What I Had For Lunch Today

Friday, November 18, 2005

The "Big Sandwich" Post


I'm actually a little surprised that this, only the second entry in this blog, covers Perry's Deli (or, as my co-workers like to call it, "Big Sandwich").

Perry's is, hands down, THE best place to eat lunch in downtown Chicago. Yes, I know that there's some survey that ranked Potbelly the top, but I'm pretty sure that survey was written by vegetarians. Don't get me wrong - I love Potbelly, but there's no way that Perry's takes the silver.

I feel very strongly about this.

Today's lunch was my new sandwich of choice - the "Combo Favorite". One of the items on the menu is the "Perry's Favorite", which is corned beef, cole slaw, Jack cheese, and Russian dressing. About a year ago, a friend taught me to order "off the menu" and get a "pastrami favorite', which is the same sandwich, but the corned beef is replaced with pastrami. Recently I thought I'd invented a new sandwich - which was to make a Perry's Favorite, but with corned beef AND pastrami. I was distressed to discover that they already knew of this glorious concoction, and referred to it as a "combo".

My boss really likes Perry's chili (apparently it has chocolate in it), but to me, going to Perry's and getting anything but one of their gargantuan sandwiches is kind of like going to a strip club just to listen to the DJ - sure, it might be fun, but that's really not what you're there for. The milkshakes, on the other hand, are sublime. However, attempting to consume one of the "triple decker" sandwiches (my favorite 3-D is "Toot's Temptation", which is brisket, fried onion's, Russian dressing, Jack cheese, and cole slaw) and a large milkshake should probably result in a special warning label by C. Everett Koop.

Perry's used to have a lot more charm, back when it was actually owned by the original Perry (it was sold to a guy named Boris a couple years ago) - announced by a ringing cowbell, Perry would offer up a "stale pastry of your choice" to lunch-goers who answered his goofy trivia questions. The recent addition of the plasma screen television showing bad (not good bad, but bad bad) movies is not something I'm a big fan of, but damn, the food still rules.

And they'll still yell at you if you use your cell phone.

Perry's Deli is located at 174 N. Franklin. Today's meal cost $9.25.

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