Episdoe LIII: The Pioneer Woman Mercantile (TUL)

Oh what a beautiful morning! Well, not really. It was shaping up to be a rainy weekend in North Texas so we wanted to get out of town. The flights to Tulsa looked good so we decided to have a go.

I never thought I would spend this much time in Oklahoma. I grew up out in West Texas but, up until this year, I had never made it across the Red River to the Sooner State.  Danny and I took an overnight trip to OKC earlier in the year and this time Mom was coming along. The flights to Tulsa looked open and we thought it would be nice to drive the open range and check out Pawhuska. 

It is a small town in northeast Oklahoma that has been put back on the map by my TV wife Ree Drummond, aka the Pioneer Woman. Her family bought and renovated a building in downtown and created a real destination. There is a full restaurant and general store and they call the whole thing The Mercantile, or “The Merc”. I love Ree and redheads in general.  When Mary Alice was pregnant we decided not to find out the sex of the baby. I really thought it was going to be a girl. Who knows why but I had it in my heart it was going to be a girl. I kept asking Mary Alice if she thought we could get a redhead. She said no. No one in her family has red hair, but I kept asking every once and again anyway. I wanted a little redhead daughter. It was not in the cards but life turned out just as it was supposed to.

Beef Brisket Reuben

“This brisket has to sit on rye bread or it will fall apart before it gets to your mouth. Topped with creamy sauerkraut slaw, Thousand Island dressing and melty Swiss Cheese.”

Appearance – (4.6/5.0)

Golden brown, just like me.  The sauerkraut slaw has a pretty rustic cut to it. The homemade chips look great too but I think they could have fit a few more on the plate. Those little pickles (I’m being told they are called sweet midgets) really give some color. There is a good portion of brisket in there but it is not sliced the way you usually see in a brisket sandwich, in Texas anyways. By the way, Danny did the most Texan thing ever and chose to wear his "Texas is Calling" shirt on our trip north of the Red River. So proud!

Quality of Ingredients – (4.8/5.0)

Ree has spared no expense. The brisket, chips, slaw… it was all top notch. The kitchen is visible from the dining area and you can tell they are doing things right.

Price – (4.2/5.0)                                                      

$11. Anywhere else in NE-middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma I would say this was expensive but here I think it is a good value. We even got a picture with Lad, Ree’s husband, so that is worth something! 

The folks at The Merc are also really nice to you while you wait in line. It was more than two hours for us. They bring you bottles of water and freezer pops. They also have umbrellas for you when it’s raining like it was when we were there.  All of these things add value to the experience.

Je Ne Sais Quoi – (4.8/5.0)

This really is a destination. I got to spend some time in the general store and had fun looking at all of the little trinkets and widgets they had. It is a cross between a William Sonoma and Cracker Barrel. The restoration of the building itself is amazing. There is the original exposed brick juxtaposed by state of the art kitchen with stainless steel hoods and all the works. There is an original advertisement from the National Biscuit Company that is two stories tall! The whole place is just fun.

Taste – (9.1/10.0)

This is an awesome brisket sandwich but no doubt a Reuben In Name Only (RINO). When people ask me what’s the best Reuben I have ever had, I won’t say this one because it is not really a Reuben. I loved it but I think it has strayed too far.  The brisket was excellent but the flavor is very different from Corned Beef or pastrami. Also, the sauerkraut slaw was more coleslaw than anything else. It did not have the acidic taste of sauerkraut. To me, those to me are cornerstones of the Reuben.

Overall – (27.5/30.0)

Would I order it again? Yes. Would I fly to Tulsa, drive an hour, stand in line for two hours, just to order it again? Probably. If the flights are open! Did mention we rented a Jeep for $28 bucks a day. All taxes and fees included. Plus we did not get to see Ree this time so I really hope to see her when we go back.  

Episode XLVIII: Subway (DFW)

The Reuben is having a moment right now courtesy of Subway. They tried launching it a few months ago and I tried two different locations and was unsuccessful each time. The first one was “out” and the next week when I tried another location the promotion had ended.  Arby’s tried to push the Reuben a few years ago and I reviewed it in Episode X, but the Subway commercials are ubiquitous. 

My phone started blowing up with messages from friends, family, and fans (ok, so maybe it was just my dad) asking when I was going to try it. I couldn’t let my fan(s) down and decided to give it a go.

Corned Beef Reuben

“Corned Beef, Bavarian Sauerkraut, Swiss Cheese, Thousand Island on Rye bread”

Appearance – (3.2/5.0)

Safe to say it doesn’t look like the commercial. I should have asked for double meat and told the lady to make it look like the commercial. This is the “new” Rye bread but you can’t really tell. It is not marbled and the caraway seeds are too small.  Once Danny took the bag of Doritos off my plate it just looked strange sitting next to the side order of banana peppers.

Quality of Ingredients – (3.9/5.0)

I was suspicious going into this review. I know Subway has spent lots of money trying to rebrand with local produce and the new logo, but I still wasn’t sure, especially about the sauerkraut. You may remember the last Reuben had some issues with the sauerkraut. Well, turns out it was not bad. I don’t know what Bavarian style sauerkraut is, but I like it. That seems like something that would be hard to replicate in so many Subway shops around the world. It is such a volatile ingredient.

The Rye was actually pretty good once you got past the lack of visual cues.

The corned beef was also not bad either. What I appreciated is that it was not too salty and seemed to have some good body to it. I thought it would be as flimsy as the thin cut turkey but it wasn’t.

Price – (3.9/5.0)

The sandwich itself was $5.75 but you throw in chips and you are closer to $7.25. Most of the other places I try include fries or a side dish so to keep the comparison fair, we will go with $7.25. Given the small portion size I don’t think it is a great value.  Not to mention, I was in a Subway in Coppell. You are not exactly paying for ambiance.  There are two minimum-wage teenagers providing labor under high efficiency light bulbs.

