Champps Americana

Fred Autio : Good sandwich. Excellent sauerkraut. A little light on the dressing, but management responded with all the dressing we could eat. Excellent onion rings. (2004-03-30)

Tim Foster : The experience was strangely disappointing. I loved the taste and texture of the Reuben even without the 1000 Island dressing that they forgot, but the bad parts outweighed the good parts. We had to wait. We waited 10 minutes to be seated. We waited 10 more minutes for the order to be taken. We waited 15 minutes or so for the waiter to bring the check. I waited on the side order of fries that they forgot. I waited on them to fix the check from where they charged me double from the menu price, for the fries that they forgot. With the spotty service and the low food to price ratio, this is not a place to go for lunch. Unless you like paying $14.00 for a sandwich that takes 2 hours. Could have used a pickle also. (2004-03-30)

Jim Kidd : Kinda pricey, but considering that Champps is in the center of Yuppiedom, maybe it's priced according to market forces! Sandwich is great! Staff bent over backwards to make lunch a super experience. (2004-03-30)

Carl Klutzke : Champps is a classy place. We were seated in a sort of solarium on the east side of the building, with a brick patio-like floor, a high red awning-like ceiling, and huge windows looking out on a nice garden area. There wasn't even a hint of smoke. TV screens covered the walls on the more interior area, but where we sat we had no trouble conversing at normal volume. The table tops appear to be made of slate: not an advantage or disadvantage to my mind, merely interesting. The service was decent: they made a few minor flubs with getting the right things to people, but they were extremely friendly. I was pleased that they were able to provide us each with individual checks, even though they included an automatic 18% gratuity since we were a party of more than 8. My bill came out to $10.63 (for the sandwich, chips, and water), and I would have happily left $11 except for the automatic gratuity: in defiance I was motivated to come up with exact change. Our Reubens--each half pierced with decorative toothpicks--came out on real China, and we had metal flatware and linen napkins. My water came with a generous lemon wedge. The sandwich comes with thickly-sliced chips, which I think had a mesquite/barbecue flavor. I sampled one of the onion rings someone else ordered: very good, but I wasn't willing to spend the $2 to substitute them for the chips. The sandwich was about as far outside the typical Reuben experience you could get and still call the thing a legitimate Reuben (unlike the abomination at Einstein Bros.) Consider the lightly grilled (rather than actually toasted) "dark Russian rye" bread. In appearance and flavor it seemed more like pumpernickel: not a bad thing, but different. The kraut had a very strong, pleasant flavor, even though there really wasn't all that much of it. Strangely, the kraut was on the bottom of the assembly, directly against that untoasted bread; the first thing I did was flip the sandwich over so the cheese side was down and the bread wouldn't get soggy (and I had to mark the presentation down half a grade as a result). The beef was lean and good, but not exceptional. I couldn't taste the cheese at all. I thought at first that I couldn't taste the dressing either, but discovered later that it simply didn't have any. The manager brought some ramekins (yes, that's the word he used) of dressing out for us just a bit later, saying "It really isn't a Reuben without the dressing." Indeed. But I'm not sure what kind of dressing this was. It was the right color for 1000 island, but didn't have the little "bits" I expect in that dressing, and it didn't taste quite the same either. Perhaps it was some variant Russian dressing, which is, again, legitimate for a Reuben, but not typical. In the end, it was a good sandwich, and nicely sized: I didn't have room to finish my chips. Though it's pretty far on the expensive side, Champps is worth at least one trip for the dining environment, and the most unusual true Reuben I've had. (2004-03-30)

Mike Kubik : I have been looking forward to Champps for a couple of weeks now and while the overall experience was decent, I was slightly disappointed. Champps is known for its gigantic portions (and slightly inflated prices) and the Reuben followed that scenario. This Reuben was above average but I held it to a higher standard given the $8.50 they charged for it. The bread was its best attibute, I believe the menu said it was a Russian dark rye -- but we seemed to taste a bit of pumpernickel in it, anyway, it was great. The meat was a little dry and the kraut, cheese, and dressing were all average. I love the atmosphere at Champps, we were able to sit in a sunny indoor patio/veranda type area which was very pleasant. (2004-03-30)

Carl Rothenbacher : My Reuben started off dry, but got better when the manager brought out some Thousand Island. Champps is a nice place to eat. (2004-03-30)

Chris Rowland : This is a nice looking restaurant with a nice view. The dining area is pleasant and spacious. This was the largest Reuben I had ever been served. The bread dimensions were large and there was plenty of sauerkraut and corned beef. The first thing we all noticed was that any dressing was not noticeable. The manager came by and apologized for the omission and brought crocks of thousand island for us to use. This helped turn a good sandwich into a great sandwich. The dark Russian rye bread was delicious! I had the onion rings which were delicious, but the price to substitute them for the chips was outrageous. They really should include a pickle spear with a sandwich priced at $8.50. (2004-03-30)

Brian Skiles : The second half of the sandwich was better, because they brought out thousand island dressing for us. With the thousand island, the sandwich was pretty tasty. No sane person would claim this Reuben is made with bland sauerkraut. The potato chips had an interesting seasoning, but we're not sure what it was. I definitely liked them, though. Other than the sandwich being a bit pricey, it was a pretty good Reuben experience. (2004-03-30)

Chirag Vashi : No!! it's not that I didn't like it today and so I didn't finish. But it was the biggest sized Reuben I ever tried (besides I wasn't that hungry). As far as taste goes--it was much better with thousand island dressing. I don't like toasted bread in cold sandwiches and the bread was a little toasted. Other than that it tasted great. I also agree with others that the sauerkraut was bit strong, you could feel it. I did!!! All in all one of the better Reubens I tried so far. A- in taste and B+ overall. (2004-03-30)

Aimee Zahora : The dark bread on the Reuben was delicious, but the sandwich was somewhat dry due to the fact that the Thousand island dressing was missing. A manager did provide us with individual cups of dressing shortly afer our food was served and that was appreciated. It took quite awhile to receive our individual checks with our group of 10; knowing that people are on their lunch hour and have a limited time to spend dining, it would be helpful to speed up the time it takes for the customer to receive his or her check. Overall the experience was pleasant, but not outstanding. (2004-03-30)