Chris A.
Yelp
I saw a TV spot on channel 5's talk of the town and it looked good. Then When I saw where it was, I immediately remembered the place. I know I had seen the storefront of this place years ago when I did work in the R2D2 Building it is attached to. Can't quite recall the year but it was ages ago. I thought to myself back then, I should try that place. Well here it is 2024 and there's no time like the present.
Its a downtown storefront and there is no parking (except the attached garage if you have other business downtown). So walking is probably going to be your best mode of transport to here.
I walked down on a windy cold January morning. When I entered there were already several people waiting. I showed up at about 12:30 and it was the height of lunch but its the week of New Year so people may be off. Either way, the place is very small and compact on the inside and I wouldn't doubt they have a line out the door on busy weekday lunches.
I made my way to the front of the line and they had a nice heater to warm guests up. The attendant was very nice and some of the regulars knew her by first name. When I approached she asked my name, one, probably to place on my ticket, but two, I feel as if she wanted to remember my face if I came back. I waited patiently. They have a real easy menu to follow. I was almost about to try the turkey sandwich but I saw they had a Rueben there so I ordered one. Several other orders were made, came and went but I wasn't mad about it because the Rueben was a hot sandwich to make. I got it and the guy told me to hold it horizontally in the bag. I made my way back to work carrying the bag like a delivery boy in the 1930's, hoping that the cold gusts of wind didn't rob me of the warmth in the sandwich.
I made it back to my desk (note: photos of sandwich are at my desk and not at the restaurant) and the sandwich was still nice and steamy hot. They placed the home made thousand island or Russian dressing in a ramekin instead of on the sandwich. The taste was good, thinly sliced and I am kinda glad they did put the sauce in a separate container because the sauce was a bit rich for me. The sauce was a lot thicker too. I could tell it was home made.
My only complaint is they use white American cheese instead of swiss. Its no biggie, I know you gotta make cuts somewhere to keep your costs down. Its been a little while since I have been to Rae's so I can't do an accurate price comparison, but by memory, Rae's Rueben was better.
I will definitely return and try the other sandwiches. For downtown, the price is right too.