Turkey Sandwich Madness – Final Four

It’s been a great weekend of basketball, but it’s going to be an even better week of Turkey Sandwiches.  Today, we announce the Turkey Sandwich Madness Final Four.

In the Sliced Bread Region:

Game 1 pits #1 seed, Zoka’s against Pat’s Philly Cheesesteaks.  Wow.  This is a really tough match-up and very easily could have been a battle for the championship.  When it comes down to it, I’ve only had Zoka’s once, and although it was an incredible Turkey Sandwich, I don’t know about their consistency.  I would go back and have another one, but it’s a long drive and they change their menu pretty often.  What if I drove all the way there and it wasn’t on the menu?  I don’t have to worry about that with Pat’s - and for that reason alone, they advance…it a tight one.

Game 2 has Brick Store vs. Lori’s Boar’s Head Deli.  Geez, this is another really tough one.  Both are incredible sandwiches.  Brickstore grills their TS to perfection and has that delicious mustard.  Lori’s uses Boar’s Head Turkey and serves the sandwich hot.  Lori’s wins by the slimmest of margins.  It hurts, but someone must go home.

Game 3  has long-time juggernaut, The Gristmill against Whole Foods.  This one is pretty easy as Gristmill advances since they have a secret weapon – prime sauce.  I don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s good.

Our final match-up of the day is Mendelson’s against P’sghetti’s.  My old hometown vs. my new one.  I had P’sgetti’s last time I visited St. Louis and I have to admit – it wasn’t as good as I remembered.  Mendelson’s moves on to the Final Four.

There you have it.  Our Final Four is set and it will be:

Pat’s vs. Lori’s Boar’s Head Deli

Gristmill vs. Mendelson’s

What a battle this is going to be.

Day 2 – Turkey Sandwich Madness

Day 2 of Turkey Sandwich Madness.  Today we head to the Sliced Bread Region.  Lots of good action today, so let’s get right to it.

• In our first match-up, we have a battle of Colorado with #1 seed, Zoka’s of Pine, CO takes on Denver’s Walnut Room.  On paper, this is a rout.  But I eat at the Walnut Room a lot more than Zoka’s.  And the Walnut Room makes a solid sandwich.  But with all of that said, Zoka’s prevails in a squeaker because their bread is better.
• In our second match-up, we have Pat’s Philly Cheesesteaks vs. Loco’s.  At one point, I considered Pat’s to be one of the giants of the Turkey Sandwich industry.  Since then, they have fallen off a little as grew a little tired of the Gobbler.  Loco’s had a great showing in my last visit to Georgia, but in the end Pat’s survives and advances because thinking about their regular Turkey Sandwich makes me very hungry right now.
• Newcomer Brick Store takes on old standby Panera (St. Louis) Bread in our next pairing.  I’ve eaten at both places in the last week and was impressed with both: Brick Store and their Grilled Turkey and Panera with their Smokehouse Turkey.  But Brick Store pulls away in the end because of their spicy mustard.  Mmmm…damn that sounds good right now.
• In our final match-up, we have the unseeded Lori’s Boar’s Head Deli from Evergreen, CO takes on Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli.  Heidi’s got their seed mostly due to their ranking in the Turkey Top 10.  To be honest, I’ve only been to Heidi’s a couple times and I think they were grossly overrated.  Lori’s Boar’s Head Deli ROLLS in what looks like an upset, but really isn’t.

Next round in the Sliced Bread Region:

• Zoka’s vs. Pat’s
• Brick Store vs. Lori’s Boar’s Head Deli

Day 1 – Turkey Sandwich Madness

In Day 1 of Turkey Sandwich Madness, we go to the Hoagie Region.

• #3 Seed, The Gristmill is paired up against fellow Texan, Shady Grove.  This is a tough first round match-up for the folks from Austin and The Gristmill easily advances.
• In a match-up of unseeded competitors, Whole Foods takes on Denver’s Fat Jack’s.  Tough battle, but since I have only been to Fat Jack’s once – Whole Foods nudges them out for the victory.
• A lot of people have Mendelson playing into the second weekend in Turkey Sandwich Madness.  To do that, they’ll have to take down Which Wich in Round 1.  Mendelson’s comes thru in flying colors and easily advances.
• In our final Day 1 match-up, we have the unseeded P’sghetti’s taking on Denver’s Snooze. I tried to get a to-go order from Snooze a couple weeks ago, but couldn’t get anyone to help me at the door, so P’sghetti’s pulls off the first upset of the tournament and take down the #3 seed.

This sets up second round matchups of Gristmill vs. Whole Foods and Mendelson’s vs. P’sghetti’s with trips to the Final Four on the line.

Tomorrow, we resume with round 1 from the Sliced Bread Region:

• Zoka’s vs. Walnut Room
• Pat’s vs.s Loco’s
• Panera vs. Brick Store
• Lori’s vs. Heidi’s

Turkey Sandwich Madness

Later this week, we’ll be up to our nutsacks in brackets. Let me add another bracket to the miz: Turkey Sandwich Madness.

On Thursday, I will unveil the field of 16 and a full bracket-style tournament of Turkey Sandwiches.

For now, I will name the Top 4 Seeds and the rest of the places that are in “The Big Dance”. For the sake of making the brackets a little easier to read, I am only going to list WHERE you can get the Turkey Sandwich.

1. Zoka’s, Pine, CO
2. The Gristmill, New Braunfels, TX
3. Snooze, Denver, CO
4. Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli, Denver, CO

Other participants: Pat’s Philly Cheesesteaks, Which Wich, Panera Bread (Saint Louis Bread Company), Loco’s, Mendelson’s, Whole Foods, Brick Store, P’sghetti’s, Fat Jack’s, Walnut Room, Lori’s Boar’s Head Deli, Shady Grove.

If ESPN were to cover this, I’m sure all of the experts would predict the top seeds will reaching the Final Four.

Subway Gives Me Gas

Truth be told: I have been in a major Turkey Sandwich slump lately.  It’s not that I haven’t been craving Turkey Sandwiches, it’s just that I haven’t been been in a situation to have one in recent days.  But, with that said – I did eat at least three of them this past weekend.

Today, I was bound and determined to have a Turkey Sandwich for lunch.  After some heavy deliberation about trying out a new place in town, I decided to go to an old stand-by, the bottom of the barrel: Subway.  At least that’s what people believe is the bottom of the barrel in Denver.  All of my co-workers looked at me as the scum of the Earth when I asked if they wanted anything from Subway.  Absolutely no takers, which was fine with me since this meant that I could ride my bike to get my sandwich.

And I didn’t go to just any Subway – I went to a GAS STATION SUBWAY.  In my book, the Subway hierarchy works like this:

1. Stand alone Subway: still crap, but sometimes clean
2. Mall Subway: disgruntled high school students, food courts
3. Gas Station Subway: total crap, the only thing worse is…
4. Truck Stop Subway: avoid at all risk.  Stick to the beef jerky.

My Sandwich: Turkey, Swiss, lettuce, onion, green peppers, banana peppers, spinach and ranch dressing on Honey Oat bread.

My Review: A direct quote from me after I ate the sandwich: “I’ve had worse. Not great, but I’ve had worse.”

The Result: I had incredible gas the entire day.  Mrs. Turkey Sandwich (who claims that she had a stint as a Sandwich Artist at a Mall Subway) paid me a nice compliment and told me that my gas smelled like the Turkey when they open the plastic bags and dump it in the bins.

Thank you, Subway.  It has always been my dream to emit the smell of Turkey from my ass.  And because of you, today, my dream came true.