Bruchi's Cheesesteaks & Subs — Restaurant in Washington

I came to this place thinking to myself, "Hey Robert how come you have not been there since a kid." I found out this question on this fateful day. I waltz into this shop and I immediately glance around and feel out of place here. Once I find the register I start my order, which went relatively smoothly. I ordered a Philly with Bacon. Then I find a seat to hunker down at. Ten minutes passes by no food yet. Then twenty. Around the thirty minute mark I hear someone faintly shout my name. I immediately jump from my spot and rush over to my food. I grab then return to my seat. When I sit down I gazed at the specimen and felt an overwhelming sense of melancholy. The soft, untoasted, and slightly damp bread lay open faced on the checkered paper. On the bread were crumbs of meat so minced as if the intention was to feed it to a child first learning to chew there food properly. The meat was hugged by a cold hard blanket of cheese. I go to fold the sandwich and it starts falling apart. I struggle with the sandwich to keep it together, then I thrust it into my mouth. Bite, chew, think, swallow. I the texture was shocking and off putting. I feel each component individually: bread, squishy and moist; meat, crumbly and sandpaper-like; cheese, stiff and tasteless. I cry a little inside and think is this as far as we have come in the world of sandwiches? What would the Romans think, the inventors of the sandwich? Does this do the term lunch justice as lunch comes from slice in Latin referring to the sandwich our Italic brothers and sisters held so dear as a midday snack. I hold in the pain as I continue to scarf down the sandwich no longer able to savor each bite now dead inside from my initial reactions. I sit up and compile myself then, throw my tray away and leave. I have never...

Here I am… an old man and I had never had a cheesesteak in my ever lovin life. I’ve eaten cockroaches in Hong Kong, grasshoppers in Thailand, and Natto and dried squid in Japan, but the Philly Cheesesteak was mystery to me, somehow floating along just out of my consciousness, like an unseen fisherman’s cast fly floating unnoticed by the old trout of the river.

It was too far or sounded too much like cheesecake and it simply passed me by… that is until Bruchi’s.

I’m not sure what I expected, but it was not this copious pile of tender savory meat mixed in with a creamy cheese that blended in like low clouds into the great redwood forests. When I bit into it I was shocked! Shocked I tell you!

This is instant recognition. That moment where you taste something new and immediately see that it is food. Does that make sense? It’s like bagels, the toughest red neck marine will bite into a bagel and instantly recognize that it is food. That it goes on the list.

Well, cheesesteak was like that for me. It was meeting your twin brother for the first time, or the first time you had candy as a child.

I will stop here for a moment and brush away a tear.

It was great, soft and succulent, savory and hot. And while I am on the subject, I have to mention the fries, which were spot on. Pure gold ingots of perfection. I could have been happy with just the fries.

So now Bruchi’s has launched a new adventure, a culinary trail through the wilderness. A cheesy journey winding along through a veritable mountain of tender meat. So much better than the roasted cockroaches of Oaxaca or the dried squid of Osaka.

Why have you been hiding this from me all...

So I went to this place on lunch and had the most terrible experience. I don’t know if it’s because I’m black I was treated different but I didn’t appreciate the way I was talked to. On 8/18/21 I went in for a simple 6 inch sandwich. I watched as the cooks prepare the food and notice how one food handler touched their face and didn’t change gloves. Being a nurse I’m huge on cross contamination but I didn’t say anything and I just let it ride. Then a short blonde lady (I’m guessing she’s the owner) begin to wrap my sandwich and hands it to me without bagging it. Please keep in mind that 3 other Caucasian-customers have gotten there food before me and all of their food has gotten placed in bags without them having to ask. I ask for a bag and this was her response “we’re pretty low on bags and we’re trying to save what we have. You know it’s a tough out there.” Never told me have a nice day or thank you for coming in. I was so upset I threw the sandwich away once I left. I don’t care that there’s a shortage of bags. There’s a shortage of everything including healthcare workers. To try to be educated on shortages was completely absurd because when you go to the doctor they don’t tell you it’s a shortage of healthcare workers and you won’t be seen today. You go to the doctor and you get seen and when I go to a restaurant I expect to have my food placed in a bag regardless if there is a shortage or not; because I am a paying customer thats paying for suppose to be good customer service & I am paying for that bag. It’s safe to say that I’ll never return here again due to...