Wednesday, February 8, 2017

I Finally Did It

It was something I wanted to do for a long time-- have a Primanti's sandwich.

My fascination went back years, to when I first saw the Pittsburgh restaurant on Guy Fieri's Food Network show, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.  By the way, does every episode of that show look exactly the same to you?  Adam Richman also featured Primanti's on some of his pointless Travel Channel gluttony broadcasts.

I don't dine out all that often.  Most restaurants are opening as I'm getting ready to go to sleep.  Fate intervened last week.  I had several stops to make, including a visit with a banker, the post office, my broker and my tax guy.  All that activity pushed me to lunch time, and I was frazzled.  I needed to be nice to myself for a moment.  It was to be my Primanti's day.

By the way, the image you see above was stolen off the internet.  It's not my photo.

I walked in a little before noon, was seated quickly, had my order taken quickly, and had it delivered quickly.

As I waited, I checked out the decor.  It has that standard chain restaurant look-- big bar, booths, tables, giant tv's and tchotchkes everywhere.  I expected to see the waitress with at least 15 pieces of flair.  Primanti's is based in Pittsburgh, so there was a lot of Steelers and Panthers memorabilia on the walls.

I ordered the turkey sandwich.  The waitress gave me the option of the standard Primanti's sandwich, or have everything on the side.  In case you're not familiar with Primanti's, it's loaded with tomatoes, french fries, and a vinegar based cole slaw ON THE SANDWICH.  It was my first time, so I had the sandwich loaded.

So how was it?  Big, but not too big.  It wasn't overly filling.  It didn't overwhelm me with its size, and it wasn't sloppy to eat at all.

Flavor?  Meh.  It was fair.  The fries were the component I tasted the most.  That could be different if I chose a stronger flavored meat, like the sausage or fish.  The vinegar of the slaw wasn't strong at all, and I rather liked that part.  Nice crunch.  The bread, which is often my favorite part of a sandwich, didn't bring anything to the table.  Bland.  The fries were OK, and the turkey got lost in the shuffle.  There really isn't a lot of meat on the sandwich.

If you wanted a side, you had to order it and pay extra.  It appears the Primanti's philosophy is the sides are already on the sandwich.  I should have some fries on the side to judge their flavor and quality.

Overall, I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't thrilled.   It's not one of those cases where I expected too much.  I honestly didn't know what to expect.   I'd like to go back and try something else.