Kenny & Zuke’s SandwichWorks

The good: I’ve never had a bad sandwich here, most of them have been great, some of them have been mediocre.
I’ve always had good luck with the «Hood River» (meat, apple slices, and horseradish). Some of the other sandwiches, like the Reuben have been good one visit, not as good the next. The food served on the side is usually worthwhile, especially the home made pickles.
It’s too bad that the quality of the food doesn’t outweigh the aspects I don’t like.
The bad: Service.
Let’s just say they usually give me more time to anticipate my delicious sandwich’s triumphant arrival than I’d like. If you’re oblivious to the gleefully inefficient service you’ll find elsewhere in Portland, you probably won’t find it as aggravating as I do.
The ugly: Seating on a winter’s day.
The picnic tables and garage door openings are perfect for a warm evening in July. February in the rain? A windy day in November? Uncomfortable doesn’t begin to describe it. Cold and miserable is expected while I’m camping or hiking, but not as welcome when I’m trying to grab a quick meal without my foul weather gear on.

Got the Meatball Hero. Twas a lil’ salty and my pickle was rubbery and they carve the seeds out. I like the seeds and I don’t like them rubbery! Nice environment (think it was a print shop before a sandwich joint. Not like the K & Z’s downtown (pastrami oriented) hence i suspect the SamichWorks moniker…
It’s a nice up and coming lil’ area over here in the NW. The air quality sucks here most the time year round but especially in the summer cause its near the steel plant.

mmmmm reuben… The corned beef special with stone ground mustard may have been one of the best reubens I’ve ever had! The beef was tender and perfectly seasoned topped with homemade ‘kraut and stone ground mustard on rye. Not sure if this is something they have often or if it was just a special st. patty’s day menu, but they should definitely add this to the regular lineup!
We also had the ratatouille sandwich which was ok, but really nothing special…
Quick, relatively cheap, and casual, Kenny & Zuke’s is just an overall good place to grab a great sandwich.

I am a huge fan of K&Z’s pastrami. Huge. Meaning that I’m huge. And I am a fan. And the huge could also be considered a modifier for «fan» as well as «I.»
But enough with the grammar lesson. The point is, I’m not just clearing my throat here. I really am a sucker for that cured, brined, smoked, seasoned meat. And if you read my review (s) of K&Z’s main location, you can follow along my evolution of lust for that delicious meat.
But I’m not quite as enamored with Sandwichworks. I know Ken so I am probably going to hear about this, but I gotta be honest. It’s not as impressive to me as the main deli. I’ll give that it’s not supposed to be the same thing. This is all about sandwiches — a super casual picnic table style space where you get counter service of sandwiches. But aside from the pastrami I haven’t had much here that has really blown my top off. The service was also so-​so.
I guess I see a lot of the sandwiches here as being along the same lines as Bunk or Melt — gourmet-​ed up hot, pressed or cold sandwiches in a decidedly un-​gourmet setting. But of the few I’ve had, none in particular have left an impression. They’re better than A-​OK but not on the same level as what I score from K&Z’s main location.
Still worth a stop if you haven’t been or are in the area and need some meat, bread and cheese.

Wowzahs — thanks to kind man in line, discovered they smoke their own meats! That reuben is ridiculously wicked! At a cutesy few inches smaller than norm, this thing is still so fantastically filling. Great flavor to the kraut and lotsa cured piggeeeee—
MUST
HAVE
AGAIN!

The sandwichworks location surfaced because, as a Jewishdeli, some types of sandwiches seemed «out of place.» Here, different sandwiches like a Cubano, a torta, and even a meatball sub come to life. Cool Moon Ice Cream is a partner here, so you’ll be able to get up to a dozen of their amazing ice cream flavors (in cones, dishes, and floats) along with your lunch!
Here, I went with their «Anytime Special.» For $ 7.95, I could get half a sandwich (pick from most of the sandwiches on the regular menu), plus a cup of soup. I tried the «Super Torta Puebla» this time: roasted pork, black beans, chorizo, avocado, cheese, mayo, and chipotle salsa on a hoagie roll. I told the ladies to 86 the mayo. The soup? Hungarian mushroom, of course!
The soup was outstanding, same as at the downtown deli location. Creamy, hearty, and intense mushroom flavor.
The sandwich was a success overall. The hoagie possessed that soft roll feel, yet refused to collapse in my hands. Great Mexican flare on the black beans, basically a chunky spread-​like consistency on my sandwich. The creamy avocado makes it a more filling meal (woohoo unsaturated fats!). A healthy amount of juicy roasted pork slices. However, I didn’t see any chorizo. Also, the cheese was still in its sliced form, which is OK with me here, but if only the Cuban Mixto was an option for the Anytime Special, then I’d have probably gotten that. Gooey cheese rules. Perhaps they can toast this torta to get the gooey cheese? If so, I’ll do that next time.
The meatball sub also sounds good for when I go on that meatball sub bender.
In comparing the two sandwiches I had (one at the deli and one at the sandwichworks location), I’d go with the torta this time. Each have my little nitpicking concerns, but still awesome stuff. Again, probably a toasted sandwich away from an elite score. Try their sandwichworks location… get a sandwich here that you likely won’t get at the deli!

