I have a collector's mentality when it comes to trying a lot of things, and Reubens are near the top of that list. Since we moved to Syracuse, we've been to a lot of places just to see where they stack. Since we moved here in 2020, the only time we ever really passed through this area was when we were lost on our way home off the thruway. (More times than I'll admit here.) But every couple months, Look - there it is again! A huge banner taking up an entire wall just to say "Awesome Reubens". That sign has been taunting us for years, but for a while, every time we saw it was either on a Monday or after we'd eaten. Finally we looked up the name of the place and made plans to go see for ourselves.
We doubled down on the Reubens when we ordered. First was a standard issue "Awesome Reuben", paired with a "Sun Drop Reuben", because it had never occurred to us to put eggs on a Reuben. We labored over a bunch of other things, but ended up throwing in a breakfast pizza to complete the order. They were cool about everything, including all our deliberation over the phone, and put us on with the chef (I think?) to verify when they thought there might be a delay on the pizza.
The breakfast pizza turned out to be my favorite. We did half bacon, half sausage. It was cut into strips, Syracuse style. The dough was firm but perfectly soft, almost buttery. Nothing stood out for the sauce, but it wasn't dry like many breakfast pizzas tend to be. Even left over days later, it held its amazing taste and texture.
As far as the Reubens, they were about as good as any other well made Reuben, with nothing to set them apart. They don't skimp on the ingredients, and the meat was cooked but not overcooked. Aside from the non-marbled rye, they check all the boxes, but to the same extent as any other good sandwich place. The only difference is the big sign they put up singling it out. But hey, it got us to come out.
The Sun Drop Reuben was about the same portion, but none of the sauce and maybe half the sauerkraut. I think the intention was that the yolks from the eggs would replace the moisture, but ours were cooked straight through, so no yolks or moisture. We're assuming the yolks were the link that would have made the eggs work with the Reuben in the first place, because the sandwich was just some undressed corn beef, a dash of kraut, and some dry eggs. In hindsight we wish we'd just tried another item off the menu instead.
I should emphasize that their Awesome Reuben is plenty Awesome, and you won't regret ordering it if you're a fan of reubens. I think all in all the sign was the biggest letdown. It's what got us in the door in the first place, but it set the bar too high for a Reuben that would have otherwise delivered just fine. read more