4 of 5 DeliciScore™ (Great) Awarded to The Steak 'N Hoagie Shop for their French Dip Sandwich in Charlotte, NC on this 11th day of March, 2015 -

Editor's note: It looks like Scott had another good French dip, a 4 of 5 in Charotte, NC.  Here's his very positive review!

I've been a Charlottean for 17 years. I've passed by the three locations of The Steak 'N Hoagie probably hundreds of time. But I'd never felt inspired to check it out until a coworker of mine said it was a good place to get a delicious Philly Cheesesteak, and very affordable. So last week I took the plunge.

I arrive at this mostly take-out joint, and see on the menu a Philly Cheesesteak Au Jus. I was in awe of the idea. It's like my two favorite sandwiches in one. So of course, I skipped the regular cheesesteak that they are known for and went with the "dip" version.

First off, this place is cheap. Really cheap. It was $4.75 for the sandwich and I decided to go with double meat for an extra $1.75. Added a side of pepperoncini peppers for $1.50.

"I came back to my office, and unwrapped the best hidden secret in Charlotte that I've found in a while."

I came back to my office, and unwrapped the best hidden secret in Charlotte that I've found in a while. A meat-packed sandwich with melty provolone on a soft hoagie bun. Though the bun was soft, maybe not French Dip material, it was still fresh and delicious. The meat was just what you would expect in a Philly: thinly sliced, finely chopped, and with crusty bits of goodness throughout.

The meat was just what you would expect in a Philly. Thinly sliced, finely chopped, and with crusty bits of goodness throughout.

"So of course, with this place being a cheesesteak place, and not necessarily a French Dip place, I had low expectations of the au jus."

So of course, with this place being a cheesesteak place, and not necessarily a French Dip place, I had low expectations of the au jus. But I was so pleasantly surprised when my styrofoam cup plentifully full of au jus contained a wonderful, dark jus with a ton of flavor.

I thoroughly enjoyed the sandwich. Throw it on a French roll and it's a solid 5. But unfortunately that isn't an option.

"I now can see myself hitting this place up on a weekly basis to fulfill my endless French Dip cravings for a measly $4.75 to $6.50 if you want extra meat."

The Bread: 3
The Meat: 4
The Au Jus: 5
The Portion: 5 (of course, I got double meat - worth the $1.75)
Overall: 4

3 of 5 DeliciScore™ (Good) Awarded to Arby's for their French Dip Sandwich in Redmond, WA on this 15th day of September, 2011 - Arby’s French Dip and Swiss: Meh. Get Two.

Setting the scene

It’s Arby’s.  Nothing to write home about (besides Arby’s Sauce and delicious roast beef sandwiches).  I wasn’t looking forward to this French dip but I felt obliged to do it, simply because it is very obvious and probably quite popular as a nationwide phenomenon.

So I went to my local Arby’s and threw down on a French Dip and Swiss.  At the time of writing this, EIGHT people liked this on Facebook.  I would hazard a guess that probably 80,000 actually like it but 79,992 are embarrassed to admit it.  Here’s my review!


Logo on their garbage cans.  Woo hoo!  Let’s eat this!!!

Menu and Ordering

It’s Arby’s.  Who cares.  I ordered the thing.  I will admit, sadly, though, that I watched them spray the au jus out of some hot water heater thing.  Like maybe even added boiling water to a powder in front of my eyes?  It didn’t make the au jus in a styrofoam cup look any more delicious, gourmet, or very well cared for.


I got some Jalepeno poppers with it because the other options didn’t entice me.  Total cost with a beverage: $7.03.

Plate 

They threw in some “Bronco Berry Sauce” for my poppers.  WTF is Bronco Berry Sauce?  The au jus comes with a sheath for your protection.


I unwrapped the items.  The Bronco Berry Sauce looked interesting.  The dip looked small.  The au jus was steaming and smelled pretty good.  I had an ice-cold sugar free lemonade.  I was generally looking forward to this but the dip looked so small!

Skewer method

No skewers were injured (or used) in the making of this dip.  Like the au jus shield, Arby’s customers are not to be trusted with hot or pointy things!

Bread

I was actually reasonable impressed with the bread.  It was nicely toasted.  Not too soft.  Not too hard.  It soaked up the au jus nicely.  There was not enough of it.

Au jus

The au jus was hot, pretty tasty but nothing to write home about, and JUST BARELY ENOUGH.  It seriously GOT DOWN TO THE WIRE with this au jus but was BARELY able to cross the finish line with me.  Phew!

Meat

Arby’s is known for its roast beef.  There wasn’t a ton on here but it was pretty good / what you’d expect: thin-sliced, meaty, good.  Probably not enough / I got my $3.99 (sandwich no meal) worth.

Non-meat toppings

Arby’s markets the French Dip and Swiss.  There aren’t onions on this, thanks God.  The Swiss cheese is processed and only serves the purpose of an unnecessary lubricant for a meal that becomes very well lubricated by the jus.

Portion

Too small.  I would recommend to anyone that if they’re going to go this route in their French dip quest that they GET TWO (2)!!!!!!!!

Overall dip

Overall the dip was pretty good.  The bread was good.  The Arby’s beef was good.  The cheese is to be forgotten.  The au jus was hot and JUST ENOUGH.  The portion was too small and I should have gotten two.

Other (fun?) stuff while there

The Jalepeno poppers were not fun.  They were cream cheese filled, fatty and unnecessary.  Slightly spicy but not really.  The Bronco Berry Sauce –in looking at the ingredients—had no berries in it but looked like jelly.  It behaved and tasted more like Sweet & Sour sauce.  Forget these and stick with fries or potato wedges or some such thing.

Arby’s Sauce IS TO DIE FOR.  Die for it.  What you really want at Arby’s is 500 Jr. Roast Beef sandwiches with 1,000 Arby’s Sauces.  Nothing (maybe not even the world’s best French dip? (Sacrilege, I know)) tops Arby’s Sauce.  (So succulent and delicious).



Their logo is a cowboy hat.  How fun.  My friend Brian thinks that Arby’s is total white trash.  I disagree.  I think they have some nice options and I completely LOVE dipping ANYTHING into zesty, tangy, succulent Arby’s Sauce.



And their French Dip with Swiss, although small and carrying unnecessary cheese, ain’t half bad for the $3.99 price tag.  Remember: Get 2!

	Score (0-5)	Comments
Bread	2	Surprisingly good but not enough.
Meat	2	Small portion, not exciting.
Au Jus	1	Hot and salty but not that great. From a powder.
Overall	3	Good value. Basic staple.

Reason to go back: it's Arby's, it's cheap, it's good enough, you could get some Arby's sauce!!!