Station Twenty-two (and Three Quarters)

You know a sandwich is good when it takes you a day and a half to stop thinking about it. This story is about one of those sandwiches.

There's a tale of boy who runs into a train station wall and is magically transported to a magical school. I don't know a whole lot about magic (JK -- I do), but running into Station 22 is almost as magical as running into a wall.

This little sandwich shop is located on Center Street, which means that eating here is a hipster adventure. The vibe is a step more hipster than Guru's: the menu is shorter and seasonal (meaning it's based off of ingredients available during that time of year), the space is smaller (giving it a cozy feel), it's filled with the randomest knickknacks (like cowboy boots and toy ships on shelves, sheet music used as light covers, and hunting mounts hanging on walls), and you drink out of MASON JARS. But, like Guru's, it's not a gross hipster place (I'm sure the people here wash their hands and take showers).

The specialty here is sandwiches and the prices are pretty reasonable. Most menu items run around $10.

I ordered the Memphis Chicken Sandwich. This sandwich is made of the crispiest, juiciest piece of fried chicken you can imagine, topped with red cabbage coleslaw and a spicy butter glaze, placed lovingly in a ciabatta bun. I was a little nervous about the red cabbage slaw since, for the most part, I don't believe in pickled foods, but it worked on this sandwich.

Memphis Chicken Sandwich with fries

The chicken is the best piece of fried chicken you've ever tasted: tender, juicy, and crunchy all at once; the coleslaw gives the sandwich the tiniest taste of sour, the cabbage adding a delicate crunch to every bite; and the spicy glaze gives the whole ensemble the slightest little zing. All the flavors stand out from each other, but they simultaneously work together. This sandwich was deeyyyuuung good -- I literally couldn't stop thinking about it all the next day (the fact that I was in church until 4:30 may or may not have had something to do with that).

The fries were good: crispy, delicious. I've also sampled their sweet potato wedges and those are DANG good. However, the fry sauce here is gross -- I can't eat it. It tastes too mustardy and Gordy don't like mustard. I asked for barbecue sauce instead, but even that was gross -- it tasted bitter (come to think of it, they may have given me Worcestershire sauce instead of barbecue sauce ... not sure why). Best to stick with ketchup 'round these parts.

I came here on a date and my date ordered the Club 22. She say it was good (like, she really liked it). I've been here a couple times on dates and neither me nor my dates have ever been disappointed (but I will say I prefer their sandwiches to their burgers).

Club 22 with sweet potato wedges, photo cred to special guest photographer Paige Bennett

So in this back-to-school season, if you want to take yourself on a magical journey, run into Station 22. It won't suck, promise.

The back of cafe has a wall full of soda. I don't support soda, but it's pretty nift to look at.

Sub Zero is okay

So I went to Sub Zero Ice Cream on Friday after the stupid BYU football game. I'd never been, but I'd heard lots of things about it. Mostly, I'd heard that it was real sciencey, so I was intrigued by that. Heads up, though: it's way overpriced (like, $7 for a small bowl). But liquid nitrogen IS expensive, so that's fair.

Sub Zero's thing is that they use liquid nitrogen to freeze your ice cream right before your eyaz. You choose a base (normal premium cream, lowfat cream, custard, yogurt, nondairy milk, soy milk, or rice milk), choose a flavor (they have a plentitude to throw in -- choco powder, fruity flavors, and other junk), and then maybe some mix-ins (like brownie bits or fruit chunks or whatever), then they spray it with the liquid nitrogen (or whatever -- I don't know how it works, but here's a video of the scientific process), then they scoop it into a cone or bowl for you.

Cool process, but how does it taste?

I chose premium cream because it was obviously gonna be the best/tastiest. Then, because I'd been using this super-good-smelling mango and pomegranate soap all week, I chose mango flavor. I didn't get any mix-ins because they cost 70 cents a pop and I'm a cheapskate.

Mango, yo.

The texture was terribly creamy. Just cream on cream on cream rolling through my mouth. I loved it.

Unfortunately, the mango was super fake-tasting and I don't like super fake. I like my ice cream like I like my women: real and THICK. Even though it was creamy enough, the mango tasted like waxy chapstick. After the first couple bites, I got used to it, but it didn't taste like how I liked that soap. So sad.

I sampled some other flavors to see if just the mango was sad. Chocolate was legitimately good, cheesecake was super sugary, and raspberry was good too.

Brownie batter. Mmmmmmmmm.

So if you want to take your tongue for a stroll on the sciencey side, take it to Sub Zero, but maybe ask someone there for a flavor suggestion.