I was super excited for K&Z’s SandwichWorks, unfortunately, their food just doesn’t do it for me. I know their pastrami is awesome, so I decided to try everything but… maybe that’s where I went wrong?
I’ve had the Cuban mixto, the seasonal turkey & stuffing sandwich, the chicken cobb salad, and the Italian grinder. There is nothing I’d willingly reorder so far.
The Cuban sandwich is not a Cuban sandwich. It has similar ingredients but so does a cheese soufflé and an cheese omelet — it’s all in how your arrange them. I don’t want to pull the «authentic» card too hard because I get this is Portland and not Miami (my hometown). I had just hoped that this would be a taste of home and it clearly wasn’t.
K&Z’s grinder can’t even begin to compare to the deliciousness that is the Ken’s Artisan Italian hoagie. Everywhere Ken’s is right, the K&Z grinder is wrong. I felt like I couldn’t even make it through the tough bread to get into the minimal ingredients. They may be high quality, but there’s no symphony, no harmonizing of flavor to keep me going. I picked out the meats and cheese and finally ate them separately and wished there was either a bit of shredded lettuce or pickled onions or kick, or zest or something.
My work orders lunch from there on occasion and I usually get the chicken cobb salad. It’s not really a cobb salad, more of a chicken BLT. The chicken salad is unamusing but not bad.
The best sandwich so far has been the turkey/​stuffing/​cranberry seasonal sandwich they had around Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, it’s not still on the menu.
Every time I go in, the cashier is just plain dead-​eyed zombie-​like. They slog through the ordering process like they’d rather be anywhere but there and frankly, that feeling rubs off on customers. I start wondering if *I* should be somewhere else, too.

I love this place. I always get the French dip with provolone.
Last time I went, I was in the middle of sitting down after I ordered at the counter. The guy in charge was looking for «Josh» to get him his sandwich. He said the guys name like five times while looking straight at me. This was a full restaurant. Finally he just asked me if I was Josh. I wanted to yell and be like «no I’m not f’ing Josh!» but I politely said no. You might of had to be there, but it was funny. He finally found Josh, thank god.

Space is cool, sandwiches are MEH.
For the same sort of thing, Bunk Sandwiches (taste, quality, innovation) is killing K & Z at this game.

Over-​salted, stringy chicken salad, oily Italian Grinder, poor customer service… the only part of my meal that I enjoyed was the pickle.
Not only was our counter server’s attitude aggressive, we watched her handle money, reach into the potato chips container and then wipe her bare hands on her apron, with no hand sanitizer in between. I don’t see a reason to come back.

Both times I have been here I have gotten sandwiches that were incredibly greasy/​soggy.
First time– tuna melt– the tuna salad was really great, but the bread was soaked. Totally gross.
Second time– Cuban sandwich. I cannot tell you how bad the pork was on this sandwich. Cubans are supposed to be made with pulled pork (at least that is how the Cuban guy at the Cuban restaurant I used to work at made them), but they made it with roasted and sliced pork that was tough, bland, and grey. I was absolutley disgusted, picked most of it off, and ate the sandwich with just the cheese and pickles in the soggy bread.
I don’t go to a lot of delis so I don’t know what else to recomment in it’s place but most anywhere would be better I would think.

Pickles, pickles, pickles, pickles. want. now.

I think I’m just addicted with K&Z’s Pastrami. I’m a big fan of this pastrami just like a Poison’s groupie.
One afternoon, my sis and I had lunch here and we weren’t that hungry so we just split the Reuben Sliders for two ($ 8.75 ish) and they were delicious. The pastrami was heaven, the sauce was delicious, krauts were tasty, and buns were sexy. They came with kettle chips and what a perfect pairing.
That was my first time at this location and I like what I saw and the atmosphere. Big tables and benches, if you are looking for casual and group setting sandwich place… this K&Z will be perfect.
I will come here again whenever I’m in the area, just to stalk those delicious pastramis… nom.

As others have said, I had high hopes for K&Z. When I walked in the first thing I noticed was a distinct lack of sandwich options. If this was a burger joint I wouldn’t have thought twice but since they are a sandwich shop I expected more choices. Also I’m all for having some signature sandwiches or dishes but try putting some standards like roast beef or a club on the menu for those of us who aren’t feeling adventurous.
Anyway, I settled on the Hood River. I wasn’t excited about having apples on my sandwich but I tried it anyway. As it turns out the apples were the best part once I took them off and ate them separately. The turkey was dry and flavorless. If I didn’t know it was supposed to be turkey I honestly couldn’t have told you what kind of meat they were going for. The bread was dry, crumbly and the flavor was barely recognizable as sour dough. Are they getting their bread from the day old rack at the local Thriftway?
Overall the food was forgettable, the price was inflated and I will not be returning. I truly expected more.

