Over the weekend, I learned that In-N-Out Burger now has a restaurant in one of my favorite spots in our state — West 7th Street in Fort Worth.
Then, when I went to In-N-Out's website to confirm this, I was a little surprised to see how extensively the California burger chain has blanketed Dalllas/Fort Worth. I wrote a blog in May about the opening of the first Texas In-N-Out in Allen. Since that time, In-N-Out has opened eight more stores and another two are under construction.
And then I wondered how soon In-N-Out might begin moving south to, say, Waco? I emailed In-N-Out and they promptly responded to my questions. What I received was bad news/good news.
A new sushi restaurant is under construction in Central Texas Marketplace and could open by the end of February.
The restaurant will be called Waco Roll and is located in the storefront formerly occupied by Camille's Sidewalk Cafe.
Is the restaurant, especially the fast food restaurant, a construction of particularly modern culture and lifestyle?
I tend to think so as I imagine most people do. We say things like, "Oh, look what a rush we're in with all of our cell phones and fast food restaurants and the like." And then perhaps we fantasize about a bygone era, maybe frontier life, when every meal was slaved over with a level of effort that we can hardly even imagine now.
Well, apparently from something I read this morning, that's just not the way it was.
Upon embarking on the series of blogs that has been The Week of the Sandwich, I considered the boundaries of the blogs I would write. I decided to go local, almost exclusively.
As mentioned in Monday's blog, there's are certain cultural identifiers associated with different types of sandwiches, whether its a bahn mi or a Philly cheese steak or even a special kind of barbecues sandwich. The Schmaltz's Schmaltz for example, is not all that different from The Original at Schlotzsky's, but it's different enough that a longtime Wacoan could take the Pepsi challenge with The Schmaltz and the The Original and identify The Schmaltz every time.
If you've enjoyed The Week of the Sandwich so far, then I'm glad. From my end, it's been a huge success as it's pushed me to explore a portion of the wide variety of sandwiches we have here in Waco.
After beginning the week with a pair of deli sandwiches, I've gone on to dine on Philly, barbecue and today a Vietnamese sandwiche at Clay Pot. Specifically the beef banh mi.
I don't know if I'm getting better at taking pictures of food or if it's just pretty easy. I know that the photo accompanying this blog, featuring Tony DeMaria's BBQ's The Dagwood, came out fantastic.
It almost defies a carnivorous person to resist rushing over to Tony DeMaria's and ordering one as soon as possible. It really doesn't need any more words from me. The picture stands on its own.
But since I'm sitting here at my computer anyway, I'll offer a little more backstory.
Just to clarify, burgers don't count during The Week of the Sandwich.
Obviously, I have nothing against burgers. In fact, I've written at length about my love of the cheeseburger. But in order to give proper attention to other distinctive forms of meat (or other stuff as we might find) between bread, I'm removing the subset of burgers from consideration during this sandwich-focused week.
Tuesday of "The Week of the Sandwich" took me to The Olive Branch, where I stared down the menu and debated ordering the club sandwich.
I wanted to order the club sandwich almost solely because of Mitch Hedberg and his club sandwich joke. But I could not resist the Santa Fe.
It is a member of the great triumvirate of human invention, along with fire and the wheel.
It is diverse as it is simple. It can be made by anyone, but it constantly challenges the imagination.
Look to any people group in the universe, and probably in the history of mankind, and it will hoist its preferred version (or versions) of the sandwich made from ingredients as integral to and evident of the culture as anything else.
