That Food Guy
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Sam's Club Cafe - I Learned To Read The (Other) Menu
Sam’s Club Café – I Learned to Read the (Other) Menu
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.
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.
See my first blog of Sam’s club Café August 30th, 2011 at http://thatfoodguy.blogspot.com/2011/08/sams-club-st-petersburg-fl.html .
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.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.See my first blog of Sam’s club Café August 30th, 2011 at http://thatfoodguy.blogspot.com/2011/08/sams-club-st-petersburg-fl.html .
Labels: bun, Café, chicken, crispy, fried, hot dog, Italia, Italian sausage, onions, peppers, Sam's Club, sausage, soda
¶ 1:30 PM 0 Comments
Monday, September 23, 2013
Checker's Drive In - Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich
Checkers Drive In 6730 Central Ave St Petersburg, FL 33707
(727) 347-4686 http://www.checkers.com/
If you drive any at all you have probably passed a Checkers
Drive in one time or another. They seem
to be in about thirty-two states, scattered coast to coast. In fact, there is a
Checkers Drive Thru a five minute walk from where I am sitting while I write
this. It is that close a walk but I would seldom venture there on foot. That
entails a crossing at a very busy divided highway intersection. A lot of
Florida’s old retirees regard the speed limit and red lights as merely
suggestions. Driving there entails getting the car to be going the right
direction on the proper side of the street which makes for a lot of going
around this or that block to get aligned; awkward to get to this store is one
of those places you wait until you just happen to go that way.
Over many years I have been to Checkers only a few
times. I suppose that if it were a Red
Robin I would have been a more frequent customer. That got me to thinking about what it was
about Checkers that didn’t draw me as perhaps another brand name would It also
got me to thinking about the criteria I use when I critique a food
establishment. All of this came about as
a result of an advertisement I read in the local paper one morning; Philly
Cheesesteak Sandwich, $1.99.
I have never had anything bad at Checkers. I have just never
had anything exceptional at either. If I
had to rate them against other fast food restaurants I would have to rank them
a bit below the more popular McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s. In spite of all the advertising hoopla I
think a blind taste test of similar items would prove to be very difficult to
tell the major players apart. Checkers is not quite to that level but then
Checkers menu is less expensive than the others. Checker’s offerings are
consistent and okay, just not great. Perhaps that is why I haven’t written
about checkers before. It is hard, for me at least, to grasp just what they are
and where they fit into the scheme of fast food restaurants.
Many food critics compare food to a fixed arbitrary
standard; sometime very picayune standards. I am a bit more liberal and judge
on a relative scale, by what I and you would expect to be proper for that
establishment. For example, if I go to
a McDonald’s and I am served a perfect a perfect Big Mac I would rate that
McDonald’s as excellent. But if I was served that very same Big Mac at a Red
Robin I would have to note that Red Robin was not serving food up to the
expected standard. Both the Big Mac and
the Red Robin burgers are great and I would love to have one or the other right
now at this late night hour. Neither is bad, one is just inherently better than
the other and I would judge them on the basis of what I would expect from that
establishment. 
That brings us to the inspiration for this blog, the
Checkers Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich. It is too new an offering to be listed on
their on-line menu as of yet. I learned about it from a newspaper insert
offering the new Philly Cheesesteak Sub for $1.99. Ask anyone from “Philly” and
they will tell you an authentic cheesesteak sandwich is made thin sliced rib
eye steak and onions grilled and chopped to perfection, loaded on an Italian
roll and most often served with cheese, Cheese
Whiz or provolone. Anything else is just a poor copy.
Copies that they may be, local restaurants Feola’s and
Kissin’ Cuzzins offer their versions made with steak, onions, peppers and
mushrooms all covered in mozzarella cheese. They are scrumptious. But what about Checkers?
Checkers offering is steak and onions grilled with Swiss cheese on a sub roll.
Pretty close to the “Philly” standard. You can when ordering, augment you
sandwich with the burger topping at hand, lettuce, tomato and bacon. When I
ordered at the drive-thru they asked if I wanted to add bacon to it. Bacon?
