Sam's Club Cafe - I Learned To Read The (Other) Menu

 

Sam’s Club Café – I Learned to Read the (Other) Menu

The wife and I made several trips to Sam’s Club this holiday season. As usual, we planned the shopping trip round the noon hour so we could have a very affordable lunch at Sam’s Club Café.  This time it was a bit different than the usual. During the last few visits I started reading the little menu, the one on the wall behind the servers, nor the big, garish one over their heads; there is more available that hot dogs, pizza and pretzels. I learned to read the entirety of the menu and I found that there are two additional sandwiches available. One is the Crispy Chicken Sandwich and the other is Italian Sausage with grilled peppers and onions. It should be noted that these sandwiches are not part of a combo deal and a soda is extra.

Last shopping trip I sampled the Crispy Chicken Sandwich ($1.99). It was a breaded medium-sized chicken breast (not too much breading to fool you into thinking it was a much larger piece of chicken), deep fried and served in a round steamed bun. In keeping with the major sales being the hot dog and a soda combo, self-service dispensers of mustard, relish and ketchup are self-serve. Onions are available on request. That was not exactly what I had in mind for the sandwich and found that mayonnaise is also available in those single-serve packets on request. The edges of the chicken are indeed a bit crispy and just a bit dry. The rest of the chicken piece was not exactly crispy but the breaded coating firm, the chicken tender and moist; it did have a good flavor. It is a basic sandwich, just a piece of deep fried breaded chicken breast between two pieces of bread. If it fact it had some lettuce and a slice of tomato it would have been a very good sandwich. However, lacking those condiments, it was just an ordinary run-of-the-mill sandwich. Not bad but not exceptional either. At $1.99, it is not as good a deal as the large hot dog and soda combo for $1.50. On some future shopping foray into Sam’s Club I may want a change from the dog and soda and will opt for the Crispy Chicken Sandwich again but not soon.

After we finished today’s shopping for New Year’s dinner, we took our usual noon meal break at the Sam’s Clun Cafe. The wife had her usual pizza and soda combo. (After all, where can you take the wife to get something to eat that she really likes and all it costs is $2.49?) I tried the Italian Sausage Sandwich with Onions and Peppers ($2.69), the soda was extra ($0.89). A total of about three and a half dollars, over twice the cost of the dog and soda combo, it is a Sam’s Club premium sandwich and I was about to see if it was worth the difference.
To digress for a moment; the hot dogs used at the Café are larger than the average hot dogs you find in the deli case at your supermarket. They are much larger, more like a Polish sausage in size. They are made by Nathans and the flavor is not hot dog nor is it sausage but somewhere in between and very tasty. Apparently they are not generally available to the public and are not featured inside the Sam’s Club main store. However, you can buy them by the case from the Café. Likewise, the buns are much larger than the usual hot dog buns to accommodate the larger sausages.

Now, back to the Italian Sausage Sandwich with Onions and Poppers ($2.69); that was my choice for lunch today. The Italian sausage is a little bit smaller and firmer in texture than its hot dog counterpart but does a good job of filling the bun. There was a sufficient serving of grilled onions and peppers though I personally would have liked a bit more. There was no need for any dressing. The sausage was moist and with the additional moisture from the onions and peppers there was no need to smear anything else on the sandwich. The sausage had excellent flavor it was mildly seasoned, not spicy hot.  The bun had been in the steam cabinet and was soft and folded around the sausage and filling. I was able to eat the whole sandwich without the bun splitting on the bottom and spilling the contents. I was able to really enjoy the sandwich.

Which brings us to the question, will I order it next time. As far as the taste and quality of the sandwich, I would order it again. I also very much enjoy the Polish/hot dog (loaded with mustard, relish and onions).  It would come down to the mood of the moment and the difference in cost. The dog and soda combo is $1.50 and the Italian plus a soda is $3.68. I will have to wait until the next time to see which way I bend with the mood of the time. But that doesn’t stop me from saying that you should perhaps try one of the Italian sausage sandwiches with onions and peppers. You just might have a new favorite Sam’s Club Café sandwich.
See my first blog of Sam’s club Café August 30^th, 2011 at http://thatfoodguy.blogspot.com/2011/08/sams-club-st-petersburg-fl.html .