I happened to be up on the northwest side the other day when I spied this Tom+Chee place and remembered reading about it. It is part of a chain featured on the TV show Shark Tank, and which (I think) is based out of Cincinnati, which would explain why they have a sandwich called the ARMAGOETTAN, or something like that. If you haven't heard of it, goetta is like scrapple, ground up parts of the pig and cow which you would rather not know about but which actually taste really decent, rather like sausage. The meat or quasi-meat is mixed with an extender, which in goetta is steel - cut oats. I chose that sandwich because I was in the one place I've ever seen goetta available outside the Cincinnati area.
The place has a simple exposed brick wall and chalkboard-menu type decor which is reminiscent of a deli. I purchased a BLT+CHEE and a bowl of creamy tomato basil soup for The Little Woman to go, and I had chunky tomato basil soup as well as my ARMAGOETTAN sandwich and a medium iced tea, all for only $27! (Holding up my SARCASM sign here.) If the price wasn't bad enough, the food certainly was. I mean, with all that gourmet cheese they supposedly use, you would think it would produce a rich, flavorful experience.
But it just doesn't... For all the greasiness and cheesiness, both sandwiches were rather bland and just okay. Same for the soups-- I'm sure there must have been some basil in there somewhere, but I couldn't taste it, and they could have used at least a FEW spices. Campbell's from the can has a better flavor, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper. I love the concept of this place, but to say the execution was disappointing is an understatement. Cue the WA WAAAAA horns, Charlie Brown.....
