Blimpie

Ok I admit I came in with LOW expectations. The only reason I knew about Blimpies was because of 30 Rock and I just had to try it to see if it was really worth the bashing the show gave the chain. The fact that it’s not just a Blimpie, but a Blimpie in a Walmart, actually lowered my expectations even more. To be honest, I was excited to see just how bad a place could be, and this place sure lived up to my expectations (or more specifically didn’t even meet them). But wow I didn’t know how bad a place could actually be.
The positives of the restaurant: service was fast, the guy running the counter was really nice, the poppy seed bread was close to decent.
The negatives:
I don’t even know where to start. First of all my $ 5 buffalo chicken sandwich was the most pathetic looking sandwich I had ever seen. I didn’t expect anything amazing but it literally was an almost empty sandwich with no flavor. I originally expected something like buffalo chicken wings but it was deli meat chicken (slices) with a bit of ranch and buffalo sauce. I couldn’t taste the cheese, there was only a little bit of buffalo sauce (I tasted more ranch than buffalo sauce), and even though it was a panini, the entire thing was limp. Absolutely the worst sandwich I have ever eaten.
However, the main dealbreaker was the employee making the sandwich. The girl had a deadpan look for all the people she served. She had no smile and an air of forced professionalism. I tried to be as pleasant as I could to see if she could at least crack a smile but NOPE. She was just extremely unpleasant. Everything about her screamed «I don’t want to be here *eyeroll*.»
Well at least now I have a confirmation of just how accurate 30 Rock is. I will definitely not be back. I know I should give other Blimpie’s a try but after this awful experience I don’t know if I can.

What keeps me coming back is the service. Service with a smile, as they say. The gentleman who usually makes my sandwiches is always friendly and has a joke or two to serve up, keeping things light with the hungry and time-​restricted lunch rush.
I can’t speak as highly of the sandwiches. That’s not to say they’re bad. They just don’t have anything unique to offer that would make me go out of the way for one. On my last visit I ordered a turkey bacon club. He offered me double bacon and the glutton in me accepted. It came out warm and toasted with a decent amount of turkey, but with an odd cheddar, few other ingredients and definitely not twice the bacon. Two strips was more like it.
Some sandwich issues aside, you get what you’d expect here and you can take your sandwich across the street and have a little picnic at beautiful Sutter’s Fort afterward. Not a bad combo to go!

Would love to give 5 stars if it were in a better location. Very tasty sandwiches and soft pretzels, and speedy service. Blows Subway outta the water!