Sweet Home Chicago

The first thing you notice when the Reuben approaches the taste buds is the interaction of the bread upon the tongue. The bread is so saturated with butter that you get a nice salty, buttery flavor before even trying to bite the sandwich. This was a big plus for me, a fan of buttery goodness. This was done without causing the sandwich to become soggy. The flavor of the sandwich was well-mixed. The Thousand Island was mild, but it was not missed. There was plenty of sauerkraut and chunks of corned beef. The cheese flavor seemed to carry through well, also--I'm guessing in part to its dairy cousin, the butter in the bread. It would have been a nice token to have a pickle spear to add variety for the palate. The employees were friendly, and the restaurant was new and clean. The sandwich was so good that I was motivated to go back to order a second one to split with Carl before we left--that should be a sign of my satisfaction with Sweet Home Chicago's Reuben rendition.

This place broke the streak of long distance Reuben disappointments, although I wasn't so sure when I first saw the sandwich. This was another 50-mile-plus round trip which usually equals a Reuben of crapola stature. The place really isn't hard to find although I drove by it since MapQuest doesn't recognize the address. Nice 50s decor and great Blues music. The value was great although I was disappointed at the selective lack of a pickle with the Reuben. I guess if you order a dog, you get a pickle. I can see that? For some reason, my sandwich took a little longer to prepare than a larger order that was placed after mine. When I picked the sandwich up laying on the wax paper in the plastic basket, I did notice a very pleasing reubeny aroma. Then I looked at it... I have never seen corned beef that looked like that. There was a chunk outside of the bread that was hanging by a sinew. It looked predigested. All of a sudden I had a mental picture of a sweat shop of small children in the back tasked to pre-chew the corned beef before it was sent up to the grill for preparation. I decided not to share that thought with the rest of the diners since most had just finished eating as I arrived and I didn't want to be ejected and trespassed from the premises. The last time I ate something that looked like that... well, needless to say, it wasn't a good thing. However, the fact that Chris ordered a second sandwich (and I find his judgment to be usually sound), I figured it was safe to eat. The flavor was excellent. The bread was a little slick to the touch from what appeared to be a butter basting for the grill. There was lots of sauerkraut bulging out, but it didn't over power the rest of the ingredients. The cheese had melted and was flavorful, but each bite left stringy connections to the sandwich. The marble rye held up well although it did lend to a sense of eating a Reuben "Sloppy Joe". They even had Lipton Raspberry Ice Tea in the bottle. They get a few points for that. All visual points aside, I'd go back for another... I'd just try not to think about it while I ate.

It seems lately, I'm too busy to go to out to lunch. As was the case today, I had scheduled a cleaning with dental hygienist. Chris, being the great guy he is, ordered a Reuben for me to bring back to the office. I'll just have to trust that the atmosphere is as they say. The sandwich was carefully wrapped and warm to the touch. It came with plenty of napkins (a good thing). Being ravenous, and only weakly able to resist the temptation, I quickly unwrapped the sandwich and totally destroyed the efforts of my fastidious hygienist. What a surprise, finally, a restaurant that realizes that sauerkraut is an ingredient and not a garnish. The kraut was thickly slathered underneath generous portions of melted Swiss cheese. The meat, rather than sliced, was chipped. This may have allowed the melted cheese to permeate the entire sandwich. The ingredients were wrapped with moist buttered marble rye. Not something your cardiologist would recommend for regular fare, but occasional guilty pleasures like this make life meaningful and re-enforce faith in the Almighty. I was left satisfied and yet savored the thought of just one more.

This is an order-at-the-counter, we'll-call-you-when-it's-ready type establishment. There are large black and white tiles on the floor, Chicago memorabilia on the walls, and jazz playing from the speakers. Tables are rather small, but there are booths as well. The first thing I noticed was the smell of onion rings, and so I was moved to add a large side of them to my Reuben order. It turned out to be a rather skimpy-looking large order, 12 rings in all. They tasted okay, nothing special. I was also disappointed with the beverage selection. I requested water, but they only serve it bottled. Fountain drinks are Pepsi only. So no free water, no Diet Coke, no real lemonade. *sigh* The sandwich and rings were served in a plastic basket on a sheet of waxed paper. The bread was a nice marbled rye of perfect crispness, with lots of buttery flavor. I caught a few hints of rye flavor here and there, but it was rather subtle. The kraut was good, and in good supply. The beef had good flavor and texture, though I did find two pieces of gristle in my one and a half sandwiches. The dressing was definitely there--I could see it dripping out--but I couldn't really taste it. The real surprise was the cheese: finally a Reuben with cheese I could taste! There was a lot of it lining each slice of bread, which must be why this juicy sandwich wasn't soggy. The sandwich was rather small, but only $5 with tax, so I happily split a second sandwich with Chris. Overall, there were some negative points, but it was a pleasant experience.

This is my family's favorite Brownsburg dining establishment. We've never had bad food there. The only potential problem is that they wrap carry-out orders up too tightly and the sandwiches get soggy. The Reuben itself is one of the best, certainly the best one in Brownsburg. The flavors were well-balanced. It's rare to find a Reuben that has the ingredients in such harmony. The only part of the sandwich that could have been improved on was the sauerkraut. It was good sauerkraut, but not excellent. It's still an A-level sandwich, though. If you're in the Brownsburg area, you owe it to yourself to try this Reuben.

By far the beast Reuben that I have ever had!! The taste was outstanding. The bread was lightly buttered and toasted and the cheese seemed to have a provolone taste. The meat really salty, which for me is a good thing! If this place is looking to franchise on the south side, look me up!! You've got a winner of an eatery here and congrats to the owners for doing such a fine job with the recipes!!! I'll be back for more and am spreading the word to head to Brownsburg and my guess is that someday this place will be a famed Indiana restaurant tradition with the likes of Mug-N-Bun and Union Jack's!!

Corned beef was the chipped style and very good. The bread was grilled with a very salty butter and the cheese seemed to be a stronge provalone. This was a very good sandwich. I never thought much about it but a Reuben should be a salty sandwich. And this is the first one I have had that actually was. Everything was well balenced. The only thing that was needed was a pickle spear. All sandwiches should be served with a pickle spear. That was one of the commandments on the tablet Moses dropped.