Showing posts with label Breakfast Sandwich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breakfast Sandwich. Show all posts

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Top 25 Breakfast Sandwiches Of All Time

Seeking a quality breakfast sandwich but don't have time to compare all the "Best of the year" lists and use the search function? Does sifting through reviews only to constantly come across Reports From The Lab send you into fits of rage? This post is for you! I've compiled the top rated sandwiches and created a Best of All Time list.

**Obligatory Disclaimer**
I have stated this numerous times over the years but this is the ideal place to repeat it - these rankings are based not only on the sandwich itself but on my overall experience of the day. I stand by my ratings of the sandwiches, however, it would be wise of you to at least skim the full review of a sandwich prior to visiting an establishment so you get an idea of what I was talking about. I'm behooving you look beyond the rating to gather a full understanding of the sandwich you seek. Consider yourself behooved. You Won't Get Behooved Again.

5.00 - Xoco
4.99 - Sardine
4.91 - Bloom Bake Shop
4.90 - The Heights
4.90 - Bradbury's (Crepe)
4.80 - Porter
4.80 - Gotham Bagels
4.75 - Johnson Public House
4.71 - Crema Cafe
4.71 - Casetta Kitchen
4.70 - Crema Cafe
4.70 - La Taguara (Breakfast Arepa)
4.70 - Kingston Cafe
4.69 - Underground Butcher
4.69 - Off Broadway
4.67 - Graze
4.62 - Mint Mark
4.61 - Stella Blu Cafe (Panini)
4.60 - The Old Fashioned
4.58 - Gotham Bagels
4.57 - Tavernakaya (Buns)
4.50 - Players
4.50 - 4 & 20
4.48 - Stalzy's
4.44 - Short Stack
4.44 - Ancora Coffee

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This list is up to date as of February 10, 2019. It may be updated as new sandwiches find their way into the Hall of Fame but that will likely happen sporadically. 

Saturday, January 7, 2017

The Whole Damn 2016 Year End List


Not surprisingly, I ate fewer breakfast sandwiches in 2016 than in 2015 (31 compared to 49). It's not easy keeping up that level of intake, especially when trying to get to new locations after having nearly exhausted those in my immediate vicinity. You think being a sandwich blogger is all glitz and glitter and beautiful people serving you bacon on a gilded cushion? It is not. To be fair it isn't very hard either. How do you rate the level of sacrifice involved with driving to Middleton on a Saturday morning? That's how hard this is. It isn't trench warfare.

The biggest news of 2016 was that breakfast sandwich perfection was found. A Chorizo-Egg Torta proved to me that a perfect rating could be had. I wasn't sure if it could happen or what it would look like, I only hoped that I would recognize it when it revealed itself. I did, and it was beautiful. I shed a single tear and the salinity of that sob droplet blended perfectly with the chorizo and egg and formed a rainbow in my mouth.

Several months later I had the opposite experience at Denny's. The Moons Over My Hammy sandwich tasted like it had enough salt to melt the polar ice cap and at $8.59 (including hash browns) is one of the biggest ripoffs in the sandwich-sphere. I still haven't completely given up on the idea of filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of those who have had to endure this abomination.

Looking at the numbers it would appear that 2016 was more about quality than quantity. The average rating for a sandwich was 4.02 compared to 3.59 in 2015. The average cost was a bit higher as well, $6.95 vs. $6.65 although the inclusion of sides throws that number off. I spent a total of $166.84 on sandwiches not including tax, coffee, etc. That's down $125.89 from 2015.

A couple of other trends jump off the page. Most of the fast food or chain restaurants are clumped together at the 3.5 rating, which seems high in retrospect, but that's where they rated. Also, what's with all the "Public Houses"? There are three of them here but not a single "Diner". Diners aren't really known for breakfast sandwiches although perhaps I need to explore that more.

In general I think my ratings were a bit more generous in 2016. I've touched on this subject before and it's not worth getting into again, but I think it's accurate.

