A Low Sodium Fast Food Compendium

It would seem, at least at first, that the notion of eating a very low salt, no butter, no cheese diet would be at complete odds with the current state of the fast food industry. And to a large extent, you would be correct. However, in the vast sea of salt, fat, and sugar that comprises most of the fast food industry's offerings, there are a few nuggets of goodness that you can cling to when you are looking for a quick fix or are traveling and haven't had time to research local restaurants.

Having combed through more than a dozen published nutritional guides on the Internet, I've come to a few conclusions:

1) Many fast food restaurants offer some type of "garden salad" which is usually okay. Almost all only offer salted dressings, although as you'll see, some dressings are better than others.

2) Of those that offer garden salads, that's usually all they can offer that would be acceptably low sodium.

3) There are some fast food chains that offer nothing acceptably low sodium.

4) Grilled chicken breast is often as salty or saltier than beef (thanks to brining).

So, how do I differentiate between fast food and fast casual? I know it isn't a completely cut and dry set of rules, but in general, if the restaurant has a drive thru, I'd consider it fast food and not fast casual. That being said, I consider Subway to be fast food although I've seen very few Subway locations with a drive thru.

And with that distinction out of the way, here are the only fast food restaurants at which I've had any success.

Wendy's

While none of the proteins (chicken, beef, or fish) at Wendy's would even remotely qualify as low sodium, the one thing that Wendy's has on their menu that I find appealing is the presence of a baked potato. Now, of course, when you load up that baked potato with cheese, bacon, and sour cream, it is no longer low sodium, but according to their published nutrition information, a plain baked potato by itself has almost no sodium and if you decide to splurge and add chives and sour cream (just one container of sour cream), you top out at 35mg of sodium.

And while the garden salad has nothing particularly salty on it, you do have to be careful of the dressings. Your two best choices are the pomegranate vinaigrette (150mg of sodium for the entire packet) or the ranch dressing (170mg of sodium for the entire packet). Since I tend to not like overdressed salads, I usually use only half of the packet. Thus, for about 100-110mg of sodium, you can walk away with a baked potato with sour cream and chives and a garden salad with half a packet of pomegranate vinaigrette. Not bad.

Subway

Just like Wendy's, every single protein and cheese option is out at Subway if you are considering a sub sandwich. Which means that the only real choice you have if you want a sub sandwich is a 6" Veggie Delite on either 9-grain wheat, Italian, honey oat, or multigrain flatbread. Each of these types of bread has between 280mg and 290mg of sodium for the 6" version. Skip the cheese and load up on non-salty vegetables (lettuce, tomato, red onion, spinach, cucumber, green peppers, etc.). Fortunately, Subway is one of the few (maybe only?) fast food restaurants to offer plain old oil and vinegar as a dressing. Other non-salty toppers include ground pepper and dried thyme. Pair that with a package of apple slices from the kids menu and you've got a decent meal with about 300mg of sodium total.

If you're wanting to go more of the salad route, you can certainly go with the Veggie Delite option at 75mg of sodium or, the one protein-based salad that seems acceptable to me is the oven-roasted chicken salad at 280mg of sodium. Again, dressing will be limited to oil and vinegar. A possible third option is the Monterrey chicken melt salad, but it clocks in at 360mg of sodium. Plus, with the addition of cheese, you up the fat and saturated fat by a couple of grams each. Nothing heart-seizing, mind you, but the first two salads are the healthier options.

Steak 'n Shake

As you've seen so far, fast food proteins and low sodium don't mix. However, at Steak 'n Shake, you can get either the single steakburger (310mg sodium) or the double steakburger (330mg sodium) if what you crave can only be satiated by beef. Of course, realize that cheese is out, as are all forms of condiments. The standard burger toppings of lettuce, tomato, and onion will be okay additions.

For sides, you could go with applesauce (0mg), apples and caramel (75mg), small French fries (80mg), regular French fries (140mg), small garden salad (105mg), or a cup of Mandarin oranges (15mg). I'm guessing by the fact that the garden salad has 105mg of sodium that it probably has cheese or croutons, which you can either pick off yourself or ask for it to be served without, which would substantially lower the sodium content. While I don't see oil and vinegar as an option from the salad dressings portion of the nutritional spreadsheet, one ounce of the honey mustard dressing does clock in at only 115mg of sodium. As with Wendy's, a light touch with the dressing can reduce that number by half.

If breakfast is what you are after at Steak 'n Shake, you also have a couple of options from that menu, too. Two eggs, any style, will set you back 140mg of sodium. Other choices include a cup of Mandarin oranges (15mg), the parfait (95mg), oatmeal (260mg), or hash browns (300mg). While the combination of eggs and hash browns is a bit high for my liking (440mg for both), combining two eggs with a parfait seems like a perfectly reasonable amount of sodium (235mg for both) when eating out at a fast food restaurant and getting something that is nutritious and filling.

