Westside Signature Sub From Westside Drive In

One of the best parts about being on a life-long quest to find the best sandwiches anywhere is that every time you go on a trip and pay a visit to different town, no matter how big or small that town may be, chances are there will be a place there where you can get a sandwich to try. Such was the case last summer when we took our regular trip up to Cannon Beach, OR. With a four-year old in tow, it's a bit much to make the entire thirteen hour trip in one day, so we decided to make a pit-stop in Boise, ID and spend a night there. Before leaving, I did some research which included watching episodes of both Man v. Food and Diners, Drive Ins and Dives where they had stopped in Boise. After doing that and figuring out where we were staying, the place that was the best combination of good-looking food and convenient location from our stay for the night was the Westside Drive In. Here's the video of Guy from Triple D visiting the place:



Fortunately, this place was as advertised. First of all, you need to look past the nauseating pink and blue decor (I know you're probably going for a cool vintage vibe there, but seriously, it looks like a Miami flamingo yanked all up in that place). Anyway, what this is, is a drive in that offered things like prime rib and pasta that you wouldn't ordinarily expect to find next to drive in staples like burgers, fries and milkshakes. As I perused the menu, one item quickly jumped out at me - the Westside Signature Sub. It was still tough to decide as there were several things on the menu that looked awesome. But in the end, I remembered that, as a general rule, if something on the menu is given its own special section and is labeled as "signature", that will probably be a pretty good choice. Thankfully, that was the case here. Unfortunately, that good choice was countered by the poor choice we made of ordering spaghetti for our little boy. In a crucial lapse in judgment, I forgot how inconceivably messy a four-year old can get when tackling some spaghetti. Being on the road as we were with no laundry real handy, that was a bad move. But anyway, here's what the Westside Signature Sub looks like (figuratively):

• Type of Bread: Hoagie Roll
• Condiments/Dressing(s): Sour Cream, Dijon Mustard
• Toppings: Ribeye Steak Strips, Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms, Bacon Strips, Provolone, Lettuce, Tomato
  

And, here is what it looks like literally (in the upper left, you can also see the spaghetti that my son would soon be wearing:


Unfortunately, my trusty Han Solo action figure didn't make this trip with us, but I think you can still get a pretty good idea of how big this sandwich was (and keep in mind, this was only half of one). Normally, I would get a full sized version, but I knew chances were good I wouldn't be able to finish it, and with no real refrigeration available, I didn't want to waste what was left over, so I just went with a half. Let's get to the scoring:

• Quantity/Value: 4/5 - The half sized version of this sandwich cost me $6.49, but you can upgrade to a full for $9.29. Getting a massive steak sandwich for under ten bucks is a pretty good deal, if you ask me. Especially with all the other goodies that come on this thing. As it was, I barely finished the half of it. This is a really good sized sandwich.
• Originality: 5/5 - A steak sandwich is not in and of itself original, but this version of a steak sandwich definitely is. The first thing I couldn't help but notice was the addition of bacon strips. It makes so much sense - I mean you wrap steaks in bacon all the time when you cook it, so why not put it on the sandwich? The peppers, onions and 'shrooms are typical additions to a steak sandwich, but the addition of sour cream and dijon mustard was another interesting twist that makes this sandwich completely original. Well done.
• Appearance: 9/10 - If there is anything more beautiful than some melted cheese draped over bacon and beef, I don't know what it is. I mean seriously, months later and just looking at that picture gets my salivary glands going. The colors of the vegetables, the perfectly toasted roll, and even some parsley on the side as a garnish (garnishes at a drive in??! I know, right?). This sandwich looked great.
• Quality/Freshness: 9/10 - When you've got a legitimate, trained chef with 30+ years of experience running the place, it's really no surprise that the quality and freshness of the ingredients is top notch. I don't know that there's much else that needs to be said about it.
• Taste: 18/20 - I've already talked about how original I think this sandwich is, how good it looks, how fresh the ingredients are, so the only question left is how did it taste? Perhaps not surprisingly, it tasted really great. I mean, I don't know how badly you can mess up a marriage of steak, bacon and cheese, but the trick is balancing flavors with all the other ingredients and not letting one completely overwhelm the others. The Westside Signature Sub does a great job of this. I think a mild cheese like provolone is a good choice with this in mind. The creaminess provided by the sour cream and cheese, the bite from the peppers and dijon mustard and the tender steak were all delicious. My only minor complaint would be that I couldn't really taste the bacon as much as I was hoping. But whatever, you could probably wrap this whole thing in bacon and I still would want more. That's just me. Well, me and Jim Gaffigan.
  

So, if we add it all up, the Westside Signature Sub from the Westside Drive In in lovely Boise, ID receives a seriously impressive score of 45/50. Visiting this cool little place was a great part of a great trip and I will definitely look forward to returning some time in the future. There's definitely something fulfilling about discovering a new great place to eat in a city you're visiting. So next time you're on a trip, be sure to get out there and try somewhere new. I mean, Subway's good and all, but you can get that at 5 different places 5 minutes from your house anytime you want. Come on, you're better than that. Oh, and be sure and tell me about the cool places you go, okay? Deal.

