The Artichoke Sandwich Bar Revisited

We were feeling sandwiches. In going back through old reviews, it looked as though The Artichoke Sandwich Bar has been a restaurant that has not been reviewed in quite some time. A restaurant featuring sandwiches, a restaurant in need of an updated review, this sounded like the perfect combination. So, we called in our order and made our way to north Broadway to visit the sandwich bar that has been around since 1984.

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811 N Broadway
Wichita, KS 67214
316-263-9164

Monday – Tuesday: 11am – 3pm
Wednesday – Thursday: 11am – 10pm
Friday – Saturday: 11am – 11pm
Closed on Sunday

Website | Facebook

Cash/Card Accepted
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Before I dive in, there was a stop to Artichoke I made some time the previous year. While there, I ordered the reuben which came with plenty of corned beef, sauerkraut, but not much thousand island dressing. One of the few things I remember from the visit was the pasta salad being fantastic and the reuben being pretty good but probably not in my top five in town.

Fast-forward to present day and we wanted to order a couple of sandwiches we haven’t had there before. Most people familiar with the Artichoke know about the Famous #8 but what about the rest of the menu?

The two sandwiches we went with were:

• Paddy’s Pickled Pepper Wrap: a wrap with cream cheese, Swiss cheese, corned beef, diced pickles and jalapeño peppers.
• Rachel Sandwich: It’s a twist on the classic Reuben with turkey, coleslaw, tangy Russian dressing and Swiss cheese on marbled Rye.
• Small cup of chili

Starting with the small cup of chili. It wasn’t anything too memorable. It was a simple chili with some beef, beans and not much in the way of spices. The cup was small but inexpensive, ringing up at $1.63. It was finished after a few dips of my soup spoon.

Starting off with the Paddy’s Pickled Pepper Wrap (say that five times fast), it was a nice little creation. The wrap had a nice blend of cream cheese and Swiss cheese that didn’t overpower the sandwich. I love pickles and this dish had a strong pickle taste and really took over every bite. The only drawback for me was the wrap was a little on the dry side. There was plenty of corned beef which was a good thing but with the cream cheese and Swiss cheese that didn’t offer much to prevent the dryness. I thoroughly enjoyed this wrap during the first half of it. The second half is when everything became too much.

The Rachel Sandwich was a version of their reuben with turkey. If you love a sweet sandwich, this is right up your alley. We were thinking it’d be a bit more savory but the sandwich was completely smothered in coleslaw and Russian dressing. Like the reuben and the wrap, there was plenty of meat inside to fill you up. We just wish they toned it down on the slaw and dressing to let the flavors of the turkey, cheese and bread come through a little more.

While the sandwiches didn’t exactly impress like some of their other offerings, the pasta salad was once again excellent. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough balance on the sandwiches. And on the bright side, I know if I go back there’s something on the menu I can always go back to like the Famous #8. But when compared to some other sandwich shops in town, I’m not quite sure this one compares to the best in town.

Here’s their menu from my first visit there. They’ve since made some changes such as the Rachel which you can view on their website here:

Happy Dining,
Eddy

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