Tuesday, October 7th, 2014 | TechNews

 

Which Wich Restaurant Review

Kyle Stanevich
BUSINESS MANAGER

Over the summer in San Diego, I
discovered the best sub sandwich chain restau—
rant. I had never seen one of those in Illinois,
so I assumed it was a regional specific restau—
rant, like White Castle is to the Midwest. Once
back in Illinois, my craving for a sub sparked
my curiosity. After some quick searching, I
found that they do exist outside of the West
Coast. My newly found favorite sub sandwich
chairi is Which Wich.

After a quick ride on the Green Line
and hopping on the Red Line to stop at Lake,
I found the Chicago Which Wich, right at the
exit from the basement of shopping center
Block Thirty Seven. Some people might know
the place better for the Disney store right next
door

At Which Wich, the customer de-
cides what ingredients go on their sandwich,
but in a non-traditional way. Instead of telling
the employee what to put on the sub, the hun-
gry customer fills out an extensive checklist of
ingredients and options that they want on the
sub. This checklist is completed on a brown
paper bag with all the options printed on it.
Instead of telling the employees what to put on
the sub, there is a table with markers to fill out
the bag, which once completed is given to the
cashier. Upon the order being fulfilled, the bag
then doubles as a sub sleeve to carry around
the sandwich.

There are the standard ingredients
like lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles, but then
there are unusual options, like dried cranber-

 

ries, house chips, and candied walnuts. Along
with that there are 10 types of cheeses to pick
from, 9 sauce, 4 mustard, 4 mayo, and 6 dress-
ing varieties, 3 onion types, 7 oils and spices,
and the option for double meat, bacon, sliced
egg, and avocado. There is an option for every
possible customization that could be thought
of and more.

On top of all these choices, there
is still the meat choice, or lack thereof. There
are 10 standard different varieties of meat to
choose from, each with their own bag, and
on each bag, there are sub-choices of different
combinations of meat to pick from. Plus, there
is a Sub of the Month bag, usually featuring an
exotic sub based on some international food.
However, this sub has limited options, some-
times none at all. For small children, a regular
sub might not be appetizing, so they offer a PB
81 I sandwich.

Other than the obvious advan—
tage where the sub is ultra-customizable, this
checklist method minimizes possible mis—
communication between the customer and
employee. Plus, the process is very speedy, be»
cause the sub maker does not have to keep ask-

. ing what to put on the sub. However, speed is

not the emphasis, so for those with a fast paced
lifestyle, Jimmy Iohns would probably be bet-
ter.

Compared to subway, these subs are
bigger, include more meat, and have more fla-
vors. However, Which Wich does not have as
many choices of bread, featuring only white
and wheat. The extra ingredients easily make
up for the fewer types of bread, but if you can—
not live without Italian Herbs & Cheese then
Which Wich is not for you.

For drinks, they have a refrigerator
with some specialty beverages, plus a soda ma-
chine for unlimited refills. If you want some—
thing a bit more filling to drink, they also of-
fer milkshakes, that—in the spirit of Which
Wich—are customizable. For dessert, they of-
fer cookies, Wich krispies (rice crispy treats),
brownies, and ice cream cookie sandwiches.

While the food is amazing, the at—
mosphere of Which Wich is surprisingly nice.
They all feature a good selection of music that
they call Which Wich radio. The interior is
modern styled without looking industrial,
with glass, stainless steel, white, black, and yel-
low. Plus there is an art wall where customers
can hang their sketches done on the back of the
checklist brown paper bags.

There is one downside to Which
Wich, which only applies to the Chicago fran- ‘
chise. The ones in California all had a friendly
staff and quick service, but the Chicago one
was understaffed with sluggish workers. They
did not mess up anything on my order, but
they were preoccupied with something else so
it took a while to get on my order even though
I was the only person ordering anything.

If you want a filling sub, and don’t
mind paying a bit more than $5, then Which
Wich is worth trying. There are so many op-
tions that whatever mood for food you are in,
Which Wich has you covered.

Which Wich

108 N State St #002

Chicago, IL 60602

Scale (1-10): Redefining the sandwich game
Cost: $7-10 depending on options
Oddities: Too many choices (a good thing)

 

Photos by Kyle Stanevich
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