Around the office, some of the guys like to tease me about my tastes in food. My tastes are, what Kenn referes to as, "narrow". What can I say? I fear change. I am a simple man, with simple tastes. So when we are deciding on where we want to go for lunch every day, the joke is, "do they have a turkey sandwich for Warren?" HAHA Everybody has a big laugh. The truth is, I think it's a good question, DO they have a turkey sandwich for me. Most of the time the answer is "NO", and I have to "try something different" and "expand my horizons". What a bunch of crap. So I've made it my mission to not only find new places where I can get a turkey sandwich, but to find the BEST turkey sandwich in San Francisco....
The gang here was all for my stupid turkey sandwich quest, hell, I think it was their idea. Stupid quests are what we do best (see Tootsie Roll blog). After doing some research on the web, I came up with a bunch of sandwich places near us. None really stood out until I saw "Mr. Pickles Sandwich Shop". Everybody was down with Mr. Pickles, they all knew about Mr. Pickle.
A week earlier on our way to lunch at a Korean BBQ place, or as I called it "Another-place-that-didn't-have-turkey-sandwiches", we passed Mr. Pickles. It had a very interesting sandwich board out in front. It was a giant man/pickle. Well, not GIANT, but big, bigger then most man/pickles you see on the street. He was five and half feet from the bottom of his boots to the top of his sombraro.
(left to right) Ken Pontac, Mr. Pickle, Warren Graff
Boots? Sombraro? Did I fail to mention that Mr. Pickle, and I'm assuming this was Mr. Pickle, was dressed like a Mexican bandito. Instead of guns in his holsters, he had mustard and mayonaise. Instead of bullets in his belts he had pickles. We all wondered "Why? Why a Mexican bandito? ". We had a good laugh about it the rest of the way to "Another-place-that-didn't-have-turkey-sandwiches". Then the mystery of Mr. Pickle was forgotten, until now.
Warren Graff makes a difficult decision
We walked in the joint and found no answers to the bandito mystery. I guess the world isn't ment to know some secrets. We did find sandwiches. I'm not going to turn this into a restaurant review, so lets just say it was good, not the best turkey sandwich in San Francisco, but good. At least mine was good. Ken ended up puking his guts out that night, and didn't come to work the next day. Mr. Pickles revenge? Perhaps. All I know is, the quest continues.!
(left to right) Kenn Navarro, Warren Graff, Ken Pontac
KEN PONTAC ADDS:
I split the two monsters below with David Bleiman, our iron-stomached Producer and general foodie (check out his food-blog at www.bunrab.com). He didn't get sick, but I hurled chunks and worse! Am I just a sissy, or did a gobble a rotten pickle?
Dear Ken:
I suggest you that do a re-match against Mr. Pickle(if it's her or his real name, because long time ago, i lost my trust on big-humanoid-vegetables), and after eat your enemie, put this words on your mind, "There's no sandwich" and after you can say "holy indigo pickles!", you've won the battle...
i dunno if this is something about our psychic powers, or a new eternal question of what are more fast, our throat or our jawbone, but when i try it, i thought "i don't have anything to lose, or at least anything worth to lose", and here am i!
good luck with you "Quest for the best turkey sandwich" budies, i'll be here to cheer ya'll...
no really i can cheer, even now i wearing my cheerleader outfit and my pom-pom's...
Posted by: Reptile | April 29, 2006 07:00 PM
what in the hell, Boy?
Posted by: Crapola fan forever | April 29, 2006 07:30 PM
Hmm, you guys sure have strong bread over there. What do you use to cut it?
Posted by: Derreck | April 30, 2006 03:34 AM
Reptile -
I find the thought of you dressed as a cheerleader disturbing.
Posted by: Ken Pontac | April 30, 2006 07:31 AM
Derreck -
Warren cuts his bread with a shank he made with a toothbrush and some duct tape. I'm not allowed to be around sharp objects, so I swallow my sandwiches whole, like a snake devoering a native boy.
Posted by: Ken Pontac | April 30, 2006 07:35 AM
Ken -
Nah, i don't think is so disturbing, sometimes people dress worst than me, but what tha heck, then i put my adventure outfit and i take a plane to there to help'cha all, i know how desesperating can be the carve for white meat(actually i wipe a whole farm of chickens once night, and they call me chupacabras!, shame!), so maybe i can be helpful...
so what'cha think, can i join?
Posted by: Reptile | April 30, 2006 12:37 PM
My wife from Berkeley pointed out that if it's not sourdough bread the turkey is sitting on, it's NOT the best sandwich in San Francisco.
MEH! Can't get a decent pizza here in Wisconsin either
#%$@$#@!!!!!
Posted by: cacomistle | May 1, 2006 03:48 AM
Cacomistle -
We never said that Mr. Pickle's turkey sandwich was the best in SF, and even if I'd ordered it on sourdough I might have tossed cookies. Series Producer David Ichioka writes: "The Slow Club has one of the best turkey sandwiches I've had in the city, but I'm no expert."
Posted by: Ken Pontac | May 1, 2006 10:26 AM
You can't argue with quality.
Is Turkey.
Is Good.
Posted by: Samuel | May 2, 2006 12:44 AM
oh! so on my last trip to the In-N-Out in Daly City, I noticed that there was a Mr. Pickles sandwich shop nearby. It too had a sandwich board out front, however, this Mr. Pickle was decked out in a COP uniform. Can you offer any insight into the pickles/law enforcement affiliation?
Posted by: Shopgirl | May 10, 2006 12:30 PM
I think it's a Village People thing.
Posted by: Ken Pontac | May 10, 2006 12:57 PM
i'm french and i'm thinking that i'm very very happy to be french because it's not a good food u eat! have u ever tasted bread? better than everything you eat!
congratulation for the happy friends i can't stop laughing!
Posted by: lilly | May 12, 2006 10:42 AM
Lilly,
I am very very happy that you are French too. I have tasted bread. I usually find it on the top and bottom of my sandwich. We here in San Francisco have world famous bread. It's considered some of the best in the world. Thanks for the nice comments about the show. I hope that someday soon you are able to stop laughing.
Posted by: Warren Graff | May 12, 2006 08:19 PM