Well sign my skinny fat ass up!!! So the new sandwich shop Stackers opened in the old Vermont Sandwich Co. space on the corner of Pearl and Winooski this week. I was looking for something new and different and that seemed to fit the bill. I cruised up and it looked like there was a decent crowd. Nope. Some newscaster w/ a camera man was interviewing the owner. The space is pretty sparse and the menu is lean but that is not a big deal. It is definitely take out, there were no seats. So I stepped up to the counter and ordered the "Cuban" while the awkward interview went on behind me.
"What would you like sir"
"I will take..."
"...and we really put our blood, sweat in tears into the place."
"...the Cuban. Please hold the blood and sweat, I will take the tears however, they nourish me."
Meanwhile I am glancing back hoping to get a creepy cameo on WCAX or whatever crappy newscast this will certainly be. So I am ready to pay and 2 things happen. One, the interview is set up in such a way I cannot really get to the "register" without it getting weird. Second, there is a woman in front of me who is acting like this is the first time she has ever ordered and then paid for lunch. Was she a model planted for the TV camera? If so that station needs a bigger budget, she was not very attractive? Here is the process... you pick up your sandwich, tell the money taker what it was, they quote a price, you put your money down, your receive your change... you WALK AWAY! Finally the pain ended and I was in the queue. Oh, this may be the problem... no register. The clerk was using a calculator and a box of cash. A register is one of those things you get prior to opening any kind of retail operation right? It wasn't like the liquor license, or exotic cheese, or neon sign? It is the f*ing cash register, you get it right before or right after the meat, bread, and keys to the front door?!?!
Ok, so how was the food? It was alright. The slow roasted pork had nice flavor but was fatty and a bit greasy. The mustard, the ham, the pickles, and the swiss were nice. The bread was a soft sesame roll that was good but there were a few issues. The sandwich was not cut in half. That is a pain? The biggest issue was that the meat was sort of warm but not very warm. So it was like a sandwich that had been hot but was left out and got cold. And then it quickly got soggy and the bread got very soggy. So, while I generally liked the flavor of the sandwich the execution was a big whiff which I think is odd. This is a sandwich shop not a high end gastro-experience. For $7 for a small or $9.50 for a large I want it to be a good sandwich not a luke warm soggy mess. So I think it has potential and the ideas are good but Stackers has some wood to chop before I put it in Bueno Y Sano territory. I hope I got on TV... I was looking hot today.
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