So, there you have it -- three recommendations for those looking to both maintain a low salt lifestyle and still be able to occasionally stop in for a quick meal at a fast food restaurant. Are there others out there that might qualify? Of course, I'm sure there are. I really only researched fast food chains that are common to the northeast Ohio area. And for those that hoped Swenson's might make the list, even though it is a local chain here in northeast Ohio, unfortunately, they haven't published any nutritional information about their food, so I ruled them out.

Please feel free, gentle reader, to suggest other fast food chains (and more specifically, menu items) that might make the cut.

Tackling The Restaurant Problem, Part 2

While I had never intended my last post to be the first in a series of entries about successfully navigating the restaurant scene while managing a food restriction, I realized as I was writing it that the rabbit hole goes much deeper than I originally thought. And while the first part of this series had some excellent overall tips when attempting to eat out, this entry will be discussing menu items, or more specifically, common proteins that you'll find in a variety of food cuisines. If the post were to have a subtitle, it would be "A Protein Primer".

Chicken

Surely chicken is okay, right? Not fried chicken, mind you, but plain old grilled chicken breast? You know, healthy grilled chicken breast?

In a vast majority of cases, you'd be wrong.

Even though most restaurants are happy to comply with a request to not add salt to a chicken breast when it is cooked, by that point it is too late. Most (and I'm talking like 90%) restaurants either receive their chicken breasts already brined or brine them once they receive them. Brining* the chicken does several things:

1. Seasons it (obviously)
2. Keeps it juicier when cooked (and helps it from drying out when overcooked)
3. Prevents variation in seasoning of the final product when cooked by different cooks working the line (e.g., everything is seasoned the same)

Chicken breast, when unbrined, has roughly 55-80mg of sodium per 4 ounce serving. So, if you're looking over the nutritional information for a restaurant and the chicken entree has some 1000mg of sodium when paired with steamed broccoli and a plain baked potato, rest assured that the sodium is in the chicken and it has probably been brined.

Ironically, the best places to find unbrined chicken are Asian restaurants. Since most of the salt comes from sauces (soy sauce, fish sauce, chili sauce, hoisin, oyster sauce, etc.), they don't usually brine the chicken. That being said, I've found that sometimes it can be difficult to communicate that saying "no salt" also means saying no to additional sauces as well.

Chicken wings are a mixed bag. Obviously, nearly all the sauces that would coat the wings are out. The chicken wings themselves are okay as long as they aren't brined or marinated before cooking. This is going to vary by restaurant and it's best to ask the appropriate person before ordering.

* For those unfamiliar with the term "brining", brining a protein involves placing it into a vessel containing (at a minimum) water and dissolved salt for a particular length of time.

Eggs

The typical large chicken egg has about 60mg of sodium in it. Eggs are a great source of protein, but be careful with that three egg omelet ... even unsalted, you are already at nearly 200mg of sodium without even considering the additional fillings (which could add their own natural salt content).

Beef

The good news about beef is that other than beef jerky, corned beef, or BBQ brisket, it is rarely brined and only seasoned as it is being grilled. Depending on the cut of beef, it is sometimes "rubbed" and the rub usually contains salt. It always pays to ask, of course. If the beef is ground (such as for hamburger), salt may be mixed into the grind to season it throughout. It's been my experience that of all the restaurants that have only one thing on the menu I can eat, many times it is the hamburger.

Pork

Like chicken, pork that hasn't been brined is perfectly acceptable. Unfortunately, like chicken, pork is often brined in order to keep it juicy when cooked. Unlike chicken at Asian restaurants, a lot of the pork found at this style of restaurant has already been prepared in such a way that it contains additional salt (I'm referring to the twice-cooked pork often found in stir fries).

Turkey

See chicken above. An additional note is that commercial turkeys (think Butterball), while not brined in the traditional sense, are often injected with a saline solution for exactly the same purpose as brining. It's always best to read the nutritional label to be certain. In a restaurant setting, this will vary.

Fish

Here I am talking about things like salmon, tuna, sea bass, grouper, etc. Fish is almost never brined, but I have, on occasion, seen it "glazed", usually with something salty like soy sauce, miso, or hoisin. You are usually completely safe ordering the fresh fish (canned fish can be another matter), but again, if you aren't 100% sure, ask your server to confirm with the chef that the fish is unseasoned/unglazed.