What’s to lose? I said put it all on. That got me the lettuce and tomato. In
retrospect that was a mistake although not a bad one. There were enough flavors
in the meat and onions that the lettuce and tomato were almost lost. It would have
been better if they were not there but it was no great distraction either. I
had to look but there was bacon, also almost lost in the main ingredients. I
haven’t had an authentic Philly Cheesesteak sandwich since 1958 and have no
basis for comparison. Therefore I will compare Checkers to Feola’s and Kissin’
Cuzzins and I love both of their sandwiches. Checker’s is a bit smaller, has
Swiss rather than the mozzarella and it doesn’t have the grilled peppers and
mushrooms. Those things aside, the fillings all taste very much the same; all
are very tasty and satisfying. The Checker’s sandwich delivers a lot of good
flavor. Given the choice between a Feola’s and
Checker’s sandwich I would of course choose the Feola’s offering. But if
Feola’s or Kissin’ Kuzzins is not available, then Checker’s is a most worth
substitute. Considering that I can buy
three Checker’s sandwiches for the price of one at the other restaurants makes
the Checker’s offering a very good deal indeed. I also did a comparison picture
of the advertising picture and the product as delivered; very close indeed, one
is recognizable as the other.
Just a footnote:
Most Checker’s are prefabricated clone structures that make
setting up a new store almost a weekend affair after the foundation is laid.
They feature double drive through lanes, one on each side of the building. There
is no inside seating but most offer a small patio area for walk up customers.
Some new stores that have been placed in dense urban areas are using the store
front scheme as well. It may be a fluke of geography but the three closest Checker’s
to my location are on busy divided highway intersection corners. Plan your
visit ahead of time.
Labels: Checkers, cheese, Cheese Whiz, cheeseburger, cheesesteak, chicken, drive thru, fish, hamburger, mozzarella, mushrooms, onions, peppers, Philly, provolone, rib eye, spicy, steak
¶ 11:54 AM 0 Comments
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Kissin Cuzzins - St. Petersburg, Florida a 2013 Revisit
KissinCuzzins
2013
Jeri’s sandwich had an attractive plating, the light rye bread toasted to a “pretty as a picture’ golden brown. It was a large sandwich with the corned beef spilling out over the sides of the bread. It came with a dill pickle spear and a small bowl of coleslaw. She said the sandwich was excellent, very tasty. The preparation was well practiced, not too much dressing to make it wet nor too little and make it dry; just right. The bread was crispy toasted on the outside, soft, tender and hot bread spreading a wonderful rye smell. The meat was tender and tasty. In spite of being a large sandwich, she managed to finish her meal. The slaw was of green cabbage, fresh and crisp with a mild, favorable dressing. A thoroughly filling and enjoyable meal.
My Philly
sub was a plateful. With that kind of sandwich I suppose it is hard to be
artistic in plating. However, all the good filling in the sandwiches and the
pile of French fries with a dill spear garnish looked very food to me. “The
proof…” they say, “is in the eating.” The crinkle cut fries were done to a nice
golden brown, fresh out of the fryer, hot and crispy. With a sprinkle of salt,
they were excellent. I ate the pickle, it was crisp, but I don’t remember much
about it as I was very much preoccupied with the sandwich. First off, when you make a sandwich like this,
cutting through and leaving a bit of crust for a hinge, the bread has to be
fresh. If the bread is not fresh it will fall apart on the first bite spilling
the contents onto the plate or your lap. In this instance the bread was very
fresh, the crust a nice elastic; slightly chewy. The bread folded over the
ample filling making a nice easy to eat bundle. There was lots of beef, grilled
onions, mushrooms and peppers all slathered with stringy melted Mozzarella
cheese. What’s not to like? It was indeed an excellent sandwich and made for a
filling meal. I will, in all probability, order the Philly sub if ever I make it back to Kissin Cuzzins
again.
