When We Fall, We Fall Hard
We’ve been down in California, enjoying the Coachella Valley and catching some rays before it’s time to bust out the skis back in the Pacific Northwest.
We’ve also been bad.
Calm down. I don’t mean bad bad. We didn’t rob a bank or anything like that.
Starting pretty much the minute we landed here we said “adios” to any attempt to eat sensibly. Maybe it’s the desert sun…. maybe it’s the traffic… maybe it’s our brush with the rich and famous (Barry Manilow to be exact… jealous?).
Whatever the case, we’ve sort of put the nutrition plan aside. Which, in this case, means we’ve also decided to play one of the few carnivore cards that we dole out in a given year. We have a favorite place to eat down in Palm Springs. That place has a hell of a sandwich. It’s a reuben and it’s obscenely huge.
So, we’ve temporarily fallen off of the vegetarian wagon. And, when we fall, we like to fall hard. Below, we’ll give you the details of that top-notch monster of a reuben. Because we’ve had a couple margaritas, we’re also going to spill the beans on our other favorite, over-the-top sandwiches. Reserved, of course, for when we fall… hard.
By the way, no matter how far we’ve fallen, we try to be mindful of not wasting food. Each of these sandwiches is ridiculously sized, so we share them.
Sherman’s Deli and Bakery – Palm Springs, California
Normally, neither one of us likes reubens, but this thing is insanely good. It’s piled high with your choice of corned beef, pastrami or turkey along with swiss cheese and sauerkraut.
We curse the friend who tipped us off to this place, especially since the desserts are also fantastic. We recommend the carrot cake (and a few others!).
Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop – Las Vegas, Nevada
This is another find that a friend turned us on to. They have locations around the country, and we try to drop in whenever we are in Las Vegas. Yes… twist our arms.
This place was founded on the goodness of whole fresh turkeys. Given that, we avoid everything else on the menu and go straight for The Bobbie (insert angelic music). It’s Thanksgiving dinner in a sandwich. Homemade turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing.
I know. Are you booking a ticket to Las Vegas as you read?
By the way, The Bobbie makes for the perfect recharge food after a late night out and about.
Pine State Biscuits – Portland, Oregon
This is where things start to get a little crazy. If you have a weak heart, please skip this section and proceed directly to the comments.
The guys at Pine Street wanted to bring southern biscuit awesomeness to Portland. They succeeded. We enjoy The Reggie, which has fried chicken, bacon, cheese, gravy and egg in the middle of that biscuit. Are you clutching your chest in horror.
As if we’re not already in Portland (our second home) enough. This place pulls at our hearts. Or maybe that’s just our hearts crying out for help.
Speaking of which… time for a run.
What’s your favorite over-the-top sandwich? Any suggestions for the next time we fall hard?
Seriously? I don’t even like pastrami and that looks fab! The “Thanksgiving” sandwich is right up my alley too. I think I’m drooling…
Also, it’s nice to know I’ve been there for one of your rare meat eating breaks when I took you for Pho in LA.
The Thanksgiving sandwich is simple, but a brilliant idea. It’s worth going to Vegas for. Shall we plan a meet up?
Oh, and regarding the Pho. We’ll eat whatever you tell us to. Always happy to play a meat eating card when you are involved
I would devour that reuben!
Good thing that you are far away in BsAs. Just had that reuben, and it’s truly fantastic. Are you a dessert person, Stephanie? The bakery items at Sherman’s are (*words fail me*).
You’re not kidding! That’s definitely falling off the wagon. Yum!
How do you handle keeping it in check down there in LA – the land of so much great food (and so many opportunities to fall off the wagon)? Any tips are welcome
Delicious! My mouth is watering
Mission accomplished!
Oh no. I just gained 12 kilos looking at those pics. Yikes. Yikes. And Yikes.
Yikes is right. Which one would you like to eat?”
Very strange. My last response ended up in someone else’s box. Oops. Sorry, um, Christy!
You had me until the biscuit; looks like a bit much, even for me!
I hear you.
Interestingly, the biscuit sandwich looks (let’s all admit it) almost gross. However… it’s probably the best of the three. And that’s coming from someone who didn’t think he liked gravy or eggs and certainly not on a sandwich. See… that’s why it’s best to not even try these things. I should have left it at “Who would order that?” when I looked at the menu.
If I were in the Coachella Valley right now I would be having a date shake. I loved those things.
Your food photos look fabulous – and mouthwatering.
