OK - background - I love Reuben sandwiches, and I used to love Katz's (still do in my memories). Austin native, and I was sorry to see Katz's Never Kloses close in Austin. Bummer. Used to be a Shiloh's fan back in the day in downtown San Antonio. Had a great food-truck Reuben here in Austin, or perhaps two. (53rd and Duval, and later Guadalupe and about 37th) Really like New World Deli and Otherside Deli in Austin these days. Had a really good one at Otherside Deli last week. Had a pretty descent one a while back at the Houston Montrose Katz's. This week ? No Bueno. Why ? Cold inards, soggy outards, too much of this and not enough of that. Flavor was lacking. Watered down. Hot and cold, resulting in too much cold. Well, to address the not enough of - not enough of grilling of the bread for the amount of kraut and Russian dressing - the bread was soggy when it arrived at the table. To address the too much of - "juice" - the sandwich was sitting in a pool of "juice" when it arrived. Juice - from the kraut and Russian dressing. A pool of it. Heat ? The bread was warm, the meat was warm, but the kraut and other items were ice-box cool and it detracted from the bites. The swiss cheese, which I asked for extra of, was almost imperceptible, perhaps due to the chill resulting from the before. I like the swiss melted entirely into the bread and kraut. I had trouble locating the swiss. When all the flavors meld together, the result is a true masterpiece. This one was a bunch of argueing children - just not getting along. There was some attempts, the ingredients were there, but they were fighting each other. Again, bummer. Based on what we tasted, I am a former supporter. Won't do it again. Not worth it. $19 base price, btw. So, I ate about half of mine, and took the rest out. Didn't know if I would finish it or not. Got back home, and we had some leftovers to deal with. So, I disassembled my Katz's disappointment, carefully, melted some butter in a plate, soaked the rye bread (nice bread, btw) in the butter and put it in the oven for 12 minutes or so at 400, turning once. I then heated the "inards" on a bowl covered plate in the microwave for a series of 30 second intervals until piping hot. Since the Russian dressing had been dissolved away in a pool of kraut residue, I added some spicy brown mustard to the bread after it was good and toasty, and sliced some Rudy's "Del Sol" jalapenos I had in the fridge, length wise, in about 1/12ths, and laid them out along the bread length, and reassembled the Reuben sandwich. Gave the first half to my spouse - "Wow ! What a difference.", she immediately exclaimed. I cleaned up my cooking dishes and tried mine, oh my gosh, what a difference - I would buy this ! For sure. Very tasty. Difference ? Texture - no sogginess, butter flavor in rye bread, heat - both in the bread and the contents, and personal preference - the spicy brown mustard and the jalapeno addition, though not absolutely necessary on a classic Reuben. FYI, I asked Katz's once to add the mustard, and they deleted the Russian dressing by mistake. The manager had no explanation for the mistake after I called back upon getting home and tasting the sandwich. "We interpreted the addition of Mustard as meaning that you didn't want Russian." No offer to make up for the mistake was proffered. Not sure how they'd do it anyway. Speaking of service, it wasn't too good in their shop at Montrose. The waitress that took our order had disappeared after taking it. Other folks came to the table afterwards, so there was no concrete replies as to why we asked for one thing and received another, or why things were not in good shape in other ways. Lackadaisical. Btw, if you like caraway seed in your kraut, bring your own to add. The restaurant does not carry it. And, btw, Randall's doesn't either. I stopped by there to get some to add to the sandwich and, and the Randall's on Holcombe didn't stock it. (?!) HEB on Buffalo Seedway did. Katz's did have rye bread with it in it, but when I called ahead, the Katz's rep said "not very much caraway in the bread, and none in our kitchen to lend to you", so I sought out a grocery store to get it from in advance. (silly to say - I like caraway in my Reuben!) When we got the sandwich, the bread was loaded with caraway. Oye vey ! Oh well. I still like my kraut with caraway in it. Then, minor faux pas with the waitress, take out containers, no take out containers, they served it in take-out containers instead of plates, which we requested, which contributed to the pooling of kraut and Russian dressing juices and the sogginess of the bread. The small things sometimes. You know. Well, half of the Reuben sucked, but the other half was resurrected with resounding success at home. If businesses would just pay attention to the little things at times, I believe that the reviews and repeat patronization would improve. Just care a little bit more about what you are doing. (....or, get out of the business?). read more