Seafood

Here I am lumping together all other water-based non-fish items. Bivalves like scallops, oysters, clams, and mussels are LOADED with natural salt. So much so that once your palate adjusts to eating very low levels of salt, they will simply taste like little salt bombs. Shrimp can be okay, but it also depends on how they were processed. Typically the tiny little shrimp found in dishes that cost $6.99 are usually more highly processed than the shrimp fettuccine dish at a more expensive place that costs $18. Squid and octopus are out as well as they also have a lot of natural salt. Fresh crab I've found to be on the border of too salty. For you sushi lovers, eel is popular. Unfortunately, almost all eel is served with a "sauce" that has been painted on top; it's the sauce that has the salt.

Tofu

Tofu is an excellent source of nutrition and by itself contains almost no sodium. That's the good news. The bad news is that tofu is almost never served by itself and acts like a sponge to absorb all the flavors (and sauces) around it. Tofu served as an entree is usually marinated to give it flavor and seasoning. Tofu blended into a smoothie should be fine (as the tofu is there to give the smoothie body).

Non-Meat Alternatives

I'll be the first to admit that I don't have enough experience with meat alternatives such as seitan or TVP (textured vegetable protein) to offer any guidance. If you're purchasing the ingredients at the grocery store, use the nutritional label as your guide. If you're eating at a restaurant, you may want to wait until you can do your research with the chef (or the published nutritional guide) before selecting it off of the menu.

So there you have it, a fairly complete (but certainly by no means exhaustive) list of proteins you can expect to find offered on most menus. Do you have additional questions? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Tackling The Restaurant Problem

If you've read my last two posts, you already know that I've severely cut back on salt, almost cut out butter, and completely cut out cheese from my diet. While this seemed daunting at first, it didn't seem impossible to achieve when cooking for myself at home, where I have 100% control over what goes into my mouth. But what do you do when you want to go out for a nice meal? Is this even possible when it's pretty common knowledge that restaurants often load their food with the very items you are trying to avoid?

Yes, it is.

However, in order to stay in control, you have to do three things: research, research, and research. You can take NOTHING for granted. Your server may be the most sincere and helpful person on the planet, but they aren't the ones prepping and cooking your food*. Managers are usually better (at least in chain restaurants), but you need to go into the situation as if you've prepped for battle. It's nice that the restaurant gives you a menu when you sit down at your table, but you have to already know what you can and can't have before you even walk through the front door.

(* I'm not saying that servers can't be helpful, I'm simply saying that you shouldn't necessarily rely on them for accurate information when it comes to what it is in the food.)

There are really three situations you're likely to encounter when you go out for a meal:

1. National or local chain restaurants that have published nutritional information (usually on their website).
2. Local chain restaurants that have not published nutritional information because they aren't yet big enough and not required to do so.
3. Independently owned restaurants that have not published nutrition information because they are a single location and not required to do so.

Let's talk about each of these options in turn.

#1

Restaurants that publish nutritional information are worth their weight in gold. After reviewing the information provided, you may discover that there is absolutely nothing that you can eat, but at least you know that before even stepping foot inside the front door. Here's the thing to remember about chain restaurants (be they local or national) ... the owner(s) want the experience to be the same regardless of which location you attend. Thus, they have put in place a series of suppliers and processes to reliably deliver the same food quality and nutrition across all of their locations.

In this blog's previous incarnation, I would've almost immediately turned down a request to review a national chain restaurant. They stand to offer little local character to the food scene and quite frankly, the food can be rather uninspiring. Now that things have changed for me and most chains publish their nutritional information, I find that chain restaurants offer me the opportunity to vet them on my computer at my own leisure without the pressure of having to make an uninformed choice when sitting at the restaurant. And I know that if I find something on the menu that I can actually have, all the locations will be able to provide it with the same nutritional content (in other words, one location won't be salting it more than the others).

Most restaurants' nutritional information is offered via a downloadable PDF file that is organized in a spreadsheet-like format. After figuring out which column represents sodium, scan through the list of offerings to find items that fit within your daily sodium budget. Occasionally, I've found websites where you had to essentially submit requests item by item in order to retrieve nutritional information (I'm looking at you, Outback Steakhouse). My rule of thumb is that if I can't easily scan through a list of items to find the information I need, you're out. Buh-bye.

If you're surprised that I would even consider Outback Steakhouse, know that I found a very low sodium meal that I can have at PF Chang's (gluten-free Buddha's Feast with steamed vegetables and brown rice -- 80 mg for the entire meal). Yes, this is the same PF Chang's that offers an item that has nearly 8000 mg of sodium for a single dish (a bowl of their Hot & Sour soup)! You just don't know until you start doing the research.