So, here is the whole list of 2016, excluding homemade sandwiches which I no longer rate but still include in the total of sandwiches consumed. As always, the ratings are just a number. To get a better understanding of the sandwich you need to read the review but to get to the true heart and soul of the sandwich you need to eat it.

5.00 - Xoco
4.99 - Sardine
4.91 - Bloom Bake Shop
4.75 - Johnson Public House
4.70 - Kingston Cafe
4.69 - Off Broadway
4.40 - Players Sports Bar
4.35 - Ted's Market
4.29 - Crostini
4.19 - Holstein Kitchen
4.00 - Lazy Jane's
3.99 - Plaka
3.95 - Waypoint Public House
3.90 - Wilson's
3.89 - C's Restaurant
3.80 - Barriques (Atwood)
3.80 - Yola's
3.70 - Roast Public House
3.69 - Collectivo Coffee
3.50 - Chick-fil-A
3.50 - McDonald's
3.50 - Panera
3.40 - Taco Bell
2.99 - Hotel Continental Breakfast
1.56 - Denny's

What of 2017, then? I'm almost completely out of new places to visit in the Madison area. I'll still try to find those and will likely double back on a few that I have already been to. I'd like to have more guest reviewers. Maybe some chef can recreate and explain to me the perfect puffy egg cloud I had shortly before Christmas. Maybe I'll just go to Bradbury's every weekend interspersed with occasional trips to Sardine. Maybe some of you sandwich enthusiasts have fantastic ideas that I haven't considered and you'll pass them along.

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Sunday, October 30, 2016

Breakfast Sandwich #69 - Player's Sports Bar & Grill aka Comin' Around Full Circle

Sandwich: Buzzy with Bacon
Location: Players Sports Bar & Grill
Date: October 29, 2016
Cost: $7.50

If you've been following along here you know that The Buzzy Sandwich at Player's is essentially what inspired this endeavor. The Buzzy was the first step on this journey but it never received a proper review as I hadn't yet found any form or structure for this mess. I thought it would only be a matter of a few months before I made it back there to properly document The Buzzy. Well, 20 months later I had business to attend to in the neighborhood and I finally pulled up a bar stool at Player's to reacquaint myself with an old pal.

I think I have a soft spot for the Buzzy due to it's name - I used to have a cat and one of her nicknames was "Buzzy" because she liked to sit on the back of the couch with her head kind of jutted forward and drooping down, much like a buzzard. Now I wish I had asked why this sandwich is called Buzzy.

Although this is the breakfast menu I believe The Buzzy is available whenever the grill is open. 

OK, this is a terrible photo. The sandwich was already nicely sliced when it arrived and I tried to arrange it so you could see the ooey-gooey innards which resulted in me plopping half of the sandwich onto the hash browns which I had already put ketchup on. So, yes, this photo is a hot mess but just look at that sandwich!
The Sandwich - Buzzy Sandwich w/Bacon. I've never ordered it with ham or sausage. I could see ordering the sausage someday. The only option offered is the meat. The egg was not runny, but the yolk was only semi-solid. There was plenty of melty cheese and the bacon was cooked crisp but not burnt. The toast was the perfect vehicle for this sandwich, it kept everything in check but was still soft with a light crunch. Overall this sandwich pushes the salt limit for me, but in a good way. It's too-salty-enough, or something like that. 

The Result - 4.4 OHMYGODITSSOGOODTOSEEYOUAGAINS out of 5 OHMYGODITSSOGOODTOSEEYOUAGAINS. Damn fine sandwich. I was a little nervous going back here - what if the sandwich didn't cut the mustard? What would I do? Would my shattered dreams force me to close this thing down and leave you, the vaguely interested reader, to fend for yourself in a crazy world of even crazier sandwiches? I was having sandwich nostalgia and I didn't want it torn apart. Luckily, we do not have to think about these things because The Buzzy delivered. It was like a comfy hug from inside my belly, but not like in the movie Alien. 

