The Grove, San Francisco, CA USA

The Grove Club

Category: ,

Ordered at The Grove in San Francisco.

Overall Score 81.6/100
Presentation 6.8/10 Meat Quality 8.7/10
Fruit / Vegetable Quality 8.1/10 Bread Quality 9.0/10
Mayo / Sauce Usage 8.8/10 Value 8.9/10
Ingredients Ratio 6.9/10 Sides 7.0/10
Holdability 8.9/10 Overall Taste 8.5/10

“What a neat area,” I remember thinking as I ventured from Japantown to where I was meeting a friend for lunch. The street was littered with little clothing stores and cafes offering selections from venues I was not accustomed to seeing .

San Francisco is cool!

We walked into The Grove, a popular spot that apparently had been frequented already by Foursquare friends of mine. Their menu looked fun, and while the person taking orders at the counter seemed to not know anything about what the restaurant offered, I still had high hopes for their club sandwich.  Yes, even after reading they had an “All Day Breakfast” menu, their self-titled club lured me in. After all I had eaten breakfast in Boston at the airport and had another breakfast on the flight from BOS to SFO; I didn’t need more eggs!

We placed our orders and sat down outside in the warm sun. We chatted about online marketing, concierges, and how hip San Francisco is. But my mind was always thinking about The Grove Turkey Club.

And then it arrived! … without bacon, which was quickly obvious. Hard to believe not a first for me though, and the lady at the counter apologized as I returned the sandwich.

OK, let’s try this again: The Grove Turkey Club! This time with bacon! Crispy, but not juicy bacon. I was glad they added it but it didn’t really enhance the overall taste of the sandwich. Lovely sliced turkey; this was a solid flavorful ingredient. Ripe tomato, albeit sparse. Lettuce was barely there, but was nice and crispy. Avocado was nice and made the sandwich a bit creamy without the need for much mayo. Bread was great as well – it had a fluffy texture that stayed that way the entire time.

There was one strong downside to this sandwich, however: it was hard to eat! Avocado popping out one side, bacon coming out the other, tomato hard to find, and the bread all encompassing – I found myself picking it apart by the end of the meal, taking in each ingredient on its own rather than the sandwich as a whole… not the way it was intended to be eaten!

I enjoyed this club sandwich but it didn’t excite me… it needed a bit more elegance and grace. I wanted to wrap my hands around it and take big bites, enjoying all of the ingredients at once, but I barely had the opportunity.

Fun lunch, fun spot; I will be back, but probably not for the club sandwich.

Location

One Response to “The Grove, San Francisco, CA USA”