#2

Next up, we have the local chain restaurants (some national ones, too, like Cracker Barrel) that haven't published any nutritional information. Honestly, I don't even bother with these. If they aren't willing to divulge, then I'm not willing to be used as a guinea pig.

#3

Finally, we have the local independent restaurants. While they don't publish nutritional information, at these types of establishments, you have the opportunity to actually talk to the person/people who actually cook your food. That is all well and good, of course, but I've found that independent restaurants fall into two categories:

1. Restaurants that season the food as it is being prepped and then do a final seasoning as it is cooked for service.
2. Restaurants that don't season the food as it is being prepped and only do a final seasoning as it is cooked for service.

And, of course, know that most restaurants fall in between those two extremes. So, you may come across some items on a restaurant's menu that are seasoned during prep (such as house-made charcuterie or a confit duck or chicken) and others such as sauces that are only seasoned during final cooking for service. Once you manage to track down the person making the food, it pays to ask very specific questions. I would 100% never, ever, ever, ever walk into a restaurant which I haven't vetted, either by looking at published nutritional information or talking with the chef (or at least a manager) ahead of time. It's not fair to the restaurant and it's not fair to you. Even with my dietary restrictions, I still want my dining out experience to be pleasant and anything I can do to make it as smooth as possible is welcomed both by the restaurant and by me.

Here's the thing about eating a very low sodium diet (along with no butter and no cheese): expect that most restaurants that can accommodate you will pretty much be able to offer only one thing on the menu that you can eat. If you're lucky, two. If you're REALLY lucky, you'll come across a restaurant that can offer you four or five choices. When you find those restaurants, thank your lucky stars and give them patronage whenever you can. Opening a dialogue with the chef goes light years towards helping you achieve your nutritional goals and helps the restaurant understand exactly what you can and can't have. Once you've established that repertoire with a kitchen, it can be very easy, for instance, to find out if the daily special can be done within your dietary restrictions. "Chef says that the special is all salt-free except for the chicken, which is brined." Good to know!

So, this leads to the question of how to initiate that dialogue, especially if you don't know the chef or if you haven't ever been to the restaurant.

Go to the restaurant's website and/or Facebook page. If there is a contact email listed, use it. Leaving a public comment on a restaurant's Facebook page is kind of hit or miss; it'll depend on how actively the restaurant monitors their own page. I've also been known to send a Twitter message if a Twitter account is all that I can find. Explain your predicament and ask for advice in steering you towards menu items that would be appropriate. Here is a recent example of a message I sent to a restaurant:

"Sir/madam --

I have friends who have invited me to join them for dinner at your restaurant in a couple of weeks. I am writing to you ahead of time because I have several dietary restrictions (no salt, butter, cream, or cheese) and was hoping you might be able to suggest an item or two on your current dinner menu that would be easy for the kitchen to accommodate me during service. Oil (olive, canola, vegetable, etc.) is perfectly fine. Please direct any response or additional questions to my email address.

Thank you for your time."

You'll get one of three responses:

1. Yes, we can accommodate you and here are your choices.
2. No, I'm sorry, but we can't accommodate you.
3. No response.

#1 happens pretty often. #2 happens, but more rarely. #3 happens more often than you'd like to think. To be honest, I'd rather hear back from a restaurant stating that they can't accommodate me than not hearing back at all. That being said, #3 just means that in the game of consumer choice, the restaurant simply loses by default.

So far, this has been my strategy for tackling the restaurant problem and I've had good results. If you're scared at the thought of talking to an honest-to-goodness chef (the Food Network does seem to put them on a pedestal), know that almost every chef I've interacted positively with absolutely wants you to enjoy your experience at their restaurant and as long as you are courteous and willing to work with them, they are happy to give you the information you need to make your visit a success.

Do you have any tips for successfully navigating the restaurant scene? I'd love to hear them in the comments.

Fairlawn Showcase Part I: Earth Fare

I get email solicitations all of the time from people and companies wanting me to write about product 'X' or service 'Y'. In cases where I think that the product or service aligns itself well with the goals of this blog, I have agreed in the past to evaluate or promote it. One of those goals is to write about local chains or locally owned and operated independent restaurants because they are what making living in this part of Ohio so unique. In cases where I have agreed to write about a national chain (such as when I reviewed Bonefish Grill in Independence), I also made it a point to include a companion review on a similar independent restaurant, too (Restaurant Dante in Tremont).

Earth Fare is an eastern United States chain of stores based out of Asheville, NC that is operating in seven states, including their newest store in the Montrose/Fairlawn area which has its grand opening today. Corley May, Web Content Producer for Earth Fare, contacted me last Thursday wondering if I would be interested in touring the new store. When Corley sweetened the deal by throwing in not one, but TWO $50 gift cards to give away to my lucky readers, how could I say no?

