I found that out very slowly though after our night out on Chippewa street following the Sabres-Penguins’ game.
I was hungry. We were in a bar watching the last bit of Sunday Night Football.
I decided to scout out a location for a nice dinner and I left the guys behind . I saw the sign. Jim’s Steakout.
I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
Life is demanding without understanding
I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
No one’s gonna drag you up to get into the light where you belong…
But where do you belong?
(I saw the sign – I saw the si-i-ign) I saw the sign!
(I saw the sign – I saw the si-ig-i-ign)
(i saw the sign – i saw the si-ign) i saw the sign!
And it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign! (sign, sign,sign)
Except I didn’t open up my eyes, and I walked through the wrong door.
Of course I did – I thought I was walking into a branché steakhouse. Duh.
So I walked into the Crocodile. Unbeknownst to me.
There were TVs, the closests playing the Oilers vs Capitals game. Bonus, a sign advertising a free Pint of Blue Light with your Sabres’ tickets. Yes, it’s Blue Light, but it’s beer, and it’s free. I informed the guys of my location. Come one, come all.
While waiting, I toured the place. Nobody was eating. Nobody was watching SNF – the game was not even on. Perhaps I should have clued in? Naah. Free Beer.
They guys showed up. They paid the 5$ cover charge (I didn’t have to pay!) They too didn’t see football on any of the TVs. They asked. “We do not play football here.” Huh??? The sign said the place was the Official Buffalo Bills Tailgate Party! The guys were cursing me – they were missing the last minutes of the 4th quarter of an exciting game. “Free Beer”, I replied, unconcerned.
But it was Blue Light. Draught. So we drank it fast, and left. And then we went to the actual Jim’s Steakout, which is obviously a place to take steak out. As in to go.
And so we walked in. The place was busy with a fairly young and inebriated crowd. Music was loud. Cooks were working away in the open kitchen, trying to keep up with the orders.
Jim’s Steakout is a Buffalo-owned chain of sandwich shops, with 9 locations. It’s menu mostly focuses on sandwiches, and those sandwiches feature beef quite heavily.
The place claims to have the best hoagie in town. What is a hoagie? It’s basically a submarine sandwich on an Italian roll, usually made with Italian ham, prosciutto, salami, and provolone cheese. Why is it call a hoagie? What’s cooking America explains.
Jim’s Steakout features 7 hoagies (6 with beef); 18 submarines (4 with beef); 14 other types of sandwiches (9 with beef). Even 2 out of the 5 salads have beef in them!
The vegetarian options are limited to the Cheese Cold Sub, the Veggie burger, the Chef Salad or the Veggie tacos. No problem for Rick to make a choice.
I had to steak it out.
I ordered the Diavlo hoagie : steak chopped on the grill, topped with fried onions, fried hot peppers, melted cheese and Jim’s Secret sauce.
Now, isn’t this a marvel or what? Jim claims the beef is 100% premium sirloin steak. Not sure how premium it is, but it may explain why it was still tender despite being grilled on the hot plaque. Of course, it was chopped very thinly, and smothered in a pretty good sauce which was only adding to the beef flavour without distracting from it. By grilling the hot peppers, they got rid of the acidity and kept most of the heat – nicely done. There could have been more cheese though – it was a little light.
Nevertheless, this was a very good sandwich before going back to our base for some poker – ready to go all-in!
