Date of Review 2003-01-21, 11:32 a.m.
Sandwich name Reuben
Price Per Reuben (PPR) $4.99
Reuben Delivery Time (RDT) 9 minutes 
Reuben Dimensions 22x7x4.5 cm (693 cm3) 
Included side items None
Bulk to cost ratio 139 cm3/dollar 

Reuben Ingredient Matrix (RIM) Rye bread Corned beef Swiss cheese Sauerkraut 1000 Island
Bellacino's   X   X X

Description (taken from the menu):
Reuben: Tender corned beef piled high, lots of sauerkraut, thousand island dressing, and cheese.

Sandwich presentation:
The sandwich was presented as two toasted halves of sub-style bread on a plate. The bottom half consisted of a moderately thick slice of corned beef covered with sauerkraut that was lightly toasted. The top half was spread with thousand island dressing, and covered with melted cheese (probably mozzarella).

Reuben Eater Rankings
Gary Driesen C- C C+ B B+ C
Jim Kidd C- D B C C- C-
Carl Klutzke D C C+ C- C- D+
Carl Rothenbacher C B- C- C D- C
Chris Rowland C- B- C+ B C+ C+
Brian Skiles D C+ C+ C D- D+
Summary C- C+ C+ C+ C- C

Reuben Ruminations:

: Bellacinos' description for the Reuben said it would contain tender corned beef, but I was served tough corned beef. Although the sandwich was sub-par, it did fill the gut. ()

: The toasted bread was nice--but mozzarella? ()

: The meat was chewy and tasteless. Chris called it "scorned beef", and I would have to agree. The toasting of the sandwich was nice. I'm pretty sure that the cheese was mozzarella--I liked it. The last bite of the sandwich tasted nasty for some reason. The place had a blah cafeteria atmosphere, and you order at the register, rather than having a waitperson. I've had better Reubens here before, so I'm not sure what was going on today. ()

: It took forever even to place the order. The best quality of this Reuben was its quantity. Some kind of token side item would have been nice. ()

: The toasted bread was a little crunchy around the edges for my liking. The corned beef really didn't have much flavor at all. It needed more salt, or something. It certainly wasn't 'piled high' like the menu stated--it seemed to be only one layer deep for most of the sandwich. The meat was tough in some areas, and I had trouble cutting it with a knife. The Reuben had a strong taste of thousand island dressing with a small sauerkraut aftertaste. The mozzarella style cheese tasted good, but not very Reuben-ly. When we came here about a year ago, they served it with a pickle spear--it sure would have been a nice touch. About the wait time: the first three Reubens came out in under 4 minutes, but the next three Reubens took ten to fifteen minutes before they were delivered. ()

: My mother always said "If you can't think of anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Well, here's the nice thing about Bellacino's: you get a lot of sandwich for your money. Of course, my mother will probably tell you that I rarely listened to her while I was growing up, so why start now. The experience was somewhat less than stellar. First of all, the guy taking orders took a phone call before taking my order. It wasn't a short phone call, either. Then, the sandwich was quite possibly the worst Reuben I have ever eaten. The corned beef was abysmally bland, the sauerkraut lacked a zing, they used incredibly bland mozzarella cheese, and I barely noticed the Thousand Island dressing. In light of the overwhelmingly negative aspects of the visit, I think it is safe to say that my first Bellacino's Reuben is also my last. ()