After agreeing to the terms with Corley, I quickly realized that I could use the coverage of this national chain to help showcase a locally owned and operated chain of stores familiar to Cleveland and Akron residents alike, Mustard Seed Market. I contacted the folks at Mustard Seed Market, explained what had transpired, and asked if they'd be willing to balance out the Earth Fare review in a two-part write-up, the second installment of which will post this Friday. Not only did they agree, but they graciously also decided to donate two $50 gift cards, too! That's right, gentle reader, over the next couple of days, I'll be giving away $200 worth of gift cards!

But now to the main topic of today's post: Earth Fare. The new store is located at 3737 West Market Street, Fairlawn, OH 44333 and can be reached at 330-668-3500. The store is positioned in the same strip mall that houses Bruegger's, Pier One, and Hobby Lobby (CompUSA and Borders used to be in the same building). They have both a Facebook page as well as a Twitter account.

Here was a shot of the exterior of the new store:


Once inside the main door, I was greeted by store representative Kristi Kanzig, Assistant Director of Marketing, who graciously showed me around the new store pointing out some of the major points of interest. Since I wanted to give my readers out there a visual perspective of what they can expect, my descriptions will be fairly terse.

Community and store calendar located just inside the main door.

Earth Fare wants you to know its philosophy on food right from the get-go. This was just inside the main door in the produce area.

Produce area. Beige labels are conventionally grown produce, orange labels are organic, and green labels mean locally grown produce from within 100 miles of the Fairlawn store.

One of Earth Fare's commitments is to partner with smaller family farms (not necessarily within 100 miles or organic). This symbol indicates that the item was produced on such a farm.

This symbol on an item indicates that it was produced on a local farm from within 100 miles of the Fairlawn store (again, it doesn't necessarily mean it is organic or from a small family farm).

During the first twelve weeks that the store is open, various produce will rotate in and out of the "Thank You" specials.

Just beyond the produce section was the bulk foods area. Grains, flour, seeds, nuts, rice, candy, trail mixes, they've got quite the selection.

At the rear of the store behind the bulk foods was the seafood and butchery areas. All meats are labeled organic/non-organic, place of origin, grass-fed/conventional, and whether the fish was farm-raised or wild caught.

When I asked Kristi about those with special dietary needs, she helpfully pointed out this row, noting that items that are Gluten Free not only have signs indicating as such, but the front of these shelves had wooden surfaces instead of the brown metal on all of the others.

In the middle of the store was a wellness area containing a wide selection of vitamins, supplements, herbal remedies, teas and much more. This location will have someone on staff to assist customers in finding exactly what they need.

Also in the wellness area were the bulk herbs and spices. While you can buy a glass jar from Earth Fare, if you have your own, bring it and stop by the customer service area and they will note the weight of your bottle coming in, so you only pay for the difference when you leave.

At the opposite rear point in the store was the cheese section. This was one of two cases of artisan cheeses and there was a third case of more bulk-style cheese. Tasting is encouraged.

In front of the cheese area (moving closer to the front of the store) was the wine and beer area. Here was a selection of incredibly reasonably priced wines geared at organic/sulfite-free/locally made/conventional wine drinkers. Wines are helpfully labeled to help shoppers navigate.

The beer selection contained beer at many levels from Pabst Blue Ribbon (which Kristi pointed out) to many micro-brews and imports (I noticed Sam Smiths ... always a good choice).

Between the wine and beer "walls" was a section that contained special selections for the week that ran $15 or less. This will be a great way for Earth Fare to showcase specific wines to customers.

As we moved closer to the front of the store, we entered the hot and cold food service areas. One of the items that Kristi spent some time discussing was the weekly Thursday Family Dinner Night.

This was the pizza and sandwich prep area. Not only will pizzas be available for purchase and consumption at the store, but par-baked pizzas will also be available to take home and finish baking yourself.

The sandwich menu at the pizza and sandwich prep station.

Moving diagonally across the isle from the previous station we found the in-house bakery. Here was a shot of some of the freshly baked breads and pies made in preparation for today's store opening.

This was the pastry case filled to the brim with homemade treats ready for today's big event. Breads and pastries are all labeled so that you can find exactly the kind of treat that fits your eating requirements.

Directly next to the bakery (and nearly at the front of the store) was a coffee, tea, juice, and smoothie bar.

Sushi area where freshly made sushi is available in either white or brown rice every day.

Prepared foods just to the right of the sushi area and just in front of the cash registers.

