Tom + Chee:

It may come as a surprise that this was my first visit to Tom + Chee. Given my love of grilled cheese sandwiches, as well as their many creative options, I knew it I'd end up there sooner or later.

I just kept pushing it for later, for purely selfish reasons. Oh, I looked at the menu online. I knew about the grilled cheese donut. I follow them on twitter, and see tweets of the daily specials and soups, which sound delicious most of the time. But I just couldn't bring myself to go there.

I knew that if it was anything like Melt Bar and Grilled, visiting Tom + Chee would be akin to opening Pandora's box. My will power would vanish, and indubitably I would construct some sort of goetta-triple-cheese-and-potato-chip-grilled-cheese-donut-monstrosity the likes of which has never been seen by man or beast.

Putting my fear aside, I visited for lunch this past week with two of my friends, who kindly let me take pictures of their sandwiches. And yes, I got the grilled cheese donut. And the mac n' cheese grilled cheese with bacon.

Tom + Chee was as awesome as I was afraid it would be. Service was quick and friendly, grilled cheeses were gooey and toasty, and the wide variety of coke products (diet coke, caffeine free diet coke, cherry coke zero and regular coke!) was a welcome surprise.

Hippy Chee: lettuce, tomato, cucumber and hummus with cheddar on wheat, $3.50

Hot N' Spicy Chee: pepperoni, hot peppers and onion, with pepper jack on wheat

The grilled cheeses were also very inexpensive for their size (my two sandwiches, even with the upcharge of bacon on the grilled mac n’ cheese and my soda were still under $10), which is a good deal. It's easy to see why they've been successful and able to open up a second location in Newport so quickly. I'll definitely be back. My donut creation awaits.

it calls

Soho Sushi:

I had to twist my Dad's arm a little bit to go to Soho. A traditionlist in his tastes, he prefers the more conventional cheeseburger (cheese and ketchup only, please) or a steak and baked potato.

The first few times I brought it up, he repeated sushi back to me as if it were a dirty word. "Sushi? Like raw fish?"

"No." I replied. "They have steak and chicken too."
"like, raw steak and chicken?!"
"No, Dad. It's cooked."

The third time I mentioned it, I was determined to have him try Soho out. Soho may not be exactly traditional sushi, but it's a good introduction to the sushi style, inexpensive, and made with fresh, tasty ingredients. I sent my Dad the menu for Soho and offered to pay. I think me opening up my wallet took the risk out of it and sealed the deal, because my Dad agreed to meet us for dinner.

David and I had been to Sushi before for dinner with Maureen, Mandy, 5chw4r7z and Ms. 5chw4r7z , Courtney, JT and Jenny, and a few times, had gotten take out for lunch. We’ve gotten to know the management, Steve and Zachary, pretty well.

While spending his younger years in Colorado, Steve's parents took him out to sushi often. Once he grew older, though, sushi became a luxury item. To many, it still is. Soho is striving to make that change. By using specialty machines and a simple process model and menu, a lot of the overhead is taken out and the prices are more afforable. It's fast too--which is a necessity during the downtown lunch rush.

The rolls themsevles? Huge, in comparison to what you might be used to. I can't even finish one roll, and more than one and a half and David is stuffed.

Soho makes the sushi concept very approachable, with specialty rolls--the ingredients have already been chosen, and make-your-own rolls, where the customer can mix and match ingredients until satisfied with the combination. Sometimes, this means you've unwittingly created a roll the circumference of a soda can.

While we were there, we tried a new menu feature-- the PB & J roll. Rolled in a soft soy wrap with rice, the texture is almost like that of pita bread.

it's delicious, don't be hatin'

I liked the roll, and though it is targeted to kids, I'll probably get it again.
Soho pays a lot of attention to detail--both coke zero and diet coke are on the soda fountain, which we appreciate. Their spicy mayo has a number of secret ingredients, and they make a new batch every morning.

I was proud of my Dad--though he preferred the soy wrap, which is a little softer, he tried all the sushi, sauces and even some wasabi and pickled ginger. He promised he wouldn’t stop on the way back home and get a cheeseburger, either. The staff at Soho is very welcoming to first timers, so don't be afraid to stop by!

spicy edamame

Capri Tavola Calda:

I walk past Capri everyday. Somehow, I hadn't tried it yet, though it has been open for a few months. On Tuesday, I decided to give it a shot and get lunch to have with David. Because I was pressed for time, I called in the order to pick up. I thought it would make is simpler. After some research, I chose 2 Arista paninis and a slice of pizza. And that was where it all went wonky.

When I arrived, I went to pay. "That will be $40.64."
Say whut?

I explained that I didn't think that was right for what I had ordered. The cashier looked at the ticket scribbled for my order and she and I deduced that somehow my slice of pizza had turned into a whole pizza, which was why my bill was so expensive.

I decided quickly I was OK with extra pizza. There was a line forming behind me and I could almost feel the impatient stares. I paid.

