Ike's Love & Sandwiches — Restaurant in Emeryville

Ike’s new place just opened up on the corner of Powell and Hollis St. in Emeryville, kitty corner to the Chevron station. Walking in, it feels a little soul-less to be honest – the bright colors and plasticky décor isn’t particularly inviting. Most sandwiches are going to come to around $12 or $13 when you add tax and tip. So, considering the fairly hefty price tag (for a sandwich) and the reputation that precedes Ike’s Place, expectations are pretty high. I ordered the Handsome Owl sandwich, which is a combination of breaded vegan chicken, teriyaki sauce, wasabi mayo, and Swiss cheese. On top of these fillings, I think pretty much all sandwiches come with Ike’s by now famous Dirty Sauce and also some lettuce and tomato. The server was very friendly – when it came to bread choice he steered us to the Dutch crunch roll. He also explained that the vegan chicken was made by Gardein. They couldn’t reveal who made their bread, however.

Bottom line: the sandwich was delicious – the flavors and textures were good. The downside is that I felt a little bit queasy about an hour after I ate it – and I actually only ate half of it – my friend who ate the other half reported the same symptoms. Is this very surprising? The sandwich is essentially built on very potent sauces – the dirty aioli, the teriyaki sauce and the wasabi mayo – all very rich in oil. Perhaps their attitude to healthiness of their food is best exemplified by their choice of caramel apple Tootsie Roll pop to accompany every sandwich – it’s made with hydrogenated oil. Who the heck uses hydrogenated oil these days?? (Hydrogenated oil = trans fats, btw). The overall message I’m getting is: these sandwiches are undoubtedly delicious, but eat them often enough and they just might kill you.

In terms of social and environmental impact, I’m awarding a separate score of 3/5 green stars (it’s a thing. OK, it’s not an official thing yet, but it will be). So aside from the deliciousness and value for money, how does Ike’s do on the social and environmental front? Well, on a basic level, they do go out of their way to offer a good selection of vegetarian and vegan sandwiches. And we know by now that one of the most clear-cut ways of reducing your impact on the planet (land use, greenhouse gas emissions, impact on soil and water systems) is to reduce consumption of meat. On the other hand, Ike’s do also serve a ton of meat! It’s apparently from local farms but when it comes to their ingredients, Ike’s are not as transparent as they should be. Particularly as they are expanding – it would be nice to know that they have some kind of commitment to sustainable ingredients.

Their sandwiches come wrapped in paper, inside a recycled paper bag, with recycled napkins. They offer knives and forks (non-compostable) but most people won’t need them. Ratings from employees on Glassdoor are pretty mediocre and the “sandwich artist” salary is reported as just over $11/hr. Their fountain drinks come from PepsiCo – I expected something a bit more alternative (and sustainable) for a maverick SF...

I visited this restaurant today while I was in between medical appointments at Stanford Healthcare a block away because the other restaurants closer were closed in the late afternoon. When I walked in, the music was on loudly, and saw no employees so I went to the restroom and came back out to order and I still saw no employees. A female employee finally came out after I had been standing there now for several minutes staring at the menu board that was supposedly being updated. I told her that the menu was confusing and asked if I could just get a more normal turkey sandwich and she had no reply so I just told her what I wanted on it and without saying anything at all she just started plugging it in to the register. I then asked her if there were any zero sugar soda options besides Diet Pepsi and she told me she did not know - luckily after I first grabbed a bottled water, I saw that there was a machine with tea in it so I got that.

The woman was very impolite and did not even say thank you when I paid my bill and left her a tip. I will not be going back to this place again because the staff is rude and frankly it was overpriced. A small sub sandwich and glass of tea cost me over $15.00.

The sandwhich.....

Very plain! The turkey they use has no flavor at all. The sanwhich was loaded with mayo and mustard and the bread must not have been a whole wheat whole grain bun because it shot my blood sugar levels through the roof. As a type 3C diabetic, I count carbs and use an insulin pump. I am normally am spot on with this practice anywhere I eat, but I was not even remotely close here.

I am not sure if this chain puts their menu items on CalorieKing like most chains do, but I am guessing that they don't. If this is the case, and the ownership sees this, I would highly suggest that they get their menu items on the site because it will then become available to use with insulin pumps. If I walk into Burger King or most any franchise I can literally plug my entire meal into my device and it gives me exact carb and fiber counts so I get just the right amount of insulin needed.

Lastly...

This location did not set a good first impression and was overpriced for what I had. I would have been so much happier with a less expensive and tastier Subway sandwich rather than this overpriced mayo and mustard sandwich. Judging from the crowd I believe that perhaps many other people in that area also feel the same way because I saw no other customers even while dining in. The next time I have multiple appointments at Stanford, I will either pack a lunch or venture out further for a...

I'm not normally a fan of hot sandwiches. It's not that I don't like them - I do! It's more that most places that serve them make them too large for my taste and I end up eating only half. The other half? I haven't yet found a hot sandwich that tastes good as leftovers - and I HATE to waste food. So I generally stick to cold deli sandwiches, eat half and save the rest for lunch the next day. This explains why I had no clue before today that this fairly popular regional chain even existed!

Today, my boss and I went on a sales call, and we were both a bit peckish afterward. The boss suggested Ike's, describing it simply as a "great sandwich shop" and I, frankly not caring much about what I ate - only that I needed to eat something - said OK.

Wow! My avoidance of hot sandwiches caused me to, until now, miss this gem of a chain! To begin with, their Dutch Crunch rolls are hands down, bar none, the freshest and best I've ever had!

Service was fast. You line up to order and pay, then pick up your food when your name is called. The entire process took only 6 or 7 minutes - which I consider fantastic for quality hot sandwiches made to order.

As neither of us was truly hungry, just peckish, we split a sandwich - I forget it's name - with (if I recall correctly) roast beef, turkey and 1 other meat - perhaps prosciutto? It melted in my mouth! All 3 meats were perfectly cooked - juicy, not dry. The sauce they use enhanced the flavors without overwhelming the meat. Quite simply - it hit the spot.

My one criticism - and it's not enough to knock off a star - is their drink selection. I don't drink sugary drinks and don't like the taste of "diet" or "Sugar Free" sodas. I prefer some sort of iced tea - flavored is OK as long as it isn't more than very lightly sweetened. I also prefer non carbonated drinks. With a selection of at least 30 different canned and bottled drinks, only two - bottled water and plain black iced tea - met my normal criteria. And that's my criticism - which I levy against LOTS of places - Not enough choices of flavorful, non or lightly sweetened, non...