Any of the foods purchased at Earth Fare can be eaten in this decently sized cafe area. While this obviously isn't a full-service restaurant, you can certainly assemble a meal from the various hot and cold food stations throughout the store and sit here to enjoy your meal.

Earth Fare has committed to showing local artists on the walls in their cafe. Here was a piece by Allison, an eighth grader from a local school.

Having spent nearly an hour with me, I thanked Kristi for her time and made my way back out into the warm, not-quite-sure-if-it-was-going-to-shower evening air. While Corley had originally agreed to give away two $50 gift cards to my awesome readers, I was surprised when Kristi handed me my very own $50 gift card. While I will certainly be returning to give Earth Fare a more thorough shakedown, as a reward for getting all the way to the bottom of a very long post, I am going to sweeten the deal and throw MY gift card into the mix as well. That means you, gentle reader, have a chance to win one of THREE $50 gift cards to Earth Fare.

So here is how the contest will work. Starting at 6:00 AM on Wednesday, May 11th and ending at 5:59:59 AM on Friday, May 13th, if you wish to throw your hat into the ring for one of these awesome gift cards, leave a comment on this blog post stating that you wish to win. If you wish to get in an extra chance at a card, share the link for this blog post on your Facebook, Twitter, blog, or other social media account (you can only earn one extra chance, regardless of how many sites you share the link on) and post that link right in your comment.

When 6:00 AM rolls around on Friday morning, I will make a list of all the names of the commenters as well as how many chances they have earned. Using Random.org, I will select three names from the list and contact those individuals to see if they are still interested in receiving a card. IF YOU LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT, I will contact you directly. If you provided a link to your Facebook, Twitter, blog, etc. and it is easy and obvious to make contact with you, there is no need to leave an email address. If I select a contest winner with no email address or outside link listed, you will have to wait until Sunday morning at 6:00 AM when I will publish a list of all the winners. You will then have one week to contact me to claim your prize. If not, I will select another winner.

While it is always awesome when I am able to give away gift cards to encourage people to visit a new store, I do encourage you to check out Earth Fare for yourself, regardless if you win one or not. They have a hard and fast food philosophy by which they operate, have shown community involvement even before the store officially opened, and are in the business of helping to educate consumers on making smarter choices about what is going into their bodies.

Make sure to come back on Friday and read all about the second part of this Fairlawn Showcase ... and the opportunity to win more gift cards!

An Impromptu Stop At Dagwood's Sandwich Shop

As I was meandering my way around northern Medina, Ohio on a lazy Saturday afternoon, I happened to pass by a small, blink-and-you'll-miss-it restaurant located in one of the many strip malls that dot the landscape of this part of town. I actually remember seeing it briefly before, but because I was in Medina to try out a different restaurant (Bullies Real BBQ), I didn't stop or backtrack to give it more attention. This time, however, I had no such agenda and seeing as I was a tiny bit hungry and it was the middle of the afternoon (read: fewer customers), I began to think this would be the perfect time to stop in to Dagwood's Sandwich Shop.

From a bit of research, I've deduced that Dagwood's is a national chain based out of Clearwater, Florida and that the Medina store was just one of those locations. From the information I found on the web, the original store only opened and began franchising in 2006 and the website for the Medina store states that Debra Gabel purchased the location in 2008 and has been running it ever since. To make matters even more confusing there apparently was also a Dagwood's Sandwich Shoppe, which may or may not have anything to do with Dagwood's Sandwich Shop.

Regardless, this Dagwood's was located at 965C North Court, Medina, OH 44256 and can be reached at 330-721-1575 (phone) or 330-721-1576 (fax). You can also go to this location's website by clicking here. Parking was a bit strange as the small drive in front of the restaurant only allowed unidirectional traffic. However, at the rear of the building was a second road that allowed me to circle around and pull into a parking slot with relative ease.

Here was a shot of the exterior of the store:

Once inside, I was greeted by a lone worker and no patrons. Above her head was the menu posted on the wall in two different sections:



By the ordering area, there was a similar paper menu fixed to the surface of the counter:


It is interesting to note that there are some discrepancies between items and prices between the two in-store menus and the on-line version. While I normally might have entertained the thought of trying the signature sandwich at Dagwood's (appropriately enough called the "Dagwood"), it looked huge and I wasn't that particularly hungry. I asked the worker if Dagwood's had any signature sandwiches other than the Dagwood and she pointed to the front of the counter where an arrangement of food pictures taunted hungry customers:


This led me to contemplate having a gyro and I gazed at the slowly spinning machine at the left end of the grilltop area:


I finally settled on a sandwich that was listed on the wall menu, but none of the other menus, a Turkey Reuben for $5.99. Seeing as the entire soda fountain was out of order, I just asked for a glass of water. Expecting the same small "courtesy cup" of water I get whenever I request something free, the worker surprised me by telling me to just take one of the bottled waters from the cooler behind me.

