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Saturday, March 24, 2007

 

Eater on "Michael's Italian Beef and Sausage Co."

This bastion of beef, located on SE Sandy just as your chugging up the hill and through a couple of 8-way intersections, is nondescript enough to drive by a thousand times without stopping. Sandwich places? I don't get it. Soup, sandwich, salad...forget it. If I'm going out to lunch, I want a hot lunch, something with melted cheese. Lettuce with mayonnaise. Soup as the option I bypass for french fries.

How about a hot sandwich?

How about it. I've eaten at Michael's Italian Beef and Sausage Co. a couple of times now, and I can't explain why not more? When you walk in, you get the definite feeling that you're somewhere, that the customers are regulars, that the people behind the counter get it, and that the boss is a guy up to his elbows in sauce and pushing a mop when he has to.

Here's the drill: Walk in, get in line at the counter. DO NOT reach over, several signs warn...in fact there are more signs telling you not to reach over the counter (though never explaining why you'd want to) than there are postings about the menu, which can be found piled at the cash register. Many don't need one. I did.

The Chicago Style Italian Beef sandwich comes hot, "roasted top round sliced thin & marinated in its own gravy, stuffed in Italian bread with choice of peppers and onions." You get that as a whole ($7.00) or half ($3.70). I took the whole. I went with the hot peppers ("medium hot marinade with aged slices of chili peppers, carrots, celery & garlic") and the onions, grilled.

Fries with that? Sure. Shoestring in Canola ($1.60). Drink? Coke. Large (24oz., $1.30). The whole deal put me right under $10, but the deal is, cash gets a 5% discount. In my mind, this was one of those no-credit hold-outs for awhile, and the attitude is right (they pass on their credit costs to you...the cash incentive). Credit put me up over $10.

I've gradually lost my grip on the hope for a $5 lunch. Once my limit, the $5 no longer gets all the bells and whistles. You might get a sandwich, maybe a drink, but no chips. If you do, something either ain't right between the slices or behind the counter (or dollars are not the currency of choice). At least that's the deal when minimum wage is over $7/hour.

Still, $10 is a lot for everyday lunch. But do I regret it on this day?

I sat at an island bar, surrounded by short stools with red vinyl tops. A woman near me asked about dipping fries in mustard. I recommended it. She'd had mustard on eggs, and recommended that, then went back to her conversation that involved something related to church groups and her own lack of transportation.

Sandwich comes hot, wrapped in paper and cut in half. It's a little like french dip, and outstanding. Not the day to wear a white shirt, but I made it out clean. Fries were above average. Coke hit the spot.

Other items on the menu involve meatballs, sausages, fried shrimp, and so forth. The veggie cold sandwiches have the only themed names: "The Assassin" and "The Machine Gunner." Kids get their own sandwiches and their own onions.

On the radio, KMHD, a jazz and blues station played. The DJ came on and thanked the audience and the segment sponsor, Michael's Italian Beef and Sausage Co. A woman behind the counter said "Hey, I know that place," and then resumed taking orders.

Reviews
Willamette Week
Portland Mercury

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Tuesday, March 20, 2007

 

Book Town Roundup

A few published items since last post:

Talk of the Book Town misreads coordinates, and ends up at William T. Vollman's talk at Powell's on Thursday March 15. Apologies to Tim Flannery, whose event I had been scheduled to cover. This is obviously unrelated to a vast conspiracy to obfuscate the global warming crisis. NO ONE has written more extensively about the hidden islands of the arctic than me.

My review of Elizabeth Hickey's new novel The Wayward Muse runs. A thank-you note is unlikely.

Looking Glass Books makes its move to Sellwood, and no mention is made of the irony of a bookstore finding its fate conjoined with that of a caboose. (looking for an article link...)

Finally, from the annals of the unpublished: a rejection notice from the good folks at 33 1/3, who deigned not to pluck my proposal from the 400+ to be one of the series' next 20 to be issued. Disappointing but no surprise: the readership did not jump for joy at the prospect of a book about Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever. A competing proposal suggested Damn the Torpedoes. Four more people took the time to write up queries for (and I hesitate to even type this as I don't want to inadvertently draw any of her fan-traffic) Tori Amos' Boys for Pele (not linked). (UPDATE: New titles in the series announced, INCLUDING Tori Amos?!)

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