“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.
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