She surprised me even more when she informed me that all the sandwiches come with complimentary fries if I wanted them. While I certainly didn't really have room for a sandwich and fries, I figured, hey, why not? The menu indicated that they were fresh cut and while I have found very few fresh cut fries to my liking, given that they were essentially free, I wouldn't necessarily be any worse for the wear. I asked her if that was a Saturday special and she replied that the free fries were an every day thing.

I watched (and covertly snapped the photos in this post) as she dropped the fresh cut fries into the fryer and then began assembling my sandwich. As she got close, she asked me if I wanted 1000 Island dressing on my sandwich. I asked her if she could simply serve it on the side and she nodded. I took my tray of food and retired to a table by the window.

Here was a shot of my Turkey Reuben, cup of 1000 Island dressing, and a pickle spear:


Here was a side shot of the sandwich:


First, the positives. None of the items on this sandwich were too salty. Sometimes sauerkraut can be kind of a wildcard when it comes to salt, but everything was nicely controlled. Everything also tasted fresh and the turkey was a nice quality, avoiding that slimy texture that cheap cuts sometimes possess. The application of the 1000 Island dressing added a nice balance of sweetness and creaminess to the sandwich.

Second, the negatives. While the rye bread had been put onto the flattop (I watched), neither of the slices had been buttered and the bread was on the heat only long enough to warm up and slightly stale the outer crust of the bread slices. This led to the sandwich missing the wonderful crunchy texture that a properly griddled sandwich should have. The Swiss cheese, although warmed by the heated turkey slices and sauerkraut, was only warm enough to start sweating some of its internal oils and not actually melt.

Finally, my complimentary order of fresh cut fries:


I couldn't believe the enormity of the portion size, especially for something that was free. While there weren't any grease puddles on the bottom on the plate, the fries were sort of all over the place in terms of greasiness and texture. Fortunately, some of the fries were wonderfully crispy and had a nice potato flavors. Others, a bit more greasy and sad, typical for this style of fry. There was easily enough fries for at least two servings and in the end, I took home my other half of my sandwich and half of the fries on this plate.

In an interesting twist of fate, the owner happened to arrive as I was about halfway through my meal. For whatever reason, after unloading the items she had purchased at Gordon Food Service from her car, she proceeded to have a company meeting right in the front of the restaurant with the newly arrived staff members. Here was what I easily overheard:

1) Staff members are to keep the doors open until the close time stated on the front door. No exceptions.

2) Apparently the menu is still in flux and she needed to sit down and write up a SOP (standard operating procedure) manual so that every employee knew exactly how to construct each and every sandwich.

3) Not only was she thinking about putting in a milkshake machine, she had already purchased one and was just waiting for the right time to install it in the store. Much discussion was had about the optimal location and no one seemed to be able to come to a consensus.

4) Not only had the cash register run out of $5's and $10's, but since it was late afternoon on a Saturday, no banks were open and no gas stations would give out change. Someone had already attempted and failed at this.

5) It was reiterated that all sandwiches, not just the subs, come with complimentary fries. The customer can refuse them, but they must be offered. No substitutions. Except for good customers. And then maybe not a full order of onion rings, but maybe, like six or so.

Honestly, the entire conversation left me just a little bit unsure of Ms. Gabel's business acumen. She purchased this location more than eighteen months ago and she is still having these kinds of operational issues? Based on the sandwich and fresh cut fries I ate today, the Medina Dagwood's gets a marginal pass in my book; based on the impromptu corporate meeting held in the front of the restaurant and the items discussed? I'd be surprised if this location lasted another eighteen months from now.

When A Grinder Isn't Really A Grinder

Even before I write this blog post, I have a funny feeling I am about to be banned from yet another restaurant. As the song goes, "Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be."

I came across a reference to Bellacino's Pizza and Grinders when I was looking at a map of Stow area restaurants. After checking out their website (which included their menu), I was intrigued enough to add them to my list of places to visit. Based on the history blurb on their website, they had slowly grown from a small time mom and pop place to the full-sized eatery that was located at 3657 Fishcreek Road, Stow, OH 44224. They can be reached at 330-678-3000. The parking lot around the store was ample and should be able to handle a large number of customers.

