The Downtown Deli Diagnosis - Part 2: The Store

Blogger's Note - Welcome to Part 2 of our in-depth survey of the CBD sandwich shops. Here's a link to Part 1 in case you missed it.

Often after a weekend replete with booze and rich food, I like to start off the week with a salad as a small step in the name of good health. When that time comes, I almost always head over to The Store. I despise boring, bland iceberg lettuce, which is usually the default greenery at most lunch counters where salads take a backseat to the rest of the menu. Not at The Store, where spring mix or arugula serve as the base for everything from Shrimp Nicoise (above) to the classic Chopped Cobb (below). And it's not just the lettuce. Everything, from the avocado and tomatoes to the roast turkey breast and boiled shrimp are high quality ingredients.

The hits keep on coming when it comes to sandwiches at The Store. I'm one of those "it's just a sandwich" people who usually doesn't see the point in paying $8 for a simple sandwich that I can easily make for myself at home, so I appreciate when a deli serves me something other than Boar's Head turkey on wheat. Pulled pork, basil-marinated mozzarella, caramelized onion spread - all ingredients not found in my fridge but readily available at The Store. I also appreciate a good potato salad, and their green onion version is a fine example.

Just like most other downtown sandwich shops, The Store runs daily specials (I've only had Wednesday's pulled pork hash over baked macaroni - it's very good) as well as an everyday special of shrimp and grits. The line is usually long, but this is still a place where you can be in and out in less than 40 minutes, which leaves just enough time to stop and chat with the numerous acquaintances whom you will inevitably run into. There are so many lawyers in this place during lunch that owner BJ Laws should start hosting CLEs. The food alone would be worth the registration price.

The Store - Birdie

The Harbor

No, not Snug Harbor. I'm talking about Lakeview Harbor, which is usually referred to as the "Port of Call of the Lakefront" because of its emphasis on burgers and baked potatoes. I happen to think that the Harbor is better than Port of Call, but I try not to make that well known for fear of retribution from the diehards.

A few weeks ago I visited the Harbor with two of the Lakefront's finest citizens: Rough Country and Big Brutal Dave. Though we are friends from long long ago, both of these characters happen to be up-and-coming attorneys at different big shot firms in the city. Between listening to them talk about how many hours they billed last month, we managed to eat some pretty good food.

We started with an order of potato skins, which were a lesson in fried goodness. Some might wonder why we chose this as an appetizer considering that a baked potato comes with all of the sandwiches. But come on people. This ain't my first rodeo. Instead of the standard burger and baked potato, I usually go with...

A filet sandwich. It's back there buried underneath that mountain of sauteed mushrooms, grilled onions, and shredded cheddar. And an order of cheesetots. This plate is exactly the reason why I prefer Lakeview Harbor over Port of Call: variety - of which Port of Call offers none and Lakeview Harbor offers some.

As an aside, you may have noticed a few tots missing from the picture. (I apologize for the poor quality of the photo, but I have never claimed to be Robert Peyton.) Anyway, it so happens that when the food came, both Rough Country and I were away from the table. Seizing upon this opportunity, Big Brutal Dave decided to help himself to a few of my tots, but he was not fast enough and I caught him red handed (and red faced). After sitting back down I received a text message from a friend who had been watching the robbery from one table over. It said:

"What's interesting is that he didn't take a fry... it was all cheese... and he looked like a 5 year old on Xmas."