I’ve long been a fan of Jerusalem Café; we even did a video about the place. So I was glad to hear that the owners of that friendly, high-value restaurant were taking over the former 7 Sandwich Shop space on Lake Street.
As you may recall, the owners of 7 Sandwich Shop worked to present “gourmet and specialty sandwiches,” like the Black Russian Ruben, and creative variations on the Shrimp Po Boy and Cuban sandwiches. About a year ago I wrote about 7 Sandwich Shop that:
This approach may have been too gutsy, too risky: 7 Sandwich Shop is now gone. Perhaps their adventurousness had a chilling effect on business plans for Romaine Greens & Grill. This new restaurant presents an extremely safe menu.
Nothing on the RG&G menu will likely surprise you, but that’s okay because sometimes you don’t want a surprise: you just want a salad or a sandwich, nothing fancy, just something predictable and, you hope, satisfying.
Last week at RG&G, I decided to have the Eggplant-Mozzarella Panini (following Hammond’s Rules of Ordering, #38: If you’re getting a sandwich in a restaurant, have them warm it for you).
For almost $9 (tax included), I was expecting more from my sandwich. In the picture above, the top bread slice has been removed so you can look inside at two gray eggplant medallions on a mozzarella smear. Although the menu description listed basil leaves, there was exactly one leaf on each half of the sandwich, not nearly enough to convey the peppery greenness of this herb.
I posted a picture on Facebook, and my friend Jim Behymer of Sandwich Tribunal commented:
A shameful sandwich…The bread looks pretty good…but here you need much better eggplant coverage, and if basil is a named ingredient you’d better use more than a pathetic solitary leaf!
As you can see in the picture, the bread-to-eggplant ratio on this sandwich is like 5:1, which is way too much. All one tastes is bread…which isn’t a bad taste, but there’s at least three other ingredients here that should be readily discernible…but aren’t.
Now, it could be said that judging a place based on one sandwich is unfair. And it is. This was a bad sandwich, yes, but I’m not concluding from that on2 bad experience that RG&G is a bad restaurant. However, when you have a disappointing meal at a restaurant, are you in a hurry to go back? Probably not. New customers walk through the doors of RG&G every day; if you want them to come back, you have to impress them.
New restaurants frequently falter on service, but service at RG&G was very friendly and helpful. The counter person seemed genuinely concerned that I would get enough to eat (given the anemic sandwich I was served, I now completely understand that concern).
Checking Yelp reviews, a guy named Adam writes about RG&G:
“Absolutely love!! I am so happy they decided to open here in downtown Oak park! [Note: Adam lives in Naperville] Such a great selection and so healthy..great quality food. Highly recommend to stop by before catching a movie ;)”
Adam, bro, I notice you have four Yelp reviews, one that praises RG& G and two of which praise Jerusalem Café: “Literally best middle-eastern food place” and “the cute girls in the front always brighten my day.” Your only other Yelp review dumps on Chipotle (“a dead fly in my lettuce”). No offense intended, but I smell shill.
RG&G has an extensive catering menu, and they offer delivery, so it seems they’re going after some business that might otherwise go to places like Jimmy John’s. Their website has a menu option “Locations,” suggesting that they’re envisioning more than just the one Lake Street store. More power to them for those ambitions.
Overall, though, RG&G, me to you, you’re going to have to try harder. I understand you may not want to take the kind of risks that may have sunk 7 Sandwich Shop, and I know you folks can run an excellent place (case in point: Jerusalem Café), so it gives me no pleasure to acknowledge that your newest effort is, shall we say, not quite there yet. Do better, please.
Romaine Greens & Grill
1053 Lake Street
708.383.6900