I had to try the world famous Reuben. I have been utterly spoiled by Los Angeles Jewish Deli Reubens, and they still win (hands down no contest they are the best forever). However, this Reuben was wholly acceptable in place of the drive to Southern California. I had the daily soup, it was great. The house iced tea was also very nice.

The first sandwich I had here, the Cuban Mixto, was not good. But, this was about a year ago and so perhaps it has gotten better. At this time, my mom had a Chicago Beef, which she liked okay. It was huge and she took home over half of it (but the leftovers were never consumed, I remember them stinking up the fridge ultimately).
The last time I went to Kenny and Zuke’s I was in the neighborhood, on my way over I had stopped at Ken’s Artisan Bakery for a sandwich there, but I walked in just as they stopped serving sandwiches. UGH!
Sandwiches on my mind I decided to give K & Z another go. I had the Italian Grinder. It didn’t knock my socks off, but they were very quick and the sandwich was a solid meat/​cheese/​tangy peppers and dressing of some kind which hit all the right notes. Parking was easy as it is not as busy over there as by Ken’s so I only had to walk half a block from my car.
Not not recommended. :)

I’ve eaten here a number of times — enough to get a free sandwich with their frequent sandwicher card — and I’m still going to just give this place 3 stars. Actually, after reading the rest of my review, I’m revising to 2 stars…
The first few times I ate here, I thought it was amazing. I got the reuben sliders (2 for $ 8.50) and realized I actually did like pastrami. It was all meat (no fat), thick and tasty. The kraut and sauce were delicious, and so was the house made rye bread. Oh, and they were filling. I felt very satisfied and fat! If I was writing this review then, it would have been 5 stars.
I decided to branch out, and got the meatball hero (large for $ 8.75). The meatballs and sauce were a little spicy (I’m weak sauce when it comes to spicy, so don’t expect them to be scorching) and delicious. The bread (which was from Grand Central) was meh. But the saucy meatballs made up for it.
Then come the reuben sliders I’ve had the last few times. The meat has been tough and very fatty. I don’t enjoy taking apart a very messy sandwich to separate the fat from the meat, but that’s what I did. Even after doing that, the meat was still so marbled with fat that I couldn’t bite through it so the whole slab came off. I’ve had sandwiches like this on at least three different occasions now, and I think I’m done with these.
I brought my wife this last time and she tried the Italian Grinder. It was also on the Grand Central bread which got soaked by the oil/​vinegar dressing. The provolone cheese tasted very much like swiss. The bread got so gross we left it and ate just the meats.
Also, the music was loud and made me feel like I was in some whiny indie movie. Couple that with the long wait for our food, and it was not a super happy experience.
I will probably be back, hoping for things to be better. But looking at the menu, I’m not sure what I would get… Maybe the burger slider or the bacon grilled cheese? I better try the main one out downtown again and see if I still like it as much as I thought. Here’s to hoping…

As advertised «All-​Star Sandwiches «
Happy Sandwiches, Happy Faces, Happy Service!
We will be coming back a lot!
The pictures give the best review.

Hey hey,
I have to give Ken & Z’s credit. They listen. I went in the other day — more of their (very tasty) sandwiches are available as a ½, AND they have a few specials that they throw in a bag o’ chips in with the deal.
Still some wonky joy (sorry sir, we won’t serve the new sliders until after 3PM). But a significant step in the right direction
3.5 stars, and if it continues to go like this, I’ll update the update to 4 stars. Gotta appreciate a business owner that values his customers.

***UPDATE***
Wonderful. So the owner of the biz can post a comment to my review, but my reply to him is not added too. What I told him was that the turkey tasted a little bit processed, and I told him to use a toothpick in the half sandwiches so he can offer all the choices in the lunch combo (his reason for not offering ½ turkey was b/​c the sandwich falls over).
***ORIGINAL REVIEW***
I am so enamored with the Kenny and Zuke’s deli that I couldn’t wait to try SandwichWorks. They have a good start, but I hope they get some of their inconsistencies worked out…
I had The Hood River sandwich: turkey, white cheddar, thin slices of granny smith apples, whole grain mustard on white bread. Small amounts of all of those, lined up on the small bread like something I would make at home. And no more memorable or creative. $ 7.50.
The sandwich was so boring I will never order it again. It should have included a lovely chutney, gravy, apple butter, hummus… anything, really, to make it interesting. And the turkey was like Hormel or something you’d buy at Fred Meyer… there’s gotta be better turkey than this available to them.
Also, the turkey sandwich isn’t available as a half… why is this? I wanted to get the lunch special which includes soup or chili, but it’s not offered. However, you can get ½ beef sandwich along with your beefy chili. This is puzzling to me.
The picnic tables are… well…a little weird, but I could get used to it. Looking forward to trying again and hopefully my rating will go up! I want them to succeed.