AUSTIN, Texas — Schlotzsky’s is serving up two new products. The Ranch Club Sandwich featuring lean shaved ham, smoked turkey, bacon strips, tomatoes and red onions nestled between two warm sourdough buns smothered with ranch dressing. The Ranch Chicken Pizza with grilled chicken strips, melted mozzarella and cheddar cheese, bacon crumbles, roasted red peppers, tomatoes and red onions with (you guessed it) ranch dressing. Both items include an extra side order of ranch dressing. To learn more, or find a store location visit Schlotzskys.com

Editor’s Note: I recently reviewed one of their sandwiches and pizzas.

Good cheesy bread — Not so good pizza.

I don’t know what else to say. It’s not a Pizza. The similar item from Subway is not a pizza either, in my opinion, but let’s move forward. The Schlotzsky’s pie is 8 inches in size, the same as Subway’s personal pizza. It actually looks quite attractive. There’s lots of cheese. It’s cooked properly. It’s made from decent ingredients. But it’s still not a real pizza. It looks like one — but it doesn’t taste like one, and it doesn’t feel like one.

I’m using the Subway personal pizza as a reference, because the two products are direct competitors, similar in content and price, and I’ve had them both recently.

The crust on the Schlotzsky’s pies tastes better then Subway. First off, it’s sourdough. Some may find that unusual for pizza crust, but it’s quite good. When cooked properly (which this was) there’s a nice combination of chewiness with a bit of crispy snap. Secondly, it’s baked fresh in the store along with the company’s other buns and baked goods each day, as opposed to the frozen pre-made crusts which Subway uses.

The cheese tastes better than Subway’s version, but there’s more of it, so I cannot accurately distinguish whether this is the result of a Quality or Quantity issue. I suspect it may be both. Either way, the mixture of Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses is very tasty, and it’s piled on thick. Along with the crust, it serves as highlights of this pie.

The pepperoni is on par with Subway’s and here lies part of the problem. When I order a pepperoni pizza, I expect that one of the main flavors will be — Pepperoni. Not here. What are these sandwich shops doing? Why is their pepperoni so bland? Maybe since they are not a “Real” pizza place, we are not supposed to notice, or care about it. Perhaps they figure enough cheese on top will distract us. Sorry, I noticed and I care.

The sauce is another big issue, with both Subway and Schlotzsky’s pies. I would do a direct comparison between the two, but the Schlotzsky’s pizzas have so little sauce, it’s not even possible for me to get a good sample. You will see in the photo, the cheese is good and thick, but peel back that layer of dairy, and you’ve got yourself a nearly naked crust staring back. Dry (except grease) and bitter, that crust is ANGRY.

It’s so disappointing, at least to me, that after my 3rd pie with the same results, I called one of the stores my order(s) came from, and asked them about the sauce, and the amount used. They described the sauce as being “very rich” and the proportion they use as being “kinda small” so it doesn’t “overpower the pizza”. OK fine, thanks.

At this point in the review, I’d like to take a 5 minute break to pound my face against the keyboard repeatedly. Was it my dumb question? Or their unsatisfying response?

Schlotzsky’s Pepperoni and Double Cheese Pizza is a confusing item. Great bread and good cheese. Bland pepperoni and almost non-existent sauce. What’s the deal? If somebody were to serve this to me blindfolded, telling me it was “cheesy-bread” or “cheese-sticks”, I would probably be happy and satisfied. But it’s not a very good pizza. That said, it earns a higher score than Subway for superior crust and cheese.

Price: $5.40 / Website: Schlotzskys.com

Fast Food Critic Score: C

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Nutrition Facts - Schlotzsky’s, Pepperoni and Double Cheese Pizza.

Calories - 685
Calories from Fat - 267
Total Fat - 30 grams
Carbs - 74 grams
Saturated Fat - 13 grams
Trans Fat - 1.0 grams
Cholesterol - 71 milligrams
Sodium - 1740 milligrams

“Hold the Mayo” - or in this case - “Hold the Chipotle-Flavored Mayo.”

That’s the most important piece of advice I could give about purchasing this sandwich from Schlotzsky’s Deli. After having it both ways, I can tell you the dry path is the happy path. Unless of course you’re a fan of funky flavored mayonnaise, in which case you can leave it on. However, since you won’t be needing all that roast beef due to the creepy orange sauce drowning out it’s flavor, perhaps I can take some off your hands.

But first, let’s start with the great bun. Schlotzsky’s bakes the sourdough bread fresh in store, every day. This freshness is evident the moment you smell, see or touch it. This is the type bread you could eat plain, on it’s own. I would love to have a batch of these rolls at home to build my own custom sandwich creations. Granted, I like sourdough bread to begin with, so those who aren’t fans probably won’t be nearly as excited.

Stacked inside the tasty, chewy roll are generous layers of Angus Roast Beef. The meat is lean, shaved thin and so tender it almost melts in your mouth. There is a nice smokey flavor, and the smell will hit you before the taste, as soon as you remove the paper deli wrap. The aroma of freshly baked sourdough and smokey roast beef might seem surreal if you’re only accustomed to burgers and nuggets. This is still a ‘chain’ restaurant and mass meal production, make no mistake about it, but the quality and freshness of ingredients comes closer to a hometown deli than average fast food.

I was happy to get some charred blackened crusty edges from the giant roasted slab my slices had come from. It was a pleasant, edgy reminder this is real beef, and not some meat-product or loaf. On top of the thick stack of beef are several thin strips of bacon. Despite tasting good, they have never been ‘crispy’ as advertised. I have eaten the sandwich 4 times in total, at 3 different locations, so I’m not sure what’s going on. Heat and moisture of the warm beef, bun and cheese will soften bacon, but that hasn’t prevented many other types of sandwiches and burgers from maintaining some crispness. The bacon on this sandwich is rather limp and soggy, but it’s not enough to hurt the overall experience too much. Still, crispy bacon would be much better.

Chunks and crumbled bits of smoked cheddar cheese melting above-and-below the meat assure that no bite escapes without it’s fair share. The cheese was natural and had an excellent flavor. After so many weak ‘blends’ and shredded cheese-products lately, it’s worth the extra cost for something better. Good beef - good cheese.

Finally, the chipotle-flavored mayonnaise. Ech! Awful. It ruins the sandwich. I have no idea why somebody would take all the wonderful, natural flavors of fresh sourdough, roast beef, smokey cheddar, and then assault them with goops of flavored sauce. It’s a standard ingredient on the sandwich, and they put it on both sides of the bun, so you must request they “hold” it. Now you understand why the review started that way.

The Bacon Beefy Smokecheesy from Schlotzsky’s is very good, but comes with a few caveats. Avoid the orange mayo. The bacon is disappointing. And $6 is a bit pricey. But you get what you pay for — A large sandwich, with large portions of good quality ingredients. In a world where much of the fast-food we consume is over-processed and confusing, grabbing a simple sandwich with big hunks of meat and cheese helps to make sense of it all. A few issues keep this one from reaching ‘awesome’ status.

Price: $5.79 / Website: Schlotzskys.com

Fast Food Critic Score: B

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Nutrition Facts - Schlotzsky’s Deli, Bacon Beefy Smokecheesy Sandwich.

The company has not published the nutritional information for this product. This sandwich is from a line they call “featured” and “limited time”. Fast Food Critic makes a point to post the nutrition facts with every food review, and will update this once Schlotzsky’s Deli releases that information.