Lunchtime Letdown: Culver’s BLT
At some point in my adult life, I realized that you can judge the quality of a restaurant by their bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. If I walk away from the table dissatisfied from a BLT, there’s a problem. There’s only like five ingredients and that counts the bread and mayo. Since I love this classic sandwich, utilizing it as a measurement tool is just another excuse to order it.Today while running errands, we stopped by the Culver’s on the other side of town to grab some lunch. We’ve eaten at Culver’s before and I have to say that their portions are normal and the quality of their food is generally good. They are famous for their frozen custard, so their desserts are always delicious.
I wasn’t really in the mood for one of their burger baskets, so I searched the menu for a simple BLT. All I could find was their “Turkey Sourdough BLT” which to me is just a misnomer for Club Sandwich. Tired of searching the menu board, I asked the girl behind the counter “Do you have a BLT on the menu?” She said yes but that it’s not listed. Perfect. I’ll have that.
So when my lunch was delivered, I was quite shocked to find a club sandwich minus the turkey. Not a BLT. What’s the difference? Bacon. A club sandwich typically has bacon as an accent. A BLT has bacon as the main feature. Two very narrow pieces of bacon, one slice of tomato, some lettuce and bread do not equal a BLT. They didn’t even add mayo even though the girl at the counter specifically listed that. And two pieces of bacon? Are you kidding? The contents of the sandwich covered approximately half of the bread.
And the price? I haven’t a clue because the only receipt we got was the one without the pricing detail that was delivered with our food. Based on the total, I’m guessing they made the turkey thing, charged me for it, took the turkey off and failed to replace it with bacon.
Disappointed, I tell you. Totally disappointed. Maybe that’s why it’s not actually listed on the menu.
I’m obsessed with BLTA (the native Californian in me must have that avocado), so it depresses me when an establishment can’t get one right. I guess that’s the crucial breaking moment with “simple” food – easy to make, easy to mess up! Sorry your sammich was disappointing. Hopefully they read this and make some changes!
Agree! One slice of semi-cooked bacon on each side of the sandwich does NOT make a BLT. I was stunned to hear the owner explain that “a side of bacon is two slices.” If they make a PB&J, do they spread PB on half of one slice of bread? That is the same logic. Who makes a BLT out of a “side order”? Perhaps they should tell customers it’s a lettuce and tomato sandwich with a side of bacon, which consists of two semi-cooked bacon slices which the customer is left to remove the grease from. I could hear the owner say to staff he ‘just listens and walks away’ (i.e., no intent to effect logic and change). I was instructed I should now know how to order a BLT at Culver’s next time, forgetting that the rest of the planet and any 5-year old knows what a BLT looks like. My unexpected lesson for today brought many surprises! Typically, I like surprises.
OMG, Nora. Thank you SO MUCH for the laugh and the reminder. First, I cannot believe after almost 15 years they still haven’t gotten it right. Second, if I wanted a side of bacon, I would order a side of bacon. When I order a BLT, I want something that tastes more like bacon than the things accompanying it. LOL