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| - Perhaps my expectations were set a little too high before going to Schwartz's. After 38 raving Yelp reviews, guide book articles and recommendations from locals, I was expecting to be blown away.
Unfortunately, I wasn't.
Yes, the smoked meat at Schwartz's is pretty good. Damn good, actually. The rest of my experience was subpar at best.
Every time we drove by, the restaurant was full and there was a line out the door at least three parties deep. That's always a good sign, but given that it was about 7 degrees outside, we opted to pass by each time. But on our final day we spotted a second door next to the restaurant: "Schwartz's To Go." So we parked and headed inside.
Inside was a takeout counter with some tables and chairs in back. We took a number, waited in line, and placed our order. Unfortunately, they were out of nearly everything on the menu, which was pretty limited to begin with (it was about 5:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday). All they had was beef and turkey, so we got a beef sandwich, a turkey sandwich and fries. Then we waited in another line to hand our receipt to the guys making sandwiches. Then we waited in a third line to pick up the sandwiches.
Ravenously hungry, we dug into the fries as soon as we got in the car, but they were terrible; cold (it'd been less than 5 minutes since they were put in the bag), soggy and limp. Very disappointing.
When we got back to the hotel and unwrapped the sandwiches, I was surprised at what I saw - two thin, soggy pieced of white bread surrounding about three inches of meat. That was it. So we dispensed of the soggy bread and dug right into the meat.
THAT'S where the reward was - tender, juicy, BURSTING with flavor. It was pretty awesome.
In hindsight, I should have dispensed with the extras at Schwartz's and just bought the smoked meat by the pound. Them I needed to visit Marche Atwater for some fresh bread and produce, and make myself a real sandwich. THAT will be the plan next time.
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