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Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Breakfast Sandwich #65 - Johnson Public House aka Special Agents Recommend Special Sandwiches

Sandwich: Sunday Morning
Location: Johnson Public House
Date: September 11, 2016
Cost: $7

I had heard the rumblings about the Sunday Morning sandwich at Johnson Public House but hadn't hadn't made it a point to stop in there. In retrospect it was foolish to wait this long.

Honestly, I was really in the mood for breakfast sausage on this morning as the past 3 reviews have all included ham, and before that it had been a solid run of bacon-focused sandwiches. Things have been a little hamcentric here lately and that was going to continue for at least one more day.

Breakfast sausage aside, I wanted a really good cup of coffee and JPH fell more or less on the path of my morning errand. Also, I read the description of the Sunday Morning sandwich and whenever I see the words ham and maple syrup together I can only think of Special Agent Dale Cooper.

The description from their web site:

Sunday Morning: ham + maple syrup + cheddar + fried egg

Very enticing. 

I couldn't decide if this shot or the following one with the direct sun was better.

Too much sun? Probably. 
The Sandwich - Sunday Morning. No options are offered. As soon as this sandwich came out I forgot about my desire for breakfast sausage. The top piece of bread was slightly askew and when I lifted it I saw that the yolk was still a little bit runny. What a pleasant surprise. When I think of coffee shop sandwiches I think of boring eggs that have probably been microwaved or whatever, but this sandwich immediately pushed that thought out of my head. You can see the nice base of melty cheddar on the bottom and while you can't see the maple syrup, it is there. The maple syrup is the key here - there is just enough to combine with the ham in a tasty way but not so much that it takes over and is oozing out all over the place. I was afraid there would be too much. Agent Cooper was really on to something here. That top piece of bread might look burnt, but no, it had a nice toasted char to it and while this was a fairly messy affair, the bread kept things together.

The Result - 4.75 Special Agents out of 5 Special Agents. I have definitely been more generous with my ratings in 2016, at least on the really good sandwiches. Maybe I've just been hitting the right places at the right time. OK, but anyway, this was a great sandwich. This could easily be a 5. I can't think of what I would do to improve it. Maybe serve it with a little wet nap like you get at a barbecue place? Make the egg runnier and the sandwich even messier and serve it with two wet naps? The perfect amount of syrup does make your fingers sticky and then when you try to take photos of the sandwich your phone gets a little sticky. That might be the definition of a First World Problem. This sandwich also gets points for creativity - nobody else is making anything like this out there in the field. Are they? If they are I'd like to know about it. I think this sandwich would also work with breakfast sausage in place of the ham, although perhaps not as well. I'm going to have to try the other sandwiches at some point - I almost ordered the roast beef but Agent Cooper kept me on track. The cup of Kenyan coffee was incredible.


Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Breakfast Sandwich #64 - Sardine aka Pushing The Limits Of The Definition

Sandwich: Croque Madame
Location: Sardine
Date: August 28, 2016
Cost: $15.50, comes with mixed greens and frites and two adorable little pickles.

I had been hearing about the Sardine brunch for some time, particularly the bloody mary, and realized it was finally the right time to go. The weather was perfect for a bike ride and the proximity to my next destination, the Orton Park Festival, lined up. Timing is everything. Brunch me up, Sardine!

I don't have a photo of the menu but their web site has all the info:

CROQUE MADAME with Bayonne ham, gruyère cheese, béchamel, egg served with mixed greens and frites. (I think the printed menu listed the egg as "sunny side up").

The egg yolk was a symbolic metaphor for the rest of the day. Note: two adorable little pickles.

Things are getting sloppy here but I wanted you to see the guts of this sandwich. Note: the two adorable little pickles were consumed immediately and are not in this shot.
The Sandwich - Croque Madame. First of all, Croque Madame is as fun to say as Moons Over My Hammy, but for completely different reasons. I probably pronounced it wrong anyway. The server did ask if the sunny side up egg was going to be OK, obviously she is not one of my loyal readers and has not grown weary of my talk of runny eggs. Or, she IS a loyal reader and was just egging me on. This leads me to believe that you could order the egg another way despite how foolish that would be.

