Bro, a $23 Sandwich?
How Expensive Should a Grinder Be? (Day 52)
The other day, in the mall, I happened to overhear two bros talking about an expensive sandwich. Apparently it was $23 for this sandwich and they were being very loud about the whole thing.
I have, to the best of my memory, transcribed that brief conversation for you:
Bro 1: Dude, what could even be in that sandwich?
Bro 2: I looked it up. Dude, it’s like a regular grinder.
Bro 1: Must be, like, double cheese or something?
Bro 2: Yeah, I mean you must get extra something, right, like meat.
Bro 1: I had the worst sandwich the other day, but it wasn’t, you know, $23.
Bro 2: Right man, like, who’s 23 dollars hungry?
The fellas turned a corner and we parted ways. Since then, I’ve been trying to think of whether I’ve ever eaten a $23 dollar sandwich. I did a little checking around.
Panera has a $23 dollar menu item called the Family Feast, but that’s THREE sandwiches and soup and salad.
The Hudson Restaurant in Arizona has a $23 blackened swordfish sandwich.
Signatures Supper Club in Iowa has a $23 ribeye sandwich.
The most expensive sandwich, even at our own Bedford Village Inn, comes in at $19.
Even the Sam Adams Pub at the airport has no sandwich besides a lobster roll higher than $19.
Incidentally, did you know that the term grinder - used almost exclusively in New England - is commonly thought to be derived out of Italian-American slang for a dock worker, among whom these sandwiches were popular?
Anyway, I have no clue what these guys were talking about, but like them I do hope that any $23 sandwich does indeed come with extra cheese or meat. How about you? What’s the most expensive sandwich you ever ate?
Katz’s Delicatessen in NYC charges $25 for a pastrami on rye, but for the price, you get enough pastrami on one sandwich to feed a family of four.
Hmmmm. I had a grinder this week that looked just like this one (better, actually) and it was $7.95. Hard to even get sandwich at McDonalds for that price these days. For $23? Nope, not hungry!