*** Mercury Grill has closed
Here's another in my series on little sandwich shops. Mercury Grill is located in the same strip mall on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard that houses Aria Cafe and Pho Fusion among others. After passing the place several times, the bright red, white, and blue sign finally got me to check the place out.
The interior is full of checkered table cloths and the menu features everything from salads to chili to pizza.
One thing I noticed right away were the prices which seemed pretty reasonable.
One my first visit I went with the Horsy Roast Beef ($4.55) and added in a drink and some fries for $1.75 more.
This was a pretty decent sandwich, not over dressed. The basic horseradish mayo added a nice bit of "bite" to the whole deal. The roast beef was decent quality and the bread was fine. The fries were you standard issue SYSCO/US Foods stuff....
And this was a perfectly adequate lunch. I felt I got my money's worth and left satisfied.
The next week, I happened to be close by during lunch and deciding to move "up the food chain" as it were, I went for the Mercury Burger ($4.25 + $1.75 for fries and a drink).
Again, this wasn't anything fancy, a simple grilled patty topped with a very mild cheddar, tomato, shredded lettuce, and thousand island dressing. I've had much worse over the last couple of months......
The burger wasn't particularly large and this suffered a bit from TMB (Too much bread) syndrome, with the roll being a bit on the dry and crumbly side. On this visit, I noticed two of the guys who work at one of the car dealerships nearby had the Bacon Dog. So on my next visit that's what I decided to get.
The Bacon Dog (sans ketchup) costs $3.49 which seemed very reasonable. With fries and a drink it was about $5.50.
The first thing I noticed was that the cheese wasn't, or would never be melted. I enjoy the texture of melted cheese. This also told me that the temperature of this was going to be lukewarm at best. Second, I wondered where the bacon was.......this was when I noticed that the dog had been split to cook quicker on the griddle. As for the bacon? Well, as I took a closer look, I found pieces of crumpled bacon and not much of it. In fact, there was so little that it really didn't add anything to the hot dog. Also, a good part of the griddled onions were burnt which added an unpleasant bitterness to the hot dog. I removed as much of it as I could.
Well, I guess as Meafloaf says "two out of three ain't bad." Mercury Grill serves up reasonably priced basic sandwiches for the working crowd. The food is simple and unpretentious....though I'm not sure I'm going to order what they call a "pizza" here after I saw one. The breakfasts seemed priced right at $2.75 - $3.90. The hours are rather limited being open from 7am to 3pm Monday to Friday.
Mercury Grill
8046 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours: 7am-3pm Monday - Friday
Hi Kirk! Too bad about the hot dog but that roast beef sandwich looks delicious!
Posted by: Carol | Sunday, 23 October 2011 at 09:26 PM
I'll consider this a "preview"...I was planning to check this place out since I have a coupon for it (as well as Aria Kabob). The horsy beef sandwich looks like something I'd try but not the lukewarm hot dog.
Posted by: caninecologne | Sunday, 23 October 2011 at 09:36 PM
two out of three definitely isn't bad.
Posted by: kat | Monday, 24 October 2011 at 12:50 AM
Hi Carol - It was a decetn sandwich and worth the price.
Hi CC - You know, I haven't been to Aria in a while....I need to check them out.
Not bad at all Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 24 October 2011 at 06:44 AM
Nice review! This place really reminds me of a where i get lunch from very often. iI I worked nearby it looks like the kinda place I'd go to 2 or 3 times a week to get a reasonably price lunch.
Posted by: Jason | Monday, 24 October 2011 at 07:59 AM
Hi Jason - Yeah, this place is reasonable and serves up pretty solid fare.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 25 October 2011 at 06:34 AM
The original TMB: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug75diEyiA0
Posted by: Janfrederick | Tuesday, 25 October 2011 at 12:53 PM
The sad thing is Jan, I'm old enough to remember seeing that commercial when it first came out.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 25 October 2011 at 01:00 PM
Hey Kirk, PedMa here....have you tried Liang's Kitchen yet?
Posted by: PedMa | Tuesday, 25 October 2011 at 08:44 PM
Hi PedMa - Yes I have......
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 25 October 2011 at 09:39 PM
How was it? Have not tried yet...
Posted by: PedMa | Thursday, 27 October 2011 at 08:59 PM
Found out it is a chain, makes me suspicious
Posted by: PedMa | Thursday, 27 October 2011 at 09:03 PM
You should be PedMa.....
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 27 October 2011 at 09:19 PM