Honestly, I was not familiar with Croque Madame, or her male sandwich counterpart Croque Monsieur, but I found a nice little breakdown that answered my main question - why is the version with the egg called "Madame"? (The egg is said to resemble a woman's hat.) If that's true I'll eat my hat. 

This plate was a work of art when it arrived. Everything about it looked inviting and appetizing. Even the sacrificial pickles cresting between the sandwich and the greens threw off a vibe of "look at how cute we are - YOU MUST EAT US NOW". You might think that the béchamel and the cheese and the runny egg would lead to a goopy mess but they have all the ratios nailed down cause it's all just right. They don't list what type of bread they use but it must be something hardy as it stood up to all that butter and cheese. 

The little cup of Dijon mustard pairs well with the ham and I spent the whole time trying to get the correct ratio of ham/bread/cheese/egg/mustard onto the fork. Even when I didn't succeed the bites were mighty tasty. 

The greens had a slightly sweet flavor, less tangy than most breakfast greens, and are a wonderful pairing. I like my Freedom Frites crispy and that's exactly how these were served. 

The Result - 4.99 Sandwiches By Definition out of 5 Sandwiches By Definition. I can't think of anything wrong with this sandwich, or even this entire meal. While the Croque Madame is by definition a sandwich, you can't pick it up and eat it like a traditional sandwich. You need a fork or you're in trouble. That isn't the fault of the Madame but it wouldn't be fair to the other sandwiches to not point it out. Maybe it isn't technically a breakfast sandwich due to the egg being on the outside of the bread? I'm not going to quibble about such trifles. 

In the past I have grumbled about sandwich prices, perhaps too much, and $15.50 would seem to be a lot for a sandwich, but this is a fairly large meal of excellent food. It's less than twice the cost of Moons Over My Hammy and that sandwich was mouth garbage.

I didn't even mention the beet bloody mary yet. It's still a bloody mary at heart, with a dash of beety goodness that hits you as soon as you sip and then settles into a more traditional bloody mary taste.

Everything about this experience was right on - the perfect morning for a bike ride, the food, service (at the bar) and setting (vibrant but not overly busy and loud), all came together. The overall goal of this research is to see if an excellent sandwich can affect your entire day and attitude and there is no question that this sandwich did that. 














Saturday, August 20, 2016

Breakfast Sandwich #63 - Denny's aka Salt Is A Drug

Sandwich: Moons Over My Hammy
Location: Denny's (East)
Date: August 19, 2016
Cost: $8.59, comes with choice of potato

Somehow it took 20 months for me to visit one of the more obvious choices for a breakfast sandwich. I think my cousin even called out the The Grand Slamwich in the early days of these reviews, and now that I finally made it to Denny's* I didn't even order it. 

Prior to my Denny's visit if you had asked me who makes the "Moons Over My Hammy" sandwich I would have said "IHOP". I think I may have been mixing up my cheekily-named chain restaurant breakfasts. See "Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity". I guess those are the only two breakfast menu items I can think of with cutesy names. You don't see Waffle House jackin' around with dumb names but you can order a Waffle House tie dye tshirt from their web site. I hope I see somebody walking around in one of those. I will buy them a breakfast sandwich, or a hashbrown bowl, if available.

The dream...

...vs. the reality

#whogivesaratsassaboutfluffypancakes
The Sandwich - Moons Over My Hammy. I was going to get The Grand Slamwich but the caloric content scared me off. There are no options with the sandwich although they offer you choice of potato - the menu only lists browns. I like the idea that this sandwich has American AND Swiss cheese on it. I also like that it comes on sourdough bread. Sadly, those concepts are where my enjoyment ended. This was not a good sandwich. It tasted of salt and not much else. Sodium with a sandwich texture. For some reason I thought the heavy salt flavor was coming from the bread, but I couldn't really pin it down. The very first bite sent me into a Sonic flashback that I didn't enjoy.

