MCL Cafeteria & Deli

This was a tasty sandwich. The corned beef was good, and the bread was very good. The quantity of swiss cheese on the sandwich was good. The 1000 island dressing was a little light, but they were glad to bring more upon request. The restaurant itself is very open and airy, but not noisy. The serving line and dining room are both very attractively designed for a cafeteria, and I would love to come back to sample more of their offerings.

As a Reuben Tuesday Rookie, I found my first time out to be a somewhat pleasant experience... other than the drive. Unfortunately, the battle to get there on time somewhat dimmed the experience. Parking also tended to enhance the irritation. Once I was inside and figured out the floor plan, I was able to order without too much of a hassle. I noticed that the deli area doesn't seem to offer much direction for those waiting, and if you don't speak up quick enough, you're left behind. Along with the Reuben I was able to order my favorite beverage of Raspberry Tea. I was given a number, told to take a seat and wait for the delivery. I had to flag the server down while attracting the attention of pretty much everyone in the east dining area (I'm sure everyone was pleased to see I received my sandwich). On first observation, I thought the Reuben looked a tad bit on the small side for the price, however, I found that it was probably the appropriate size for lunch. I've always been a Reuben fan and found this to have been one of the best I've eaten. The bread was the appropriate thickness and texture with the right amount of meat and ingredients. It was assembled well and had the right combination of flavors. A repeat visit will be in order.

First of all, watch out in the parking lot. It's very busy and not arranged very well. Once you get in, the atmosphere is rather nice. Lighting is nice and cheery, recessed incandescents rather than fluorescent glare. The decor is a bit cafeteriaish, but in a modern way. You can easily scoot together tables to accommodate a large group like ours. No smoking area, that I noticed. My only complaint about the atmosphere is that it's rather loud, just from the conversation of the patrons. You order your food in the cafeteria line, buying as little dessert as you can in the process. It's not easy, as most of it looks pretty tasty. I gave in and bought a $.69 blueberry muffin. Grill orders take a little while to prepare, so you take a number, pay the nice lady at the end of the line, then go to your table to eat your dessert. The first few reubens came out fairly promptly, but we had to wait a while for the other three. The lady who brought them out apologized, and said they only had room on the grill for four at a time, so I don't really fault them for that. Another lady came by from time to time to take our trays and dishes, and asked if we needed anything, which seemed a strange request at a cafeteria, but was a nice touch nonetheless. The sandwich itself was of good but not immense size, with a lot of meat. Fortunately, they understand that a reuben is about more than the meat: the flavors were balanced quite well. The rye had a good flavor to it, though for some reason the last couple of bites tasted different for some reason. (Not the first time I've experienced this, though I've never heard anyone else mention it. I wonder if this is a sign of some obscure medical condition? Maybe it's just some form of "Reuben fatigue".) I could taste the sauerkraut and the thousand island. Only the cheese failed to stand out. The pickle was a garlic dill, tasty enough (though I'm not a big dill fan) but with some unusual flavor we couldn't identify. Overall a darned good sandwich at a decent price: recommended.

MCL had a surprisingly nice atmosphere for a cafeteria. It didn't look "institutional" at all. The biggest drawback was that they have the capacity to grill only 4 Reubens at once, so large groups of Reuben consumers will run into a slight delay. The sandwich itself was great. The corned beef had a nice flavor and texture. The balance of the sandwich was really good, except for the thousand island. If you like your Reuben to have plenty of thousand island, make sure to ask for extra on the side.

Good Reuben--kind of expensive for just a sandwich. The service wasn't so hot--I was very thirsty and only got one refill.

I generally do not care for cafeterias; however, this is the nicest cafeteria I have ever been in. The decor was soothing and the surfaces muffled the noise well. The Reuben was very good. The meat was tender and flavorful, the bread was fresh cut deli style, the kraut and cheese were well-balanced. Just be aware of the gray-hairs in the parking lot.

Not bad for a cafeteria.

The overall dining experience was great and the taste of the Reuben was quite good; Carl R's chicken story added to the experience immensely.