Also, most of the time after a Reuben, I don’t have to eat the rest of the day.  That was not the case here. This Reuben was just like a normal meat so the cost per calorie was high.

Je Ne Sais Quoi – (3.6/5.0)

The JNSQ is low here but it didn’t have to be. There is a great little donut shop just down the road that I go to almost every Saturday to get donuts with Danny. It is not much to talk about. It is literally a mom-and-pop operation with one table. What I love about it, beside the donuts, it that their windows are filled with the posters of all the local high school teams. It gives the place a real small-town feel. Subway didn’t have that. It was more of a planned corporate environment.

Taste – (9.3/10.0)

Despite low scores up to this point, this was one of the better tasting Reubens out there. It really was not bad at all and there are a few reasons why. 

First off, the bread was toasted and was not covered in butter. The butter problem was really starting to feel like an epidemic. This is probably why I wasn’t so weighed down after the meal. The absence of butter really let the Rye flavor come out and I really liked that. Second, the balance of ingredients was right on. This is a benefit of a corporate environment.  You can have anyone behind that counter and it should come out the same every time so kudos to Subway for good operational execution. Third, the temperature was just right. They toasted the bread and melted the cheese perfectly. Look at this shot.

There were no unforced errors and no toothpicks!

Overall – (23.9/30.0)

Would I order it again? Yes.  Really? Yes, I would. I thought I would need to pack in the banana peppers to save it but it wasn’t necessary.  I had those for dessert.

This is another good introduction Reuben. I have so many people tell me they have never had a Reuben. This is a good place to start. If your deli/pub can’t beat this then they should probably rethink having the Reuben on the menu.

Thank you to Subway to helping push the Reuben to the forefront of pop culture.

Episode XXI: Rose & Crown Tavern (ATL)

I had been on something of a hot streak as a Broncos fan in Atlanta this year. The first 7 weeks of the season I was able to watch the Broncos game on TV; I was never this lucky in Boston. Finally in Week 8 the Falcons were out west playing the Cardinals at 4:15 and the Broncos were hosting the Redskins at the same time. No worries, this gave me a perfect excuse to go back to the Rose & Crown. The Broncos’ meetup of Atlanta is there every week. You may remember the Rose & Crown from Episode VII. Sunday Reuben and Broncos football, not a bad day.

Pub Reuben

“Toasted marble rye loaded with corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese and Russian dressing”

I almost missed another jab at the Swiss because of the font but look closely. It looks like all caps but the R in Russian and the T in Toasted are bigger. That just must be how this font works.

Appearance – (3.4/5.0)

Fundamentals. This sandwich did poorly on the gimmies. Let’s break this down.

First the outside of the plate was not wiped down before it went out. There is a tiny bit of cheese or sauce there on the outside that caught my eye. Next the fries are all over the place. So much so that you can see Danny’s hand in the picture trying to straighten things out.

Finally, the toothpicks look like a bad hole placement on a miniature golf course. Toothpicks can be functional but there is no way those are serving a purpose. This sandwich had potential for a high score because of the nice marble and the great contrast in colors between the Russian dressing and the sauerkraut but poor execution cannot be overlooked.

Quality of Ingredients – (4.0/5.0)

This one had great individual pieces except the corned beef. The rye was buttery and toasted well, the sauerkraut really stood up well to the rest of the flavors, and the Russian dressing was great.  The corned beef was not as warm as it could have been and I think it came right out of a package. All of the pieces were uniform and I strongly doubt they made it on premises, much less sliced the meat to order. The beef was also too salty; I downed a couple mason jars of water after this one. It is too bad because the rest of the pieces were so good, but you cannot cut corners on the main ingredient.

On a related note, we had the Brownie Surprise for dessert and the same thing happened! The brownie was cold and stale but the ice-cream and whip cream were great. The bananas were fresh too.  I say just take out the brownie and call it a Sundae.

Price – (3.9/5.0)

The Pub Reuben is $9.50 but the Bella Reuben (Portobello mushrooms instead of the corned beef) is $9.25. The mushrooms tasted better than the beef, so if you are supposed to be paying a premium for the meat then I think something is wrong here. This score could have been lower but I do appreciate that the meal came with the Broncos game watch. The staff reserves an entire room for us and puts up our Broncos flag. They also brought Danny some crayons. You can always score points with me by being nice to Danny.

Je Ne Sais Quoi – (3.8/5.0)
Despite the issues listed, this sandwich did ok here and I think it was the sauerkraut. The last time I was here I described it as “stiff” and I think that was true this time around as well. I mean this in a good way. There is a lot going on in a Reuben and the sauerkraut needs to be able to power through. It made me forget about the mediocre corned beef. I think this could have also suffered because of the fact that the Broncos were playing horribly when I was eating this.  Danny also decided to start acting up, so I put him on my lap and tried to eat this thing one-handed. Look at it. This or any Reuben is not meant for one-handed consumption.

Taste – (8.2/10.0)

This Reuben falls in the good-not-great category. The sauerkraut and the Russian dressing really carried the load and you can never go wrong with buttery toasted rye bread.  Yes, the corned beef was not what it could be, but there were still some good bites in there. I could not get Danny to try any of it but he sure did like the fries.

Overall – (23.3/30.0)

There is potential here but it is disappointing to see it squandered. Simple fixes on the presentation could go a long way. There may have to be a more serious discussion about what should happen with the corned beef.

The pieces of the puzzle are in place to make an outstanding Reuben, they just have to figure out the last one.  Would I order it again? No. Now that I have had both, I would order the Bella again. It had all the good elements of this one minus the beef!