I don't think consumer grade cold cut deli ham has any business being near a breakfast sandwich - give me some nice ham or stick with sausage and bacon. I guess I can't complain about the ham too much as all I tasted was salt. 2,560 milligrams of salt, to be exact, which is more sodium than you should have in an entire day. The Sonic sandwich only had 1,560 mg of sodium and that was bad enough. Maybe I can blame the ham for some of the salt flavor.


The Result - 1.56 Bad Sodium Trips out of 5 Bad Sodium Trips. I'm giving this the same ranking as the Sonic sandwich. This one might have been worse than the Sonic sandwich but it's hard to compare them 18 months apart. It certainly wasn't any better than The Breakfast Toaster. The fun pretty much ended right after I said "Moons Over My Hammy", which I did enjoy saying. Honestly, this sandwich made me feel just a little "off" for the rest of the morning. I was glad I had brought a salad for lunch. 

I guess this sandwich did serve a higher purpose in that it got me talking about salt which reminded me of one of the greatest songs to come out of a Madison band - More Salt.

The coffee and hash browns were fine. I actually enjoyed the hash browns quite a bit but that may have been in comparison to the sandwich. 

*If you didn't click the Denny's link just know that you are missing the "Pancake Rejection Simulator", which I think you should check out. Todd will be sad if you don't.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Breakfast Sandwich #62 - Off Broadway aka Just Like (Sand)wiches At Black Masses

Sandwich: Breakfast War Pig
Location: Off Broadway Drafthouse
Date: August 6, 2016
Cost: $11.50, comes with a side of greens

Off Broadway is the retooled South Bay Lounge, tucked just a bit off of W. Broadway near South Towne Mall. The chef came over from Crema Cafe and brought the War Pig sandwich which had been an occasional weekend special at Crema and one that I had never gotten around to trying. Crema Cafe lists their specials in a weekly email, with descriptions, so if you don't make it to the restaurant you know exactly what you are missing:


Breakfast War Pig
Grilled Niman Ranch pork loin, Uphoff Farms ham, Jones Farm bacon, fried egg, melted Muenster cheese, citrus aioli, red onion and baby arugula on toasted ciabatta. Served with greens in our citrus vinaigrette.


You can imagine my excitement in learning that this would be a regular item on the Off Broadway menu.

Just look at all that pig.
The Sandwich - Breakfast War Pig. The sandwich came out of the kitchen piping hot - there were actually little steam curls coming off of it but I couldn't capture them from the angle that the light was coming from. It comes pre-sliced revealing layer upon layer of pork to satisfy all your goyem taste buds. The pork loin is the biggest flavor on this sandwich and it hits you right away. It was grilled perfectly and was a bit juicy but not overly so. The crispy saltiness of the bacon follows right after the pork loin and is a very nice compliment, indeed. The fried egg is almost superfluous. This is technically a breakfast sandwich but in reality is more of a pork sandwich that has a fried egg on it. The meat to egg ratio is much higher than on your average breakfast sandwich. This isn't a bad thing, and is probably evident from the photo, but it's worth noting. The greens give this a healthy nod and the Muenster cheese pairs up with the citrus aioli to give this the proper viscosity. The red onions didn't want to cooperate and fell out of the sandwich a few times, but with this much pork you need some onion on there for a little zip. The toasted ciabatta did an admiral job of corralling the pig which was no easy feat. It wasn't overly bready and held sturdy while not being too thick and chewy.

The Result - 4.69 Sandwiches Named After Black Sabbath Songs out of 5 Sandwiches Named After Black Sabbath Songs. This was an excellent and filling sandwich. After eating this I went to an outdoor music festival and didn't eat again for another 7 or 8 hours. There is nothing wrong with this sandwich but I'm not convinced the ham needs to be there, I didn't really taste it although I'm sure it added some of that delicious saltiness. I wonder what would happen if you cooked the egg so it had a runny yolk? It might get overly sloppy - but pigs like slop. 