That was when they asked me what dressing I wanted on my salad. Salad? O.k. I figured that maybe it came with the pizza, so I said ranch. That's when I noticed that they were filling 6 cups of ranch dressing. Odd, but I figured they were restocking.

Then came the salads.

Oh my, that's a lot of lettuce...

They began stacking them up on the counter. 1 salad. 2 salads. 3. salads. 4 salads. 5 salads. "Maybe they are for someone else.", I reasoned, stuffing down a sense of rising panic. But when the to go order was presented in front of me, my suspicions were confirmed. Somehow, my order had gone from a slice of pizza and two paninis, to two paninis and a supposed whole pizza to two paninis and 6 salads. With ranch dressing.

While I was OK with extra pizza, I was not OK with 6 salads, angry pizza line behind me or not. I explained the cluster of events and mis-communications, eventually got the coveted pizza, sorted out the cost of the meal, and took it all back to the apartment. Once home, I looked over the menu, and found the source of the salad problem. A basic salad is called a "pisa" and the italian word for 6 sounds like "slice". So, "slice of pizza" turned into "6 pisas".

Most of the reviews seem to like the panini and not be too hot on the pizza. We were the opposite. The panini was good--the meat had good flavor, but the iceberg lettuce on the hot sandwich lent it a weird flavor profile. A lot of people seem to like it though, so maybe it was just us.

The pizza, on the other hand, was crispy, hot and delicious. All pizzas are thin crust pizza, and I chose a simple slice with nice fresh mozzarella and basil. David and I ended up fighting over the piece of pizza and ignoring the second panini. We probably would have anyway--this sandwich, as you can see, is huge.

Despite the craziness in ordering, Ill be back, because I really liked the pizza. I will just make sure to order clearly and distinctly. I suggest you do the same. I have also posted pictures of the menu, because it is not anywhere that I could find on the internets.

Wicked-Wich:

When I first got word of Wicked-Wich opening downtown, I was intrigued. The clever named sounded promising— I am all for more interesting, focused and quality sandwiches being made closer to my office. Overnight marinated meats sliced to order? I'll take that, thank you. Especially since I have been so busy lately that I have been stuck at my desk, eating instant oatmeal for lunch.

When I saw their menu, I knew I’d have a problem with it. Because I wanted to eat about 10 things on it for lunch. See for yourself here.

Should I construct my own sandwich? Try the beef barbeque? The chicken salad? Oh dear god they have an option to try all three of their soups for $4.95, I’m so screwed.

I brought David and my friend Janelle with me to check out Wicked-Wich yesterday, bumping into none other than Polly Campbell, who was also scoping the place out with a lunchmate. Her initial review was positive. We agree.

I really like this mural. The whole menu and the restaurant itself is almost perfectly in sync with the theme. It’s edgy and clever (cledgy?).

We had a few people in line ahead of us, but things move pretty quickly. David likes that the fountain soft drinks have both diet coke and coke zero. Once you have your drink, step up to the counter and order your sandwich. I faced two impulses when I stepped up to the counter.

The first was to go crazy and create some sort of obscenely delicious and huge sandwich monstrosity, with multiple cheeses on a brioche bun. But I wasn’t entirely sure I could eat it all, so I ruled out that option.

The second was panic:—there were so many options, and I felt a little like I was on a Seinfeld episode—that I would break some sort of unspoken sandwich code and then... “NO SANDWICH FOR YOU!”

However, if you also experience the same panic, I advise you to just do what I did—ask for recommendations. They are happy to give them and I was very happy with the results.

I went with the turkey sandwich ($5.95) with lemon rosemary cured turkey breast, and multi grain bun (recommended) I also chose the emmentaler swiss, which was .50 extra. I don’t mind paying extra for tasty cheese. WW also has truffled jack and goat cheese, which I’ll be trying next visit.

For condiments, I kept it simple, lettuce, tomato and chipotle mayo. And wow, was the chipotle mayo tasty. It had a little bit of a kick that I liked a lot. David liked the multigrain baguette so much that when I gave him my ‘wich to try, he wouldn’t give it back until I kicked him from under the table.

The breads at WW are buttered and toasted. Which boosts the tasty to 11.

Sandwiches come with a small cup side, and I selected the edamame wheatberry salad. It was very good—I liked the texture and the size was just right. Lots of onion, though. I made sure to dig in my work drawer for tic-tacs upon my return to the office.

Edamamehnhance!

David went with BBQ sandwich ($6.95) with apple cheddar slaw, roasted garlic aioli on a toasted brioche bun. The bun was great—and went well with the tangy, not too sweet barbeque.

For his side, he wanted the curried egg salad. I tried some and it’s exactly what it states—curried egg salad. Very tasty.

Janelle went with the soup trio ($4.95) and an extra side of the cranberry slaw ($1.25). She said she liked all the soups, they had good flavor, but the chicken chili was her favorite.

Cranberry slaw

tomato garlic soup

four onion soup

chicken chili

Someone certainly knows what they are doing at Wicked-Wich. I will definitely be back. I hope that they do well. They’ve only been open a short time, but they seemed to have it pretty together.