Jason’s Deli
4130 East 82nd Street
Indianapolis, Indiana  46250
http://www.jasonsdeli.com

Jason’s is still relatively new to the capital city and I was slow to try it.  The menu online was kind of boring, so I decided to wait for a while.   I was going to the Nordstrom Rack to find some sweet threads for cheap and I can’t shop for anything on an empty stomach, so I had to make a pit stop.  Plus, they have free ice cream.  The only thing better than free ice cream is free love.  Depending on who’s giving the love, I might even take ice cream.

What I Ate: Half New York Yankee and salad bar.  Cost, with a soda was around $9.00

Anytime that I want a salad bar, my body is begging for some greens.  The salad bar was pretty decent looking.   I didn’t get the all you can eat option, so I loaded it up with the one trip that I had.   The bread was horrible and quickly discarded.  The produce was relatively fresh, but the ingredients seemed pretty cheap.  Bacon and cheese were definitely lacking in quality and I didn’t like the Italian dressing.   I didn’t hate it, but I would never come here for the salad bar alone.

I had to get past the idea that the sandwich is called the New York Yankee, as it is named after the most BS baseball team ever.   I see my Google stats and I don’t think that I am losing any fans saying that.    The New York Yankee is made up of hot corned beef, pastrami, Swiss cheese and mustard or mayonnaise, all served on rye bread.  The rye and the meat were the quality that I would expect from a chain.  It didn’t offend me, but definitely not the real good stuff.  I prefer for the cheese to be a little melty, but that was not the case here.   The good news about this sandwich is…huge!  This was a half sandwich and I could barely knock it down after my salad.

After my meal, I decided to gorge myself and make a kick ass root beer float with the free ice cream.  Well played and it hit the spot.

Would I Buy It Again?   Sure, why not?    I didn’t love what I had, but I didn’t hate it.   Considering that I had a salad, huge sandwich, chips, pickle and a root beer float for under $10, I thought it was a good value.    I like to think about what I would compare it to and if you like McAlister’s, Paradise or Panera, you will probably be fond of Jason’s.   However, at Paradise, you get an awesome cookie and here you get ice cream.  Kind of a toss up.

-wibia

Arby’s
http://www.arbys.com

I’ll be the first to admit that I am no fan of Arby’s.  It used to be my favorite fast food joint, but when the prices kept increasing and the food quality went down, I stopped going.  I must be a glutton for punishment, because on a recent weekend, I decided to hit Arby’s for the first time in over two years for lunch since I saw that they are now offering a limited time offering sandwich called the “Super Reuben.”  Their advertising campaign boasts their food is “Good Mood Food,” so I was daring enough to see if I would feel that way after I ate.

What I Got:  Super Reuben Combo; $7.99 + tax.

I’m too lazy to type out a physical description of this myself, so because of that, I’ll let Arby’s do it for me:  ”So how do you make a Reuben super? Well, take warm toasty rye bread, pile on thinly sliced corned beef, melted natural Swiss and tangy Sauerkraut with creamy Thousand Island dressing – then add turkey for a double dose of delicious! Now that’s Super.”

Wow, they’ve decided themselves to dub this one as super.  Well, I’m not so sure about that because there was nothing super about this sandwich.  The turkey, while plentifully placed on the sandwich, was nothing special and was just run-of-the-mill.  The corned beef, while also plentiful, was dry and very bland.  The sauerkraut was messy and lacked the tang of a well made sauerkraut and frankly, I’ve had sauerkraut out of a can that was better than this.  As for the “toasty” marble rye bread, well that was a bit of a fabrication too because when you mix in the minimally applied Thousand Island dressing to all the other ingredients, the bread turns soggy and loses all the crunch that you would expect in a nice, toasty Reuben sandwich.  Oh yeah, the cheese…well, it was so unnoticeable that I forgot it was even on there until I just re-read the description.

Would I Buy It Again?  No, absolutely not.  Sandwiches that are failures like this remind me why I stopped going to Arby’s.  It was boring, essentially flavorless and not only that, it was a rip off!  $7.99 for the combo and all I got was this piece of garbage, a drink and some fries.  Ugh.  Oh well, I’m glad I did this though because I’ll now know to not go to Arby’s again for another two years.  What a failure and this is definitely not good mood food.