Oh… a date shake… yes, that’s prime date growing territory. For a sec I was thinking “Does she mean a shake with two straws???”
Mmmm, that Thanksgiving dinner sandwich would be my choice, especially since we haven’t had a proper Thanksgiving meal in years! I suppose that’s the downside of traveling all the time, lol.
The Thanksgiving sandwich is the ultimate comfort food.
All of them, but unfortunately (fortunately for my belly, though), I have celiac disease. I can’t eat any of them. Did you see any gluten-free gut-stuffers?
Capriotti’s!! Amazing!! Yes, people become addicted to that thing. I am now obsessed with that biscuit creation at the bottom, although I don’t like gravy. (Don’t tell my mom — she’s from the south.) YUM!
Your secret is safe with us!
See.. that’s what happens. Like I said above, I’m not even a big fan of gravy and now I want to drive to Portland once a week for that thing.
The sandwich from from Serman’s Deli looks crazy with all the meat stacked up!!
Although I have to say, after seeing the photo of Pine State Biscuits, I think I am ready to go back and eat more veggies….(it looks wayyy to meaty and fatty for me DX)
Rule #1: You can’t think too much about these things. If I had been using my brain before eating that biscuit sandwich, I probably wouldn’t have. Besides, you can have veggies any old day.
(Did my lame attempts at justification work?)
For some reason, these Zone chocolate drinks just aren’t doing it for me after reading this.
Man, for being vegetarian, you guys really fell off the wagon! Didn’t you know that a reuben sandwich is a “gateway” food to all the other deliciously bad foods? That Thanksgiving-in-a-sandwich is killing me – it looks so good, like all of your plate food having run together and stuffed in a hoagie roll… can I add a little butternut squash to that? And that bisquit?… OMG, that alone is a good reason for another trip to Portland.
I’ve always thought Philly had great sandwiches. Of course, I’m biased because I lived there for 20 years, but I’m fortunate enough to fly back on business occasionally to re-sample things. A great cheesesteak is kind of a no-brainer there, but I really love DeNic’s roast pork sandwiches in the Reading Terminal Market. Picture this: a perfect flakey Italian roll, lined with aged provolone, steamed broccoli rabe (some don’t like this – I do), perfectly roasted and super-thinly sliced pork piled high in the roll, some added juice, and topped with a roasted “long hot” (long green hot pepper, almost the length of the roll).
Ok, I need to grab one of those Zone bars now to control myself.
Add a little butternut squash? You are brilliant. I think you are in the wrong profession. Culinary school here you come.
Okay, so we’ve just checked airfares to Philly – thanks to your description of that sandwich.
Oh, and a Zone bar doesn’t love you back the way a good grubby sandwich does.
This sounds like a normal menu to me.
I recently became a Reuben fan as well. I never used to like rye bread, but if a place knows how to make a Reuben, I can’t even tell I’m eating Rye.
Well… you’re not too far from Palm Springs. Head over there and order up a reuben at Sherman’s. And we didn’t mention it in the post, but they have a crazy good barbecue beef sandwich that you’ll want to try.
Just trying to help. You surfers work hard and need lots of calories. Right? Right?
There was a sandwich shop in Vegas that charged $20 for a Pastrami. It was the same restaurant as one in NY. The hotel was the mirage. Yummy, gigantic, but costly.
You must have gone to Carnegie, Not a bad place, but those prices are a bummer. And nothing kills a nice food buzz like high prices.
One of my favorite discoveries in Ireland was not the ruins, or the cliffs, or any other scenic spot…it was the fact that stuffing is a normal topping on sandwiches (I believe it’s even on the “Subway” menu). Milord, why didn’t I think of that??? YUM!
I know, right! Stuffing makes perfect sense on a sandwich.
“May I please have some savory baked bread between two slices of bread?”
Oh man. Why did I have to find this post before lunchtime?? I LOVE food porn photos and these look amazing
I am eating a big stir fry as I reply to these comments and find myself pining for that Reuben. If it was possible to undo the memory, I think I would.
Ahh SOUTHERN FOOD is the best… I could so go for that Southern Biscuit right about now. I mean really some southern food is a heart attack ready to happen…lol, but it’s so good. See that’s why when I am at home I gain so much weight with all the fat food I eat I just can’t help. Now you made me so hungry!!!
I don’t know how someone could eat this kind of food frequently. I was seriously coming down for two days and then I was full on crashed for another two. I may just now be coming out of a post-reggie depression.
