Penn Station - West 10th St.

The bread was soft and tasted doughy or buttery--the bread seemed to be the dominant flavor of the sandwich. I would have liked more swiss cheese on the sandwich--I could hardly taste a cheese flavor on it. The lemonade was great, and "free cookie Tuesday" was a big hit. I got the feeling that the restaurant basically has a "sandwich" interface, with the different varieties of sandwiches were just the same sandwich with different ingredients; the homogenized flavor kind of made the Reuben taste like just another sandwich instead of a customized work of art.

Toasted bun--mmm. The sandwich was different, but enjoyable. I will return in the future. Nothing beats having a young girl bring your food to you. The water was carbonated. Bonus: free cookie!

Who on earth designed the parking lot? It was hard to find the way in, and hard to maneuver around avoiding other vehicles to get out. This is an "order at the counter, we'll bring the food to you" sort of place. That's kind of nice, since you pay up front and don't have to wait afterward, and you order right away, but I still prefer to order at the table, hence the A-. Other than that, service was very pleasant and friendly, and they even offered a free cookie because it was "free cookie Tuesday". This place is loud. There's no sound damping surface at all, and you have the delivery people calling out the names of patrons. Seating is standard fast-food style. In its favor, the place was quite clean (at 11:30, at least) and there was no smoke. The sandwich itself was a bit light on the meat, but otherwise excellent. Purists may decry the lack of rye bread, but the sub bread was nicely toasted and never got the slightest bit soggy. My small sub was a good size when combined with the free cookie, small fries (very good but not awesome), and the excellent lemonade (free refills): total bill $7.24.

First off, we may need to debate whether or not Penn Station actually serves a Reuben. A Reuben purist would say "no". A Reuben should be served on rye bread. Penn Station does not offer this sandwich staple, thus uses their stock baguette. However the sandwich did have a good flavor. The fact that they grill the sauerkraut keeps the white bread from becoming soggy. The quality of the meat was good, however the amount was not. I ordered a medium, the bread was obviously larger than a small however the amount of meat seemed to be the same as a small (which is not much). The upside of eating here is the fries and lemonade, the best in the business. As you can see, the lowest grade was given to atmosphere. This is due to the noise level--too much concrete just bounces the sound around.

This was not a true Reuben. It was not served on rye bread, although the toasted french-like bread was acceptable in lieu of the "real thing". The corned beef was a bit mild for my taste. However, the service was quick and efficient, a tribute to mass production line Americana. The high ceilings tended to make the area much too loud. I preferred the grilled sauerkraut as it was not "drippy" and cold. There was no smoking area, a plus to some, an inconsiderate inconvenience to me. This cost me extra time which is what a "fast food" service is attempting to save, thus defeating the point of patronage. Would I return? Yes, but most likely only for carry-out.

A lot of bread, a lot of kraut, but the lack of meat makes me want to shout "Where's the beef?", corned beef, that is. It was a pretty good sandwich overall; except for the paltry/wimpy portion of corned beef. I imagine that the bulk/cost ratio will be low for this one.

The free cookie was a nice touch.