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Breakfast Sandwich #60 - Collectivo Coffee aka Vague Recollections

Sandwich: Bacon Biscuit
Location: Collectivo Coffee, Monroe St.
Date: July 3, 2016
Cost: $6.25

Collectivo Coffee is relatively new to Monroe Street, at least for me, since I'm rarely over there in the morning. Stopping here was a last minute decision and then I didn't sit down to write about it for over two weeks so this review is admittedly pretty weak.
That's a nice little hat.

The stuff!
The Sandwich - Bacon Biscuit. Eggs, cheddar, bacon. No options offered although they have a Veggie Sausage Biscuit that sounds like it has potential. I don't write down my thoughts when I'm eating these sandwiches so all I have to go on are my mental notes, which are shaky at best. What I recall of this sandwich is that while it was perfectly tasty, the consistency wasn't right for me. Everything was all mashed together and the biscuit texture reminded me of the corn muffins I had when I was a kid. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it just wasn't hitting me in the sweet spot. If you're reading this you know what eggs, bacon and cheddar taste like (really good) and this was exactly that.

The Result - 3.69 Vague Reviews out of 5 Vague Reviews. I noted in my year end round up that my rating scale varied a lot over the course of 2015 and in the middle of the year when I was consuming a lot of sandwiches I felt that my ratings were lower than during other parts of the year. It's too late to go back and revise those but I have to go with my gut feeling on this one so this sandwich just isn't up there with the rest of the pack. What I mean is that there are probably some sandwiches from middle of last year that are ranked lower than this one but that I enjoyed more. Blame the consistency, which is purely subjective. Also, I think it's a little pricey, but you do get to sit in a beautiful open-air space and have a delicious cold brew coffee. That is nice.



Sunday, June 26, 2016

Breakfast Sandwich #59 - Yola's Cafe aka Going Down Easy

Sandwich: Signature Breakfast Sandwich
Location: Yola's Cafe
Date: June 24, 2016
Cost: $5.99

Yola's Cafe is on the far west side and fell almost directly in my path on the way to an event. I have no idea how long they have been there but I lived out here many years ago and at that time it was a field, probably with a "For Sale" sign on it. (This was a sandwich shop, now it's all covered with flowers?)

I didn't live out here in 1976 but the point remains.


They have a Signature Sandwich...

...but oh, the options!

The Signature Sandwich, reposed.

This is a breakfast sandwich on a patio.
The Sandwich - Signature Breakfast Sandwich. I briefly considered building my own sandwich but decided to let The Signature plead it's case. You can see from the photo that they swapped out the mixed spring greens for leaf lettuce. The bacon was a little crispier than I would have liked, the egg was fried, the bread hearty, and lightly toasted. A ciabatta can hold a gooey mess together and could have handled a runny egg. The cheddar-herb cream cheese brought a proper amount of creamy consistency.

The Result - 3.8 Former Fields out of 5 Former Fields. This was a good sandwich but perhaps I should have gone with my gut instinct and built my own. This one was very smooth and went down quick and easy. It could have used more kick, sharp cheddar and a little hot sauce. I could have had red onion, and avocado and salsa. That would have been a wonderful mess. These are all things that speak to my preferences rather than this particular sandwich. I think the bottom line is that I went about my research in the wrong way on this morning. Still, it was a good sandwich.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Breakfast Sandwich #58 - Crostini Sandwiches aka Down On The Corner

Sandwich: Bird's Nest BLT
Location: Crostini Sandwiches
Date: June 18, 2016
Cost: $6.25

Crostini Sandwiches has been cranking out flavor on the corner of North and East Johnson Streets for 3 years. The space used to be a Milio's and then briefly became an empanada shop that was never open when I tried to go there. It's currently sandwiched (that's right) between a retro/vintage stuff shop and a sketchy looking Asian Massage joint. It also happens to be my neighborhood sandwich shop, for which I feel very lucky. Everybody should have a place like this just down the street from their house.

I've had several Italian Beef sandwiches, the Crostini Combo and the Chicago Dog (not listed on their online menu) and they set my expectations high. I think the breakfast sandwich is a relatively new offering, or I just hadn't noticed it on the menu board before.

Saturdays Only!

