Soko — Restaurant in Takoma Park

The Butcher – This was the first one that really let me down. I absolutely love an argentinian steak sandwich, which very well could be the most underrated sandwich in all of the earl. Sadly, the Soke-mesiters completely dropped the ball on this one. First off, ordered the steak cooked medium rare like its supposed to be (really you shouldn’t even ask what a customer wants there, there’s just a proper way for it to be done), but the steak came out totally cooked through. Just as troublingly, it was delivered to the bread in large cube like shapes, when the meat ought to be cut in thin, rectangular strips, 80% of which have a nice pinkish hue, light dancin off them just nice. But the real mortal offense here came in the chimichurri. First, when I first bit into the sandwich, there was none, which was very shocking. The chimichurri is almost the entire point of the sandwich. I look forward to the chimi even more than I do the steak! Kinda had me wondering if everyone back there even knew what they were doing. So, after returning into the shop to acquire a small plastic dipper of that bright, hot, beautiful green elixir, I was deeply saddened to taste the weakest chimi i’ve ever come across. I didn’t know it was something that could be messed up, quite frankly. You can definitely tell it’s made in a food processor, which I understand is much easier for a commercial establishment, but you definitely lose something texturally from preparing it that way as opposed to chopping by hand. But what’s more to the point is that it was almost as if the chimi needed more of like….every ingredient. At first I thought it needed more heat, then more garlic, then more olive oil … the whole flavor was just so MUTED. Which again, I didn’t even really think was possible with a sauce so delicious, I have actually drank it directly out of cambros. Major swing and a miss on this sandwich, get’s a measly 4/10 from me.

Smash soko – This one too, was way, way off the mark. It simply is not anything it claims to be. Patty is way too thick for a true smash, which should be so thin it carmelizes and crisps around the edges. The “potato bun,” while potentially derived from potatoes, and theoretically a potato bun chromosomally and genetically, nevertheless presents as unmistakably brioche, with all of its cumbersome clumsiness and cakey, mouth-drying texture . Total antithesis of the smash ethic. When one hears “potato bun,” one thinks “martin’s potato buns.” You don’t have to use that brand if you don’t want to, but if yr callin’ yr bun a potato, it best be resemblin’ the buns of my main man martin. Furthermore, the burger is severely under “doped” as it were, featuring only cheese and mayo. What I find extremely strange here is that soko actually has a secret-sauce-esque “soko sauce” that appears on some of it’s other sandwiches; its absence is as lamented as it is bizarre on a burger desperately in need of a little more zing and a little more pep. So, in addition to a different approach to patty preparation, the burger requires a new bun, a new condiment, and in my opinion some pickled veg, cukes or otherwise – just some acid to brighten it up. So in other words a complete rebuild. Smash soko gets a 3/10.

The Pollo – I have very little to say about the pollo. It could absolutely be on the cover of a magazine entitled “Sandwiches that are a 5/10.” There was nothing at all bad about it, there was nothing at all great about it. I could probably eat one every single day and be a pretty happy guy. I could also easily prepare it myself. I’d go way bolder on the blackened seasoning also probably add some heat, maybe jalapeno.

So there you have it, my exhaustive review of Soko. I still do want to try to Duroc, and the smashed rizo, but I must admit I don’t have high hopes. But I really would love to enter this establishment in 12-24 months, and see it really start to live up to its promise. Keep workin on that craft guys, Katz’s wasn’t...

When I first heard about SOKO, I was giddier than a teenager on ecstasy. As a passionate lover of all things sandwich, pickled pepper, and meats cured and uncured alike, the tastefully designed menu and mouth watering social media imagery from the “soke squad” whet perhaps even a little bit more than just my appetite ;). Nothing warms my soul more than a nice hearty bowl of new england clam chowder, but SECOND to that, nothing warms my soul more than a ragtag crew of chefs and butchers coming together under one storefront to deliver all the greatest hits of American deli – the soundtrack of our stomachs and also lives.

So I leave these notes with all due respect to the purveyors, whom I wish all the best and whom I found to be very pleasant despite what some other people here wrote; I simply hope they’ll take my suggestions to heart and keep improving on their craft. I’d love to return in a year and see if any progress has been made, because for now, I am deeply saddened to say most of Soko’s offerings were a bit off the mark. I will review in detail now the sandwiches I personally sampled.

