Sunday Sandwiches - Bistro 24

**** Bistro 24 has closed

Since we moved offices a few weeks ago; I've been trying to find a dependable lunch stop.....it seems the world around here is mostly about sandwiches. And the closest place is located on the first floor of One La Jolla Center, in a glassed off area of the first floor - Bistro 24.

According to Eater, Bistro 24 is a "mini-chain" of eateries which has five existing locations in OC.

There are sandwiches, burgers, salads, and even entrees on the menu. What's quite interesting is that in the short while wince we've moved up here, the menu has changed a couple of times.

Take the Steak Sandwich for example.

On my first visit; this was a short steak sandwich. It was nicely browned though a bit over-cooked and on the tough and stringy side. nice flavors though; I enjoyed the pickled onions and while there was a shortage of veggies, the crumbled feta added a nice touch. The roll was decently toasted and crisp. At almost twelve bucks, I'd say this was on the high side pricewise.

I added a pasta salad to make it a combo; which was dry and pretty bland, like stuff form the supermarket salad bar.

A couple of visits later I noticed that it had changed on the menu. So this is what it looks like now.

It has "graduated" to become a short rib sandwich on a very nice buttermilk bun. The roll really didn't hold up well on the short walk back to the office. The short ribs had quite a nice beefy flavor, but was dry and stringy. The melted gruyere was ncie as it added a light milky-saltiness to the sandwich. I would have appreciated something to cut the richness of the sandwich.

The potato salad suffered from mayo overload.

For my third visit; I went with the Green Chili Chicken ($8.45) and some fries (with a drink, and $3.45 upcharge).

In terms of overall flavor, this as decent, a slight bit of heat, nice acid from the semi-roasted tomatoes, which I could have done with more of. The aioli, pepper jack cheese, and roasted pasilla peppers gave this sandwich a bit of zip. There's a reason I usually don't order grilled chicken sandwiches; the dryness factor, which unfortunately, was the case here.

The fries were crisp, though on the dry side as well. Very routine.

Service was very courteous and efficient. The vibe and product is very "corporate". The prices on the high side. Not terrible, but every item fell short of enjoyable.

I'll probably get around to the salads and burgers one of these days. After I search around a bit more.

Bistro 24
4655 Executive Drive
San Diego, CA 92121
Hours:
Mon - Fri 7am - 4pm

Comments

[kat]

:(

[Kirk]

Kinda plus/minus.....more minus than plus Kat.

[Sandy]

That is one upscale sandwich shop! Too bad about the food.

[Junichi]

You got shake shack in UTC now. Can't wait for Din Tai Fung to open.

[Kirk]

Hi Sandy - Kinda looks upcale, but it's really corporate

Hi Junichi - I'm going to wait until the hype settles down on visiting SS. I've been to the SS location in JFK.....

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2016/07/airport-food-eat-at-joes-philadelphia-international-airport-and-shake-shack-jfk-international-airpor.html

[Faye]

Didn't know about this place so thanks for trying all the various sandwiches. Specialty's is close by and their sandwiches are pretty good (expensive too).

[Kirk]

Hi Faye - Yeah, Specialty's is coming up....

[JKP]

Kirk, I've been following your blog for literally 10 years (probably more) and it's surreal to see you're now in my building. It would be even more surreal to meet up for lunch or coffee? I'm with you about Bistro 24 I'm not a fan of their recent menu change.

[Kirk]

My goodness JKP. Thanks so much for reading all these years! I'm not actually in One La Jolla Ctr, but fairly close by. I'll shoot you an email when I get a chance. Thanks Again!