Here was a shot of the front of the store:


While the patio was not only open and occupied tonight, it was still a bit too chilly for my taste so I opted to sit inside. During lunch service, Bellacino's was a serve yourself kind of place. But during dinner, the restaurant transforms into a full-service restaurant, replete with hostess. After seating me by a window table in the bar area, I began to peruse and photograph the menu:







I requested a glass of water and my server brought me this:


Normally I wouldn't include a glass of water in my write-up, but in this case I made an exception. Although the water had no odor, it definitely had a funky flavor. I'm not normally one to pick up on off flavors or odors in my water, but time after time of tasting this, I couldn't get over the pond-esque taste of it. It reminded me of the smell when you are walking through the woods and discover a still pond with algae growing in it. Now that very well may be the city of Stow's problem with its water, but I'm here to say Bellacino's needs to filter it.

I wasn't sure what I was going to order for dinner until I figured out a way to try both the grinder and a pizza. It seems that Monday night's special was a medium 12" specialty pizza for only $8.99. Coupled with the fact that I could get a 4.5" grinder sandwich (considered a 1/4 sandwich) for right around $4, I figured that I'd order both and just take whatever I didn't finish home for later consumption. For my grinder, I did ask my server if there was a house specialty and she pointed to the one with Italian cold cuts. Not really being in a cold cuts kind of mood, I asked her about the meatball grinder. She confessed that the meatballs weren't homemade, but the sliced meatball sandwich was a popular seller. For my pizza, I decided to go with the "Super," a combination of pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers and onions.

After a bit of a wait, my dinner finally arrived. First up, my meatball grinder:


It wasn't until I went to fold the sandwich over that I realized that the sandwich was actually on two different pieces of bread. And, in fact, it became apparent to me quite quickly after my server told me that a whole grinder was 18" long that what Bellacino's was offering was not a grinder, but a focaccia sandwich. Putting two and two together, I began to formulate a best guess as to what was going on. The dough being used for the "grinders" was the same homemade dough being used for the pizzas. To make this bread, I surmise that they spread the dough out onto full sheet pans, measuring 18" x 26" and bake it off earlier in the day. When a grinder is ordered, these sheets of dough (essentially focaccia at this point) are cut to size, toppings placed on top, and the whole thing is run under a broiler or placed in an oven to heat up.

As any sandwich aficionado knows, a proper sandwich is as much about the bread as it is about the toppings. And whether you call it a grinder, sub, hoagie, po' boy, or zeppelin, this sandwich qualified as none of those. This wasn't a mild stretching or interpretation of the classic definition; this was a bastardization of it. As a focaccia sandwich, it still wasn't great, but at least it was the proper category.

So, bread issues aside, how was the meatball filling? A very sad disappointment, too. Here was a close-up of the meatball slices:


The only thing meatball-ish about these oddly shaved meat patties were their round shape. The flavor had a metallic taste to it, a sign of garlic / onion / seasoning salt and the texture was oddly smooth and spongy, like one would expect from a forcemeat such as pate. It was clear that the meatballs were kept separate from the tomato sauce and only put together when the sandwich was assembled because there were plenty of meatball slices that had no sauce on them at all. To make matters worse, the sandwich came out barely lukewarm and by the time I got about three bites in, it was completely cold. My plan was to eat the entire grinder and take most of my pizza home. Not tonight. I ate less then 1/3 of my grinder and just left the rest on the plate. When I only asked for a box for the remainder of my pizza at the end of my meal, I hoped that my server would've picked up on the fact that most of my sandwich was left and I wasn't taking it with me as a sign that maybe something was wrong. She didn't say a word. I decided to save my words for now.

Fortunately, the "Super" pizza fared better than the grinder:


This was brought to the table nice and hot. In fact, it was only after finishing up with my sandwich that I even turned my attention to the pizza and it was still hot. Here was a shot of a single slice:


When I had asked my server about the provenance of the dough and the pizza sauce, she confirmed that both were homemade. At Bellacino's, toppings go on before the cheese and this made for a bit of a mess when taking a bite as I got long ropes of Mozzarella cheese that pulled off in large, hot mouth-burning strands. The sauce was nice, if a little uninspired. The dough, while nicely browned on the outer crust, was completely blond and underbaked on the bottom. Which was really odd, because the slogan on the side of the take-out pizza box indicated it should be otherwise:


I couldn't agree more: Crust IS the key. I ended up taking home half of my pizza and re-heating it later on for a snack. While the pizza wasn't bad, it also didn't stand out either.

Having tried the two signature items on the menu (the name of the restaurant is Bellacino's Pizza and Grinders after all), in my mind the "grinder" turned out to be a miserable failure and the pizza was just so-so. Coupled with the fact that the water had an off taste and the meatballs were some of the worst I have ever tasted, I think it's pretty safe to say that I don't think I'll be stopping by again for another meal anytime soon.