It’s a throwback to when the neighborhood sandwich shop was a staple of the community, a place guaranteed to give you a meal of superior quality, served with a smile from an engaging employee. Ike’s Place brings its community spirit to a new Santa Rosa branch, just across the street from SRJC on Mendocino Avenue.
Ike Shehadeh founded the original Ike’s on Halloween 2007, a hole-in-the-wall on 16th street in the Castro district of San Francisco. Inexperienced yet determined, he created his initial menu with help from his mom. His shop did not succeed instantly: he didn’t sell a single sandwich the first day. Distraught and unsure of the future, he closed up shop for a whole week.
He reopened Nov. 7, slowly gaining the loyal business of the community by handing out free drinks and chips while engaging his customers in friendly conversation.
Regardless of location, customer service or pricing, the key to any restaurant is taste and Ike’s certainly delivers. Ike’s has a creative and expansive menu because of its founder’s experience in tasting new things. With about 200 different sandwiches, there’s no way to put them all on the menu in the store, so a complete menu can be found online.
The real strength of Ike’s lies in the ingredients. The hot, crispy bread is delicious as only fresh baked bread can be. They call it pan bread; partially baked bread which when put through the toaster comes back as fresh as if it were baked on site. It also gets covered with their special dirty sauce, a zesty garlic aioli which when paired with the pan bread lends every Ike’s sandwich an addicting zest and crunch.
Ike’s has great deals for students on a budget. By joining the email list, students gain access to deals like the sandwich of the month. Ike’s recently had a Twitter special: when Ike’s reached 25,000 followers, everyone on their email list and Twitter got a for buy-one, get-two free coupon.
Aside from online deals, everyone can enjoy the Starving Student specials, a set of four sandwiches at $5 each. If you want to feel like a kid again, get the Starving Student Ponch & John. A sandwich with American cheese and potato chips, it’s guaranteed to send you back to childhood; we all put chips in our sandwich at least once.
I tried the Menage a Trois and the Meatless Mike. The Menage a Trois was a barbecue chicken sandwich with cheddar, pepper jack and Swiss cheeses, slathered with barbecue sauce, honey mustard and real honey. It was hearty, different and delicious.
Surprisingly, the vegetarian Meatless Mike was my favorite. A meatless meatball sub, it tasted like Santa Rosa’s Little Italy was on the corner of Mendocino Avenue and Dexter Street. The dirty sauce makes the bread taste like fresh baked garlic bread and the meatless meatballs more than meet your expectations.
For job seekers, Ike’s is looking for driven, inspired workers. Whether making sandwiches, dealing with people, or playing music, a passion for life is the main priority. Being a Giants fan can’t hurt either. Ike’s biggest passion besides sandwiches is the San Francisco Giants. The shop’s uniform is a black shirt with your favorite player’s number on the back.