“The Takoma” – The strongest of Soko’s offerings, this one pretty much hit all its marks. Bread could have been a little fresher, and the wimpy portion size did cause me to exclaim a reflexive “OOOH” ala Paulie Walnuts. But overall, the flavors “slapped”, bet. Solid 7.75/10.

Montreal – Pastrami is really, really easy to screw up, and I’ve even had some very bad pastrami from hardcore orthodox jewish run deli’s in brooklyn that have literally been there since moses descended mt. siani with the ten commandments. So the stakes were high upon sinking in to that first bite of brined and cured brisket, and I must say, Soko did….pretty good!! Not as nearly as juicy as the legends, but you can’t really expect that. Flavor was there, which is all I was hoping for. Solid soft seeded rye too. Again, portion size was a bit of an “oy vey” moment but whaddayagonnado fugghetiboutit new york new york. I’m goin 6.75/10, just to be fair to the katz’s and langer’s of the world, which are of course truly transcendent and definitely several deviants higher than this, though this very well may be the best pastrami within 200 miles for all I know.

The Philly – Way too much cheese sauce, which was way too soupy. Total hot mess of a sandwich. Pretty good flavor on the beef, but the key to a great philly cheese, ala Pat’s or Jim’s, is a little bit of restraint. It’s not supposed to be that messy, and the wiz should be somewhat more gluey, viscous, and just not SO much of it on there. Also – and there is some debate on this– but I personally prefer a philly on a much harder role than the one Soko chooses, such that juices are more efficiently absorbed into the bread. Also some hot pickled cherry peppers never hurt anyone who didn’t already have a perforated bowel. Gonna have to go 6/10...

Original review was 2 years ago, and by God they’ve worked everything out! “The Takoma” is my go to order, and the bread situation has been upgraded. Well, everything has been upgraded, worth going back and changing to five stars, with a new photo as well! You tell me, I think the pictures (2 years ago & Jan 2025) speak for themselves 🤝

—————————————————————————- (Original 4 star review)

Stopped in to check out the place, as I think the community has all agreed: this is the concept we need! Awesome décor, fully staffed, great looking butchers display case up front. Even cuts that traditionally are super lean appeared to have wicked nice marbling, beautiful color, and the pork appeared to be heritage hog grade. I will definitely be back to source some primal cuts. Pickles, chutney, rubs, smoked brisket, all the fun accoutrements were available either in the coolers or on the counter.

The real intention of the visit though was to grab a sandwich, might be important to note that it was for lunch. I didn't need much time to decide, as I saw an Italian on the menu, and fancy myself quite the connoisseur of Italian subs. I will just say this, an Italian Sub has absolutely 0 business with turkey, which threw me for a loop, because it's definitely on there. The quality of the cold cuts shines though, I'm not positive on this, but it looked like Boars Head turkey. If you're going to throw turkey where it doesn't belong, at least it's the best. The bread was spongy, borderline dry, I didn't care for it. The sub was meant to have mayo on it, but ordered two, and neither one had it. Lettuce was minimal, but if there is anything I want minimal on my Italian Sub it's going to be lettuce. The pickled onions were a beautiful touch, and the banana peppers set it off with a nice zing. I had it to go, so was able to add hoagie dressing and some hots back at home. The sub bread itself was very large, but cut at the most awkward angle you could imagine, to the point one half of the sub had a vertical top, and the other half (with all the contents of the sandwich, didn't have a top. A back end of a bread knife would have tucked everything in nicely, and kept all the toppings from falling off during the unwrap. If I hadn't been able to jazz it up back at home, I think I would have been disappointed, it definitely lacked that je ne sai qua. Again, I take my Italian sandwiches very seriously, and I want the Soko team to know, I want to be able to grab the best Italian in the DMV from them. Lets get you there!

Overall, this place has only been open for a little over a week, so I imagine there are going to be some training and growing pains. I will definitely be back to try some other sandwiches, including the breakfast sammie line up, and at the very least, picket out front to have the turkey removed from...