-IndianpolisEater

Bearcats Restaurant
1050 N. Senate
Indianapolis, IN
http://www.bearcatsindy.net

At the former site of the Loading Dock, Bearcats Restaurant has a nice captive crowd in the Stutz Building.  I needed a quick lunch on the northside of downtown and decided to give it a try.

The menu was lunch standard.  Salads, wraps, three burgers and all moderately priced.  However, it was a coin flip between the hand-cut tenderloin and the Reuben.

What I Ate: Dublin Reuben $7.99.  In-house roasted corned beef, kraut, rye and Thousand Island dressing

The sandwich arrived promptly with the restaurant 70% full.  At first glance, I was bummed to see the straight out of the bag frozen fries, but unfortunately it is difficult to find hand cut fries at places like this.   The good news is that they were just cooked.

My first glance at the Reuben was a lustful one with the corned beef hanging off the side.  I enjoyed the first bite and the next few came with a good amount of frustration.  The Thousand Island was not evenly spread on the Reuben, while some bites had a ton and others very little.   Same goes for the kraut.  Individually, the ingredients were better than the sum.  The corned beef was enjoyable, but I found it to be cut a little thick for my taste and it could be a little more tender.   However, I did not find one piece of fat.   The corned beef was also just plopped on my sandwich as one half had a ton and the other half left a few bites with just bread and dressing.   The Swiss was a non factor and it could’ve used a little more.

Would I Buy It Again?  No. It wasn’t better or worse than the nearby competition.   I liked the actual corned beef, but the sandwich was carelessly assembled.  My biggest problem was…the service!

Though the service was prompt, they were extremely unprofessional.   I was sitting at the bar and the bartender and servers were talking about scheduling issues, other servers, not having enough money, day care issues, etc.   I don’t mind a casual lunch place, but the reason I go to lunch is to get away from BS at work and I surely don’t want to hear about others.

-wibia

Penn Station
http://www.penn-station.com

Overall, I like Penn Station.  They are known for their Philly Cheesesteaks and honestly, it is the worst sandwich there (well, maybe artichoke).  I prefer the Italian or Pizza sub.   Wanting something a little different, I ordered a medium (nine inch) Reuben for roughly $7.00.

It is kind of a stretch to call this a Reuben.  They use their regular sub roll in place of rye bread.  There was a ton of sauerkraut and Thousand Island on the sandwich and both really masked the corned beef and the swiss cheese.

Would I Buy It Again?  Umm…probably not.  This Reuben was poorly assembled, but if I want a Reuben, it has to be on rye.  New rule:  when at Penn Station, I am going to keep ordering the Italian or the Pizza sub.

Also, the guys from the Reuben Realm agree.

This is a great website and I signed up last year to be part of their crew.  I don’t receive e-mails anymore and considering their last review was in September, I think they are finished.  Guys, if you are reading this, please re-unite the band and get the website going again!

-wibia

Shapiro’s Delicatessen
918 S Rangeline Rd.
Carmel, In 46032
http://www.shapiros.com
Also downtown and at Indianapolis International Airport.

An Indiana tradition for the last 105 years. Look at any Indy travel guide and it will tell you to stop by. Old school cafeteria line with all the standards present. During his presidential campaign, Giuliani stopped by and said this reminds him of a NY Deli and it is the real deal. Take that for what it is worth.

What I Ate: Corned Beef on Rye, Deli Mustard. $10.50

It’s a huge sandwich, but I have no problem throwing it down. It is one of those meals that you can eat at 3:00 and skip dinner.

There is an emphasis on quality here and the corned beef is stacked to be presentation friendly. The meat is far superior to McAllister’s or any chain selling Reubens or any variation of a corned beef sandwich.

The rye is awesome. It’s a solid hunk of bread.  Soft on the inside and a nice crispy crust.  If corned beef was Batman, the Rye would be Robin.

Would I Buy It Again? Yes. The Corned Beef and Pastrami are the two sandwiches to get. The sides and entrees at Shapiro’s are down right awful, stay away at all costs. The bakery section has wonderful cakes and pies.

-WIBIA