KissinCuzzins
2013
951 34th St N
St Petersburg, FL 33733
Neighborhood: Tyrone
St Petersburg, FL 33733
Neighborhood: Tyrone
(727) 323-3915
Mon-Fri 7a – 2p Sat-Sun 7a – 3p
On the very first journey to Florida to
meet the soon to be in-laws, they just had to take me to one of their favorite
places to go for a breakfast out. As they grew older, mother and father in-law
cooked and ate in less and ate out more often; often enough that they were
known by the serving staff on a first name basis. Back then there were three
Kissin Cuzzins, long established casual family eateries. Over the years the
neighborhood demographics changed and more and more fast food servers moved
into the neighborhood. One family restaurant,
all brand new with shiny chrome, set up shop only two blocks down the street. Such
intense competition had severe consequences for Kissin Cuzzins. The two other
stores closed some years ago and only the 34th St store, the
flagship store, remained open. In a well thought out move, Cuzzins went lean
and mean paring down hours, closing in the midafternoon, concentrating on their
forte, breakfast and lunch. Cuzzins has survived and is still here as well as
the fast food emporiums that abound all along 34th Street. However,
the upstart that opened just two blocks down the street closed a year or so ago,
fenced off and looking forlorn, weeds poking up through the parking lot, it has
long been up for sale.
The in-laws have passed on. But in their
tradition, that visitors to the Jones house must partake of a breakfast at the
Kissin Cuzzins, lives on. After a morning of busy sightseeing activity, I took our
California house guest, Jeri, to lunch. The Cuzzins was moderately busy and we
had to park in the overflow lot. However, we got immediate seating in a booth
on the north side. As is usual for the Cuzzins, the hostess and the servers we
quick and courteous.
Sipping on our already arrived beverages,
we studied the menu. Jeri chose The Rueben ($7.49 Corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss on
grilled rye). I was about to go with my usual standby, the cheeseburger, when
the Philly-Style Hoagie ($7.99 Thinly sliced beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms and
Mozzarella cheese on a toasted sun roll) caught my eye. I had recently had a
Philly sub from another restaurant and on impulse I decided to compare the two.
Jeri’s sandwich had an attractive plating, the light rye bread toasted to a “pretty as a picture’ golden brown. It was a large sandwich with the corned beef spilling out over the sides of the bread. It came with a dill pickle spear and a small bowl of coleslaw. She said the sandwich was excellent, very tasty. The preparation was well practiced, not too much dressing to make it wet nor too little and make it dry; just right. The bread was crispy toasted on the outside, soft, tender and hot bread spreading a wonderful rye smell. The meat was tender and tasty. In spite of being a large sandwich, she managed to finish her meal. The slaw was of green cabbage, fresh and crisp with a mild, favorable dressing. A thoroughly filling and enjoyable meal.
My Philly
sub was a plateful. With that kind of sandwich I suppose it is hard to be
artistic in plating. However, all the good filling in the sandwiches and the
pile of French fries with a dill spear garnish looked very food to me. “The
proof…” they say, “is in the eating.” The crinkle cut fries were done to a nice
golden brown, fresh out of the fryer, hot and crispy. With a sprinkle of salt,
they were excellent. I ate the pickle, it was crisp, but I don’t remember much
about it as I was very much preoccupied with the sandwich. First off, when you make a sandwich like this,
cutting through and leaving a bit of crust for a hinge, the bread has to be
fresh. If the bread is not fresh it will fall apart on the first bite spilling
the contents onto the plate or your lap. In this instance the bread was very
fresh, the crust a nice elastic; slightly chewy. The bread folded over the
ample filling making a nice easy to eat bundle. There was lots of beef, grilled
onions, mushrooms and peppers all slathered with stringy melted Mozzarella
cheese. What’s not to like? It was indeed an excellent sandwich and made for a
filling meal. I will, in all probability, order the Philly sub if ever I make it back to Kissin Cuzzins
again.Labels: beef, coleslaw, corned beef, Cuzzins, dill pickle, Florida, French fries, Kissin, mushrooms, onions, peppers, Philly cheesesteak, Reuben, St Petersburg
¶ 11:21 AM 0 Comments