No point in falling softly, right? Good for you–asceticism is only good in moderation!
Stay happy, guys.
Exactly. Everything in moderation, including moderation.
Wow! All 3 locations look worthy of a pilgrimage, my mouth is watering.
I don’t know too many places for sandwiches, but I’d have to say that a gargantuan Chilean style “Churrasco Completo” consisting of a bun filled with slices of grilled beef, avocado, onions, tomatoes, and an unknown delicious sauce was among my favorites ever – Santiago, Chile.
Having spent some time in south america, we tend to be suckers for anything that is followed by “completo.” It’s like the spanish language version of “the works.”
OMG. . . my parents live in the Palm Springs area and I will be there during the holidays! Do I need to tell you where one my first stops will be?? How can you not like Reubens? To die for. Oh and carrot cake is my favorite.
My mother is from Oklahoma and we grew up on fried eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, biscuits with gravy poured over it all!!! BTW everything was fried in bacon grease, yummmmmo! That is comfort food to me
Oh god I’m hungry now and craving gravy and it’s all your fault!
I can’t wait to read all about it. If you love it, you have us to thank. If you REALLY love it, don’t blame us. We are just the messengers.
You guys don’t do things in halves do you???? Half a cattle best went into that corned beef sandwich – if not a whole one!! Bon appetit!
Well, when you say it that way…
I think the best sandwich I have had ever is the one we get at Breach Candy road in Mumbai. The size is ridiculously big and I can barely eat only half of it!!!
Have a fabulous weekend
We’ll look it up when in India!
Or just contact me
Thanks! We might… and soon. India is high up on the list.
Its Veg Grill Sandwich. I am a Veggie.
It is really hard to resist some great food!
oh, i *love* pine state biscuits!!! those are yummilicious!!!! I love Langer’s in Los Angeles, too!! i wish you guys had a chance to go there for the pastrami sandwich!!!
Next time we are in Los Angeles we are there!
OMG that looks so good! I recall a time when you recommended the pizza from Regina’s in Boston…and we had to have some when we went there on a walkabout! Hmmm…we may just have to plan a trip to try these recommendations!
And Margaritas are a favorite of ours too…when we connect some day we will have a few together.
I happen to think that one of the best parts of traveling is trying our the different foods of a particular place. That is a huge part of the experience.
Being bad is good…
Maybe these recommendations will get you out to the west side of the country, and we can meet you. Selfish bribery.
That biscuit is amazing. My pick would have to be the Primanti’s sandwich in Pittsburgh with fries and cole slaw between the bread.
Cole slaw ON the sandwich has became a big hit in our house. I know, you’re surprised.
I had to unbutton my pants just to finish reading this! But I do agree – when you splurge, share the meal. Warren and I do that all the time and it has saved our budget and our waistlines over this trip. You CAN eat like this occasionally without guilt if you do that.
That being said, if I were in Vegas with Thanksgiving on a Bun I’d have a hard time sharing with anyone.
We’ve been surprised to learn how well we do sharing a meal. Most of the time it’s enough – more than enough.
Thanksgiving on a Bun is tough to share, but it comes in a 20 inch version as well. Really.
I really looks so good! It made me hungry by looking st it.. Thanks for sharing!
It’s not even 8 am, and I clicked on this post simply because that darn sandwich looks so darn delicious. These sandwiches are ridiculous and looks like you two have found some winners!
Ah… I’m not surprised that it was a Reuben that caused you to fall off the wagon. Who could resist? Sherman’s sandwich looks awesome! The Bobbie also looks very good. The Reggie… not so much. I always give in to Croque Monsieur and really good burgers. Bon Appétit!
Good thing I already had my lunch before reading this!
“The Bobbie” sounds beyond amazing. Thanksgiving is usually one of my favorite meals of the year. So to have that in a sandwich? It sounds delicious.
I think I put on weight, just looking at The Reggie….*drool*
Margeritas will cause anyone to spill the beans. Tell me, did you feel sick after eating these. We’ve been vego for 5 years and I’m always worried that I’ll unknowingly eat meat and end up violently ill. It happened in China after we discovered pork was in our eggplant dish
Funny you should mention that…. It DOES happen from time to time (getting a little sick). Even stranger is the fact that – at times – we’ll have a strange aversion to meat. Where the thought of it is disgusting.
Do I see CREAM GRAVY?!?!
*gargle drool*
Oh God I miss that.
After travelling the world and tasting amazing things, you still can beat a good American gut buster