Date of Review 2004-08-20, 6:30 p.m.
Sandwich name Pub Reuben
Price Per Reuben (PPR) $6.99
Reuben Delivery Time (RDT)  
Reuben Dimensions  
Included side items potato chips, homemade potato salad, cole slaw, applesauce, cottage cheese or baked beans
Bulk to cost ratio  

Reuben Ingredient Matrix (RIM) Rye bread Corned beef Swiss cheese Sauerkraut 1000 Island
Elbow Room Pub & Deli X X X X X

Description (taken from the menu):
Pub Reuben: corned beef, swiss, sauerkraut and 1000 island on grilled rye

Sandwich presentation:
The sandwich was cut in half down the middle, each half pierced with a toothpick. The Reuben was presented on a white plate next to the selected side item, along with a piece of lettuce and pickle slices. The sandwich had Swiss cheese on the bottom slice of Rye, followed by corned beef, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing, and then another slice of Swiss cheese just below the top slice of bread.

Reuben Eater Rankings
Carl Klutzke B- B B B+ B B
Summary B- B B B+ B B

Reuben Ruminations:

: Elbow Room says it's been here since 1933. The style of the place seems to reflect that, with less of an open floor plan than one expects in modern restaurants. We sat in the southern end of the place, with lots of windows looking out on Pennsylvania Street and Fort Wayne Avenue, which was rather nice. The service was decent, but slow, and perhaps overworked. I had to ask twice for a to-go menu., but I acknowledge that this isn't a common request and easily forgotten. I had a Woodchuck cider with the Reuben and had potato salad as the side, which was pretty good. Instead of the traditional pickle spear, the sandwich was served with pickle slices. The sandwich was decent, but not extraordinary. It did have lots of meat. The bottom was rather soggy, even though they did line the bread with the cheese. And there did seem to be plenty of cheese around the edges of the sandwich, but none in the middle. I can only guess that they used slices of Swiss with rather large holes (come to think of it, I don't often see Swiss on a Reuben with holes), and so the cheese melted away from the middle and let the juices seep into the bread. In all it was a pleasant experience, but didn't particularly stand out in any way. ()