To be perfectly clear - that is only half of the sandwich.

The Sandwich - Bird's Nest BLT. The only choice offered is the bread, white or 9 grain wheat. I went with the wheat and I ordered this sandwich to go. As with previous Crostini sandwiches, I was impressed and tantalized as soon as I opened the bag. The spring mix was piled on thick and it was one of those sandwiches you knew was going to require multiple napkins. Sloptastic! The bacon was crisp, the egg was fried and the bread was perfectly toasted but not quite up to the task at hand. You would need a baguette or something hardier than standard bread to keep this sandwich in check. The tomato was the only sub-par part of this sandwich and thats probably due to the time of the season.

The Result - 4.29 Corner Sandwich Shops out of 5 Corner Sandwich Shops. I've noticed my ratings are higher when I haven't had a breakfast sandwich for several weeks but still, this was a fine sandwich. I liked the ample amount of greens and the level of slop. Normally I like a runny egg but that wouldn't have worked on this one, the slop would have been UNCONTROLLABLE. Whatever. Crostini has yet to steer me wrong and I'm proud to call them my neighbor. 

Friday, June 19, 2015

Breakfast Sandwich #27 - Hardee's aka You Play The Hand You're Dealt

Sandwich: Grilled Cheese Breakfast Sandwich w/Sausage
Location: Hardee's (East Washington Ave.)
Date: June 19, 2015
Cost: $3.79

I had the day off from work but I had an early appointment for blood work which meant I couldn't eat or drink anything prior. Naturally, this meant that I would be hungry and thinking about food as I drove to the hemoglobin factory. I was trying to think of someplace along the way that has breakfast sandwiches but I'd already visited the ones in the area that I knew were on the list. I was coming up empty.

Sometimes the universe sends you a sign. It may not be the sign you want, but it may be the sign you need.
Holy crap. I guess I need to stop.
So that's how it happened. Hardee's wasn't even on the list to review, somehow I had not considered them. I hadn't had Hardee's breakfast in well over a decade.

Since we're already talking about blood I'll relate this story. Years ago I had a job and we would sometimes work on the weekend. At some point in the morning somebody would make a run to Hardee's and bring back breakfast. One Saturday morning my coworker Tim Bob was eating his Hardee's Biscuits & Gravy and all of a sudden he made a horrible face and spit into his hand. It was a vein, about 3/4" long, maybe even 1" long, and about 1/8" diameter. I guess that's the risk you take when you eat dead animals but I was glad I had only ordered the cinnamon rolls.
I have photos of the rest of the breakfast menu board but I don't think you really need to see them.

It looks nicely toasted but that cheese isn't melted enough.

I don't know, it looks OK.
The Sandwich - Grilled Cheese Breakfast Sandwich w/Sausage. The other option is bacon. They're really pushing this new item, as soon as I pulled up to the order board they asked if I wanted to try the new Grilled Cheese Breakfast Sandwich. It's almost like they saw me taking a photo of the sign out by the road. The first taste when taking a bite was the salty sausage. That gave way to a paste-like texture, not really in a good way. I didn't know until I looked up their menu online that this sandwich has Swiss cheese on it. I thought it was paste. I felt like the weird kid in 4th grade art class who will eat paste just to get a reaction. I did a lot of dumb stuff in the 4th grade but I didn't eat paste. The bread looked pretty good but was kind of doughy and chewy. I guess the egg was fine and the American cheese was as expected. This sandwich just wasn't working for me. I felt bad eating it. I had just had blood drawn to check cholesterol and whatever else they check, and now I was eating this. 255 mg of cholesterol, 1820 mg of sodium, 17 g saturated fat and probably a vein or two. I don't think my Doctor reads this blog but he's going to see the test results so I can't deny it.

The Result - 2.19 veins out of 5 veins. It's probably not the worst breakfast sandwich I've ever had but it wasn't good. The overall mouth feel of this sandwich is its biggest downfall. Not much else to say about this but I'm going for a bike ride now to try and cleanse my aura and ventricles.

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