What Kind of 'Wich Are You?

Honestly, we were not in the mood to retrofit our hardwired attitude about restaurants and service as we walked into Which Wich? Once we clued in as to how this place worked, my dining companion was ready to turn around and leave, but I convinced him to stay.

You see, one of the big reasons we go out to eat is to make it easy on ourselves. We don't want to have to work at it. We love to cook, but it is a labor of love. When we go out to eat, we want to sit down, relax and have someone else love to labor.

But we know all about fast food and the new concepts, so when we are prepared, we tolerate them and adjust our attitude accordingly.

What helped us tonight was the fact we were kindly greeted when we entered and asked if we had been here before; our negative response prompted our greeter to go through her standard spiel about what to do.

Simple enough. All sandwiches are $4.25 and we are to pick a brown paper bag from the 10 selections, writing our condiments on the bag with a red indelible marker. Which wich did we want?

The 50 choices include Wicked (turkey, ham, roast beef, pepperoni, bacon with two cheese); Turkey (with variations on this theme including Turkey Reuben, Thank You Turkey, Turkey Wich, Turkey Pastrami); Ham & Pork (The Hula, The Cuban, Myhani, Pork Tenderloin); Beef (Roast Beef, Corned Beef, Pastrami, Cheese Steak, Reuben); Chicken (Buffalo Chicken, Chicken Parma, Chicken Cheese Steak, Chicken Cordon Bleu); Seafood (Tuna Melt, Crab Melt, Shrimp Po' Boy, Salmon Melt, Buffalo Shrimp); Vegetarian (Hummus & Bell Peppers, Tomato & Avocado, Triple Cheese Melt, Black Bean Patty, Elvis Wich); Italian (Grinder, Meatball, Muffuletta, Pizza Italian Beef); Saladwich (Tuna Salad, Egg Salad, Chicken Salad, Seafood Salad, Salmon Salad); Classics (BLT, Club, Gyro, Montecristo, French Dip); Breakfast (Ham & Egg, Bacon & Egg, Sausage & Egg, Steak & Egg, Veggies & Egg); and Kidswich (Peanut Butter & Jelly, Grilled Cheese, Turkey, Cheese Pizza).

After the sandwich choice, we selected how we would like our Wich worked--in other words, what condiments. Selections include mustards, mayos, spreads and sauces, onions, veggies, oils and spices, and some extras for .75 more (bacon, avocado, whole pickle, more meat and more cheese).

So, after all that, we selected an Italian Grinder on white bread (wheat is the other option) with Provolone cheese, deli mustard, red onions, lettuce, tomato, pepperoncini, black olives, oil, vinegar and garlic. Our second sandwich was a Classics Gyro on wheat with Provolone, spicy mayo, cucumbers and garlic.

Our third selection was Turkey Wich on wheat, with Provolone, Dijon mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickles, jalapenos, black olives, oregano, garlic and parmesan.

We took these sandwiches to go, and, remarkably, they were very good--even after 20 minutes of having been made. The bread for all three was toasted; the meats and veggies were fresh, and overall, each Wich was very tasty.

We also tried two bags of their House Chips, which are homemade and enchanted with spices. We also had an out-of-the-oven oatmeal cookie which was hot and fresh and not too sweet.

Which Wich? is a different sort of place. The atmosphere lacks warmth in favor of a contemporary design, with lots of aluminum and bright yellow (as they call "edgy, yet inviting"); the sandwiches are fine, if you choose the right toppings; and the service is as minimum as can be--the customer designs his own sandwich on a brown paper bag, hands the bag to the employee who rings up the purchase, makes the sandwiches, and calls the person's name to pick up the order.

Interesting.

Which Wich?

6028 S. Memorial Dr.

394-WICH

Hours:

Mon.-Sat. 10am-9pm

Sun. 11am-9pm

Rating:

Atmosphere ***

Food ***1/2

Service ***