Low Brow Tour Part III: Schlotzsky's

Again, I am duplicating efforts on here and La.foodblogging. I posted it there to hopefully bring Schlotzsky's to a new audience, and I'm posting it here as part three of my Low Brow tour.

If you've ever had the misfortune of living in Texas, you have undoubtably eaten at a Schlotzsky's. It's about the only thing going for the state...and big breasts. But I live in LA, so I certainly don't have to be in Texas for the latter, unfortunately there very few Schlotzsky's out here. Damn those bastards at the Westwood location for shutting down, because now the two closest locations are down in the O.C.

For some ridiculous reason, there are no other locations in LA County, but there are two within five miles of each other, about an hour away from LA. But, I had some errands to run, so this was the perfect excuse to go. As part of my Low Brow series, in which I polished off an In 'N' Out, several pieces of Popeye's and now the Schlotzsky's.

Yeah, it's a chain, but so what. They are awesome sandwiches. Well, I don't know about other people. It seems the greatest appreciators have done time in Texas, because I've received tepid responses from others who have tried it for the first time and gave it a qualified "Eh..."

They have lots of different food: soups, varieties of sandwiches, pizza and chips. I wouldn't know anything about that. I always get the same thing: the regular original. What I got this weekend was a large original, and I must be remembering wrong but I never remember a sandwich that big. It could feed an ox.

A Schlotzky's is basically a muffaletta made with a very spongy, sourdough bread. This is their signature, in fact, the stock ticker is BUNZ. It is so perfectly spongy, it absorbes all the flavors as time goes on. The original is made of: Smoked ham, Genoa and cotto salamis, and melted cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses layered with black olives, red onion, lettuce, tomato, mustard and a vinigarette.

I can't tell you what I love about this sandwich, only that everything is perfectly balanced. No one ingredient overpowers another, it is a choreographed piece of artwork, almost a shame to eat. But once I start in on it, it becomes a feeding frenzy. It's not nostalgia either. Every time I go to Vegas I make it a point to drive down Flamingo Rd, past the Palms, and it's in a dumpy strip mall.

I don't expect everyone to run out and drive an hour for a chain sandwich, but if you ever find yourself in Orange, Anaheim or in Las Vegas, swing by, I don't think you'll be disappointed.