Last day at Ike's Place

Ike's Place

I read this article on sfgate.com this morning that today was the last day that Ike's Place would be open in its current location on 16th street.

My friend Blane turned me onto this amazing sandwich shop earlier last year. It's certainly not the kind of place that you want to eat at every week (or at least you probably don't want to admit to it) but boy, do they make a good sandwich!

Unfortunately, Ike's ran into some legal problems with their building's landlord, and they've been evicted.

Ike's has always been extraordinarily popular, well before the eviction notice was posted. That was actually the problem - the line of people waiting for their sandwiches became a nuisance for the tenants who live above the store.

Sandwiches from Ike's take a minimum of 20 minutes to get after your order is placed. This is because they bake their bread to order, so it's super fresh when you eat it.

Anyhow, Blane and I decided that we had to order a sandwich since today was the last day in the current location. (Ike is looking for another SF location, and he's opening up 3 others around the Bay Area.) I have always called my order in, specifying the time that I plan to pick it up at.

When I arrived at 1:00 this afternoon, there were two lines and a group of people outside the store. One line (which was about 30 people deep) were for customers placing their orders. The second line (about 8 people deep) were for people who had placed phone orders. The group of people (maybe 15-20) were the people who had already placed their order, and were waiting for their sandwiches to be ready.


The line outside of Ike's Place today

I noticed that the owner, Ike himself, was the one who brought out all of the finished orders out. When he brought mine out, he verified my order, and thanked me for my patronage. I wished him well, told him how much of a fan I am, and he gave me a nice hug. :)

It's sad to see a business close because of its own success. I hope we'll see another Ike's Place open in another San Francisco location in the near future.

Until then, I may have to go out of the city to get my sandwich fix.






My pastrami sandwich with swiss cheese on wheat.