutch Crunch. ($11.11 + $3). |
My sandwich arrived piping hot. I literally saw steam come rolling out as I opened it up. This was a great sign.
As always, I liked the vegan breaded chicken (Gardein brand, I think). I probably wouldn't really like these as a full serving of standalone chicken nuggets, but, in the sandwich, I like them quite a bit. The texture works, and they aren't too odd in a fake meat way. When I extracted one and slathered it in honey mustard, it was delightful.
I could have picked fancy cheeses like gouda or havarti or even just something more exiting like swiss, but I went for American, because that is what I was trying to re-create from my college days. It was perfectly melted, and went great with the breaded chicken and honey mustard, just as I envisioned.
The lettuce I almost left off, since the past few times it has been excessive and actually decreased my happiness with the sandwich, but again, in interests of my memory sandwich, I kept it. It actually was a totally normal amount, generic shredded iceberg, which, well, worked with my chicken finger and american cheese concept. Simple, no frills. I was glad I had it for some freshness.
I asked for extra pickles, but actually ended up disliking them entirely, which happened last time. I'm not sure what it is about these pickles, but, I guess they just aren't for me. Note to self: no pickles next time. I didn't bother with the tomatoes as they have been so bad the past few times.
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| Dutch Crunch! |
For my bread, I picked dutch crunch, the king of sandwich breads that I am glad I have discovered since moving to the Bay Area (did you know it doesn't really exist other places?). And unlike last time, it was not sold out.
It was nicely toasted, crispy on the outside, super soft inside, and even more crispy due to the dutch crunch sugar/rice flour coating. Love that bread.
It came with the dirty sauce slathered on both sides, baked on. I almost asked for the dirty sauce on the side, like the honey mustard, but I remembered that they bake it on, and that is the magic touch.
And magic it is. Seriously. Herby, garlic-y, and when it bakes into the bread it just makes for ultimate deliciousness.
I somewhat deconstructed half my half sandwich, and choose to just eat the chicken and onion rings as finger food dipped into honey mustard, and the bread just with the amazing dirty sauce and some american cheese baked on, and I truly even loved just the bread and sauce. No sandwich even required. And I am *not* a bread girl. It was like creamy garlic bread, if that makes sense. All the flavor and herbs of garlic bread, but creamy from the mayo components. A++ and being well toasted, hot and fresh, made a huge difference.
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| Onion Rings. |
Oh, and those ridiculous onion rings I added for no reason at all (do you really need a reason to add onion rings? I mean, come on, they are onion rings!).
They were good. Not the crispiest, so when I extracted them to eat just as onion rings dunked in honey mustard that wasn't the best, but they were great inside the sandwich, added pleasant onion flavor, and a bit more texture from the breading. And I love the onion rings and honey mustard combo.
I'd get these again, but they aren't 100% necessary.
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| Honey Mustard. |
The honey mustard was GLORIOUS.
A creamy, clearly mayo based version of honey mustard. Not too tangy, just enough. Perfect flavor combo with the onion rings and the chicken. I loved dunking them, and my sandwich bites, into it.
I'm glad I had it on the side though, as it allowed me to use as much or little as I wanted on specific bites. I'll certainly do that again.
Original Review, 2017
Ike's is a small-ish chain of sandwich shops, that started in San Francisco (yes, by Ike), in 2007. To say it has been successful is an understatement. In only 10 years, they have expanded to 36 locations throughout the state (and I think Arizona?).
The original SF location was on 16th Street, but it had to shut down after 5 years when the lease expired, and a renewal was not offered (which created LOTS of angry San Franciscans). Ike's moved to a temporary home in the Castro, literally, inside a bakery, and then got into trouble because it is a chain now, and that was breaking some kind of rules. Finally, they have a new place on Polk Street, which is where I visited.
Now, you might realize that I've probably never (?) reviewed a sandwich before. I don't generally really like sandwiches. But ... Ike's has such acclaim, and such an interesting menu, that I finally had to try it.
Oh, and they have a birthday club, where you get a free sandwich on your birthday. You know I can't resist a
birthday freebie.
Setting
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| Entire Shop. |
The shop is fairly narrow, with not much seating.
You order at a register at the entrance, sandwiches are prepped in the small kitchen in the middle, there is a soda fountain on the side, and several high top tables for two. There is one single lower table with 3 chairs. I imagine when it gets busy, finding a seat is hard, or I suspect most people take their sandwiches to go, although, the neighborhood isn't really one where you want to just go eat outside.
