Ah, the lengths I went to for an Ike's sandwich....

Ike's Place

Ike's sandwiches are literally my most sought after sandwich.  It's a long story, but I'll to tell it anyway.

So, Tim and I had planned an eight day vacation to the Bay area.  Planner that I am, I laid out a detailed agenda of all of our meals...in a powerpoint presentation!  Between institutions like Mustards Grill and Chez Panisse and places featured on Food Network's Throwdown and Best Thing I Ever Ate, and Travel Channel's Man vs Food, we had every meal mapped out.

The minute we drove the rental car off the airport lot, I whipped out our GPS and punched in the address for Ike's in downtown San Francisco.  


As I let the Garmin play navigator for Tim, I began to study the Ike's menu I had printed off their website.  (I told you I was a planner!)  I was torn between the Menage a Trois sandwich (with Halal chicken, real honey, honey mustard, BBQ sauce, pepper jack, Swiss, and smoked gouda) and the Superman (roast beef, pastrami, salami, turkey, bacon, ham, avocado, and jack cheese).  My mouth watered as I tried to imagine what the signature "dirty sauce" (that came on all sandwiches) would taste like.

As the GPS said we were nearing the much anticipated sandwich shop, I mentally locked into getting the Menage a Trois sandwich.  


We pulled around the corner and my heart sank...  Was this really the start to our trip?  After months of planning and anticipation came disappointment.  Ike's was being boarded up!  

As it turns out, Ike's was such a popular place that the ever-present line of customers out the door made their neighboring businesses mad.  So they were in the process of moving.  But, unfortunately, Day One of their shut down directly coincide with Meal One of my vacation.

I mentioned I was a planner.  The other thing I should mention: I am not a quitter!  I whipped out my Blackberry and immediately began searching for alternate locations.  


Palo Alto!  Perfect... I'll get a sandwich and a quick peak of Stanford's campustown.  After calling to make sure everything with that location was kosher, we started our 35 mile trek down to Stanford.  Again, we allowed the GPS to direct us.  


"You have arrived," it announced.  We looked around....A parking garage was on our right side and school buildings on the left.  This wasn't right.  We made our way around and around the campus, asking for directions.....Long story short, the GPS was right.  The "Stanford location" was a stand in the engineering building on campus!


Heartbreak twice in one day?  I was convinced I wasn't going to get the true Ike's experience. 


Tim and I each begrudgingly ordered a half sandwich off of the abbreviated version of their menu.  I got the Tony Sopprano and he got the Jim Plummer.


Thoroughly irritated, I sat down in the cold, stark building and unwrapped my sandwich.

Half portion of the Tony Soprano sandwich
(Ham, Turkey, Salami, Italian Dressing, Provolone)

Half Portion of a Jim Plummer Sandwich
(Ham, Turkey & Melted Brie)

Before I took my first bite, I braced myself for disappointment.  As luck would have it, the only disappointment I was left with was that I had only ordered half a sandwich.  This was THE BEST sandwich I had ever had!


With my day resurrected, we carried on with our vacation plans....sightseeing, visits with family and friends, wine tasting, and of course, a few foodie adventures.... We feasted everywhere from Mustards Grill & Bottega to La Taqueria and Psycho Donuts.  We had some great eats along the way.  But I still felt gypped for not getting a whole Ike's sandwich!


The eighth and final day of vacation came and I was still craving that delicious Dirty Sauce.  But our documented agenda stated that our final keystone meal in northern California was to be at Chez Panisse.


What a dilemma.


In the end, I followed my heart (and stomach).  I called Chez Panisse and politely cancelled the reservation I had made months ago!


Yes, I stood up legendary Chef Alice Waters for A SANDWICH!!!!


But the glimmer of hope of getting the real Ike's experience was worth it.   After all, there was one more location listed on the Ike's Place website: Redwood Shores.  It was meant to be!  Redwood Shores was on our way to the airport.  I had done my homework before cancelling on Chez Panisse..... "Are you open?  Do you have the full menu of sandwiches?"


With sandwich availability confirmed, I felt I was making a great decision!  The only teeny tiny red flag was that the girl on the phone mentioned that you had to place your sandwich orders ahead of time. But my concerns were immediately dismissed once she explained that this pre-order requirement was related to their popularity and the desire to not disrupt their neighbors.


Good idea, Ike's!  Proactively manage relations with your neighbors so the fate of this location wouldn't match that of the one in San Fran.  


I happily placed my phone order and we made our way up to Redwood Shores.


Confusion set it (again) as we pulled into a corporate office complex.  I cursed my GPS thinking this was one of those occasional mistakes it made.  After chasing our tails for a while, we finally parked and ventured into the corporate tower.  After consulting the directory, we headed down a narrow hallway.  


I felt like I was going to see a financial advisor or something.  Carpeted floors and small office suites with name plaques outside the door were for lawyers and consultants not sandwich shops...and yet here we were.  Suite 115.


Even as I stepped into the suite, I wasn't sure I was in the right place.  The only telltale sign was a   rack of potato chips.  We paid for our order and headed to the outdoor courtyard. I savored each bite..... I could have finished the entire sandwich, but then it dawned on me that this would be my last Ike's sandwich until I the next time I returned to the Bay area.  Immediately, I wrapped up the other half of my sandwich.  This thing was coming home with me!  

SF Giants

 (Turkey, Bacon, Mushrooms, Avocado, Swiss)

The Tony Soprano (yep, Timmy ordered the SAME THING)

(FYI - so you don't think I'm completely disgusting, I didn't actually let my sandwich sit for the long journey home.  I downed that bad boy on the plane ride home.) 

Ike’s - San Fran
2247 Market Street

San Franscisco, CA

Ike’s - Stanford

475 Via Ortega Drive
Stanford, CA

Ike's Lair (I personally think they renamed this to level-set expectations of the office suite setting)

555 Twin Dolphin Drive, Suite 115
Redwood Shores, CA

http://ilikeikesplace.com/