Sandwiches at Wheat Montana Deli
■■□□□ 2.3 / 5 "Bread as soggy as in a hot dog eating contest"
Since Wheat Montana revamped their menu in January 2009, I've only enjoyed a good breakfast (including some very large, tasty baked items) at their Bozeman location. After hearing rumors lately of less-than-palatable sandwiches, the Taste of Bozeman crew rushed to the scene. When ordering the Havana, you'd probably expect a Cuban sandwich (pork, pickle, mustard, ham, etc) - and this version was nearly that but lacked pickles and included tomatoes. In fact, my plate lacked a pickle too, which they generally include. You can even see the void on my plate where the pickle should be. At first glance it looked fine. Upon further inspection, the "pulled pork" was not at all pulled. It looked like they tossed a pork chop in a food processor and hit pulse a few times. I would call it "nearly minced pork." Once I picked up the steak roll, a cloudy liquid started pouring from the bottom. Did my sandwich forget to use the restroom before they served it to me? I hope not. Did I order a pre-dipped French Dip? No way! This thing was soggy... too soggy. The sog quickly dispersed and made it over to my small chip area. "Nooooo" I thought in slow motion, but it was too late. The sog had taken over. What would have been an solid 3 blocks was pulled back to 2, with an added 0.3 for always good service. Wheat Montana - you've got to fix this problem, it's like when competitive eaters Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut dunk a hot dog roll in a cup of water - it's disgusting. We took a short video recording of the leaking sandwich, but decided not to include it since many Taste of Bozeman readers might get queasy at the sight of it. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
■■■□□ 3 / 5 "Good, but has flaws"
When I walked up to the guy behind the counter, I politely commented, "it looks like you guys have changed your menu!"
"Yeah, we did that back in January," he responded.
"Looks like it's been a while since I've eaten at Wheat Montana," I thought to myself. The reason is mostly because their sandwiches have always been between an Average and Below Average range, (although they do make a tasty, not to mention ridiculously filling, bread bowl). I decided to give them another chance. I ordered the Missouri, a sandwich from their old menu, but new to me. The sandwich consisted of turkey, bacon, guacamole/ranch, swiss, lettuce and tomato served on wheat bread with a side of chips and a pickle. Surprisingly, the taste was better than average. With the guacamole and ranch sauce, it was like eating a super BLT! The only reason I gave it 3 out of 5 is because holding the sandwich caused the moist bread to compress under my fingers, resulting in a thin layer of gooey dough. A slightly drier and firmer bread would have put this sandwich on top. Aside: what's the deal with the plain tortilla chips? I feel like I need a container of salsa every time I see them. The pickle was crunchy and excellent.