There is no bathroom. But they do have a hand sanitizer pump to clean your hands somewhat.
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| Menu. |
The menu is ... daunting to say the least. More than 50 sandwiches (even when they first opened, they had 46!). And, they mostly all sound amazing.
Sandwiches are named after celebrities, places, and concepts, so you have to read all the details to know what is in your sandwich. No option to order just "a turkey sandwich", although I'm sure you could do that. The closest you can get to a normal named sandwich is the Paul Reubens, which is a play on a reuben with pastrami, purple slaw, french dressing, and swiss (yeah, I said closest, if you were expecting corned beef not pastrami, sauerkraut instead of slaw, and Russian instead of French, you'd be sad). Many involve fried items, including onion rings, jalapeño poppers, mozzarella sticks, and even mac and cheese. All have some kind of sauces. These are not light sandwiches.
Each location also has location specific specials, and each day also has two specials (on a separate menu). And of course, you can modify your sandwich in a slew of ways.
Meat options include halal chicken or fried chicken, deli sliced turkey, roast beef, pastrami, ham, and salami, bacon, meatballs, and thin sliced rib-eye. However, vegetarians, and vegans, have nearly as many options to pick from, and they aren't just hummus and sprouts. The fried chicken is replaced with vegan breaded chicken. There is vegan steak, turkey, and even bacon and meatball equivalents. You can also opt for breaded fried eggplant, or yes, hummus, if you don't go for the fake proteins. There is vegan cheese and vegan aioli offered. Sandwiches that aren't vegan by design, but can be made vegan, have a marking on the menu.
Dutch crunch is the standard bread offering ("World Famous", they say, and about 70% of people opt for it), but you can also select from french, sourdough, whole wheat, or gluten free bread. All the breads are huge grinder rolls, not sliced bread, and only in one, very large, size.
All sandwiches come with lettuce, tomato, and Dirty Sauce by default. The "Dirty Sauce" is Ike's secret ingredient, a garlic aioli (normally mayo based, but they also make an egg-free vegan version), that they toast right into the bread, on both sides, under your cheese and meat choices. And then they add another layer after toasting. Um, yeah, these aren't light sandwiches.
You can also add red onion, pickles, banana peppers, and jalapeños for free.
On top of that, there are lots of other add-ons, like spinach or cucumbers (for $1), avocado or bacon ($2.50), cheese ($1.50), mushrooms ($2), any of the sauces ($1-2, depending on the sauce), double meat ($2), halal chicken (instead of fried, $1), or, for the really crazy, beer battered onion rings or beer battered zucchini ($3), stuffed jalapeño poppers or mozzarella sticks ($3.50).
I was fatigued just reading the menu. But when I realized that I'd be happy with any of at least 10 different choices, that actually made it easier. It seemed hard to go wrong. Interestingly, everything I wanted was vegetarian. I think mostly because I was excited by the fake chicken and turkey, since I don't like the real stuff.
In the end, I narrowed down to a handful: 1) The "Danny Glover" with BBQ Sauce, Cheddar, and Vegan Breaded Chicken, 2) The "Handsome Owl" with Swiss, Teriyaki, Vegan Breaded Chicken, and Wasabi Mayo, 3) The "Chased & Confused (SF Exclusive)" with Bacon, Flaming Hot Cheetos, Ranch, Red Pesto, Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers, 4) The "Pee Wee" with French Dressing, Home Made Poppy Seed Coleslaw, Swiss, Vegan Turkey, or either of the weekend specials, "The Love Shaq" or "The Turner", both featuring, uh, mac and cheese (the former with american/bacon/dirty sauce, the later with bbq/honey mustard/honey).
I ruled out the mac and cheese options, and the Chased & Confused (although, really, Flaming Hot Cheetos and stuffed jalapeño poppers inside a sandwich did seem ... tempting). And from there, I kinda made my own sandwich, using the Danny Glover as the base because I really wanted bbq and the vegan breaded chicken, subbing in a few things from the Handsome Owl, and adding in something from Pee Wee. When you can't decide, just, make it your own?
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| Assembly Area. |
Sandwiches are all made to order, and, they take time. At least 10 minutes. Because, well, there is a lot going on in each.