Pepper Steak from Moochie's

Okay, so after focusing on sandwiches made by local and national chains my last few entries, I figured it was definitely time to return to a nice one-of-a-kind local joint for a sandwich. And if you're going to do that, I can think of few better options in the Salt Lake area than Moochie's. I honestly can't remember where I first heard about Moochie's, but I remember that my buddy Jeff and I were driving around one day looking for somewhere to eat when one of us suggested this place. We'd both heard good things about it, so we headed down 9th South in Salt Lake keeping our eyes peeled since we didn't know the exact address. We almost drove right past the nondescript location near 2nd East, but thankfully spotted it and headed inside. Now, I used the term "one-of-a-kind" earlier and that's a term you hear kicked around a lot to describe things, but in this case it is very much true. Unless of course you're aware of another killer sandwich purveyor located inside of a pottery gift shop? Yeah, didn't think so.

Now, usually at this point in a post, I like to give some background info about the sandwich establishment in question before talking about the actual sandwich itself. Of course, you can go to Moochie's website to read about them, or instead, you can watch the video clip below. It comes from one of my favorite shows: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Basically, the show is about a guy traveling around the country stopping at all these cool little local restaurants, finding out what their specialties are, and then eating them like crazy. How on earth do I get that job?? The host, Guy Fieri, is kind of a toolbox (those sunglasses you're wearing? yeah, those go on the front of your face, chief) albeit a knowledgeable and ultimately likable one who obviously loves what he does. Here is the segment of his show where he paid Moochie's a visit:



So as you may have gleaned from watching that, among their considerable menu, Moochie's has two sandwiches that you could consider specialties: the Meatball, and the Philly Cheesesteak. I have had them both and without giving too much away, sufficeth to say they are both phenomenal. Today we'll be reviewing the Philly Cheesesteak...well, truth be told I don't think what I got is considered a "true" Philly Cheese. From things I've read, a Philly Cheesesteak includes (besides the obvious cheese and steak) onions, peppers and mushrooms. I'm not quite sure if those ingredients are merely optional or if they are requisite to a true Philly Cheesesteak so maybe someone can enlighten me. Anyway, since I'm not a huge fan of onions or 'shrooms, I got mine with only peppers on top of the meat and cheese which was termed a Pepper Steak. So in review, my sandwich was composed of the following:

• Type of Bread: 12" Hoagie Roll
• Condiments/Dressing(s): n/a
  
• Toppings: Thinly Sliced Ribeye Steak, Melted American Cheese, Roasted Bell Peppers

The roasted bell peppers that I threw on there were actually an optional addition and there are other optional ingredients that you can add to any of Moochie's sandwiches. These are grilled mushrooms, lettuce-tomato-mayo (counts as one ingredient), and extra cheese or a cheese substitution (putting provolone, swiss or mozzarella on instead of melted american, for example). Once you've got your ingredients picked out and decided whether you want the 6" or 12" version, the only thing left to do is sit back and enjoy. Here's the scoring breakdown:

• Quantity/Value: 4/5 - The thing that keeps this sandwich from getting a perfect 5 out of 5 is definitely NOT the quantity. If you get the foot-long like I did, you are probably not going to finish it in one sitting. And if you do, you are probably not going to need a meal the rest of the day. The thing that drops this down to a 4 is it's substantial $10.49 price tag. To be fair, the base price is $9.49, but once you add an extra ingredient like I did with the peppers, that's an extra dollar. This is a great sandwich, and it's price definitely reflects it, and maybe then some.
• Originality: 4/5 - Obviously Moochie's did not invent the Cheesesteak, but when it comes to getting an authentic version of this Philly staple, you can't do much better than Moochie's. And besides the sandwich, as I mentioned earlier, the shop itself is definitely an original and needs to be visited.
• Appearance: 9/10 - I probably should have opened the sandwich up a little bit more in the picture I took that is seen at the top of this post. As it is now, it doesn't really do it justice. When you unwrap that foil and expose the sandwich inside, it is a thing of beauty. The perfectly grilled steak smothered in melted cheese spilling out of the roll are tantalizing enough, but when you add in the beautiful reds and greens of the roasted peppers, the appearance is positively amazing and make you want to dive right in.
• Quality/Freshness: 10/10 - If you're going to charge over $10 for a sandwich, it better be huge (check) and it better use only the best ingredients - check and mate in this case. Not only are the ingredients top-shelf quality, but the key is that they are prepared to order - they don't just have a pile of steak keeping warm somewhere that they use; they throw that meat down on the grill only when you order your sandwich -that is key. Another example of freshness is that the peppers used in my sandwich were roasted on site. You could get around that if you wanted to, but the fact that they're willing to do it is why Moochie's earns a 10 here.
• Taste: 19/20 - If I haven't alluded to it enough already, this is a great tasting sandwich. I mean really great. It has everything that you want - there is a contrast in texture with the crunchy bread and the chewy ingredients within, there is a wonderful contrast in taste between the savory meat and cheese and the sweetness of the peppers. And, on top of that, there is some degree of intangible tastiness in knowing that this thing was prepared on the spot for you. I think the best way I can sum up how good this thing is is that the last time I had one, I couldn't finish it (not unusual). But by the time I got home and had a chance to digest and was ready for more, I couldn't even wait to heat it up - I yanked it out of the fridge and pounded it and that was that.

That all adds up to a huge score of 46/50. And for those of you keeping track, that puts the Pepper Steak from Moochie's into a tie for first place with The Deluxe from Grove Market. Very impressive. Very impressive indeed.

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