When it comes to popular sandwich restaurants in Wichita, there’s a small list of places that will commonly be named. Upon them is one to familiarize yourself with if you haven’t heard of or been to yet. That place is the Artichoke Sandwich Bar.
Located at 811 N. Broadway, it’s a long time staple in Wichita that has an excellent dive bar type of feel, great drink and food specials, and excellent service. Stop by there over St. Patrick’s Day and you’ll find yourself shoulder to shoulder. Stop by there over lunch time and you’ll see why this place has been successful for so many years.
For more information on The Artichoke Sandwich Bar, you can check out their webpage: http://www.artichokesandwichbar.com/index.html
I had the opportunity to make my way downtown with a couple coworkers. For one of my coworkers, it was their first time visiting the Artichoke. For another coworker, it’s been many many years since his last visit there.
There were plenty of great sandwiches to choose from off of the menu (available here) and we eventually settled on three different ones.
The Reuben: Corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, thousand island dressing on rye bread, grilled (Please note, I ordered this without any cheese.)
The Submarine: Pastrami, turkey, ham, Swiss & American cheese, lettuce and tomato with Italian dressing on a wheat hoagie, topped with parmesan cheese.
The Famous #8: Turkey, bacon, Swiss & cream cheese, lettuce & tomato, grilled on an onion hoagie, topped with Italian dressing & parmesan cheese
It only made sense that one of us tried one of the most famous sandwiches in Wichita in The Famous #8. For the sides we went with an assortment of potato and pasta salad.
As busy as the Artichoke was over lunchtime, our food came out very quick.
The Reuben was wonderful. The rye bread was an excellent compliment to the sandwich as the real treat was the insides. Many sandwiches you’ll find in Wichita with corned beef end up being very dry even with dressing on it. Easily one of the best reubens, I’ve had in town.
The Submarine was very well received too. My coworker just loved the wheat hoagie bread; it was heated just right. The Artichoke isn’t stingy on the meat. From the picture alone, you can tell it’s a sandwich sure to fill you up. What he loved most about the sandwich though was having it all topped with Parmesan cheese. The cheese really added the extra zing to make the whole experience that much better.
Last was the Famous #8. My coworker was talked into ordering this sandwich. He wasn’t sure what to make of having cream cheese in his sandwich. His concerns quickly vanished after his first couple bites in. He noted that you could barely tell there was any cream cheese in the sandwich. He also mentioned the bread was fantastic as was the whole sandwich.
As for the sides, the pasta salad was the real winner. A couple of us felt that olives can ruin a good pasta salad and the Artichoke was very light on the olives. They were almost non-existent. Additionally, the creamy Italian was mixed in at just the right level; not too heavy, not too light. One coworker said it was his favorite pasta salad in town. I would almost have to agree. Not since the old Cedar days, has there been a pasta salad to make quite an impression on me.
Obviously if you have read this far, the Artichoke Sandwich Bar is a must try. Three different people, three opinions, three sandwiches, three happy stomachs.
If you like sandwiches, you have to make your way to Broadway. You won’t leave disappointed.
Happy Dining!
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