Each sandwich runs through the toaster, open faced, to crunch up the bread, bake in the Dirty Sauce, melt the cheese, and warm the meat. Then there are many toppings and sauces to add. When your order is ready, "Order Up!" is called, and you walk up to get it. I was a bit surprised by the lack of system, no number given, no name, and everyone sorta just had to figure out when it was their turn. Maybe they get more formal about the process when busier?
Food
Besides sandwiches, Ike's offers bagged chips (Zapp's chips, with all their
innovative flavors I've reviewed before) and a couple bars/cookies. That's it. No other sides, not even the slaw they make for the sandwiches, nor the onion rings, poppers, or mozzarella sticks as an appetizer. They are all about the sandwiches.
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| Wrapped Up ... with Lollipops! |
When my order was ready, I was asked if I wanted caramel apple or blue razz lollipops. I had no idea it came with lollipops, but, that was awesome.
It came wrapped up in two layers of paper wrap, one which actually held the sandwich and was sliced in half, and a full size extra wrapper, even though I indicated that I'd be eating there. There isn't really a dine-in option for how it is served (e.g. no plate, no basket, etc), but if you eat there, they don't give you a paper bag to put it in.
I was surprised by how massive it was. Length-wise, I think it was probably 10", but it was the girth that was dramatic. Like a San Francisco super burrito, this thing isn't really meant to be eaten by one normal human. Particularly one that plans to go out to dessert on the way home. You can easily split one with someone, particularly if you have a bag of chips alongside, and go out for dessert after. Or, if you don't need all that junk food in your life, a half is still a pretty serious undertaking. I saw many people leaving with their extra half wrapped up in the paper wrapper, which, makes that seem a lot more convenient even for dine-in customers, now that I think about it.
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| Danny Glover on Dutch Crunch (Modified). $11.11 + $1.50. |
"BBQ Sauce, Cheddar, Vegan Breaded Chicken" - Cheddar + Swiss + Tomato/Red Onion/Pickles/Dirty Sauce.
It came sliced in half, which was necessary to pick it up. Just a half really was a full sandwich. Check out the girth!
My order was the Danny Glover, but I made a few substitutions. I ordered this because I wanted BBQ sauce, but, I like swiss more than cheddar, so, subbed out my cheese. I accepted the standard tomatoes and dirty sauce, added the optional free pickles and red onions, and asked to have their well known purple slaw in place of the standard lettuce ($1.50 extra, which I was informed of at the time). The bread choice was obviously dutch crunch, toasted.
I was surprised to open up my sandwich and find ... lettuce, the item I had subbed out for the slaw. I had the slaw too, but, I also had lettuce, tons of it. Very generic shredded iceberg, not particularly fresh. My fellow dining companion noted that it took away from his sandwich experience having that much lettuce. I removed most of it from my half. Also generic? The tomatoes. Not particularly ripe, not particularly good. I removed those too. I think the red onion might have been left out, I never found it.
What I did find was BBQ sauce. Tons of BBQ sauce. It was seeping out one whole side. It overwhelmed all other flavors. And it wasn't possible to really remove it. I like BBQ, which is why I ordered it, but, I actually didn't end up liking the flavor of it, even if it wasn't saturated in it, it was too sweet for my taste.
But now for the good parts.
The vegan breaded chicken was actually good. A nice texture. The breading was a bit soggy amongst all the other sandwich elements, but, besides that, I liked it. Far more than regular chicken. I'd gladly get it again. There was a lot of it, full size thick "chicken" strips, well distributed throughout. Most bites had a full bite of the chicken.
The swiss was nicely melted on, and again, covered the whole thing. I loved the pickles. Just classic dill chips, but, I really liked the crunch and flavor they added. The slaw added a bit more crunch too, more than the lettuce, and I'm glad I added it (and, wished I had it instead, as I asked). It was creamy slaw though, so that, plus the dirty sauce, was a fair amount of mayo-y sauces. I did love the dirty sauce though, and, who am I kidding, I'm a mayo girl.
The dutch crunch was pretty standard dutch crunch, crunchy on top, fresh enough, nicely toasted.
Overall, this was a mixed bag. The poor assembly that over BBQ'ed it definitely ruined it though. I could just remove the lettuce and tomato, but, the BBQ overruled everything else. That said, the other components were good, so I'd gladly give Ike's another chance, with another person assembling my sandwich. I just wouldn't get BBQ, lettuce, or tomato.
