Kelly O's Diner

Does Kelly O's Diner have club sandwiches? They have an entire section of the menu devoted to clubs.

The turkey and bacon club was the traditional double-decker sandwich. Served with potato chips and a pickle, held together with frill picks, it was a good sandwich. It had thick slices of roast turkey and plenty of bacon. I was happy with it.

Until I tried the fried egg and bacon club. Yum! I'd ordered the wrong one. In my adherence to club sandwich orthodoxy, I'd missed a thrilling twist on the traditional club. The fried egg and bacon club was moist but not greasy, cheesy but not gooey, breakfastly aromatic, but neatly accessorized with lettuce and tomato for lunch.

The Pittsburgh Club Sandwich Tour may make future stops at Kelly O's Diner. There are still the Ham-n-Cheese club and the Bacon Cheeseburger Club left to try.

What's Cookin' at Casey's

Ooh, look. Turkey and ham! That's nice. Cole slaw in a pretty dish! That's nice. Colorful frill picks! That's nice.

Take a bite. Chew.

Ugh! What is that? Whatever it is, it is not nice.

It turned out to be a chunk of gristle in the ham. Large, extensive region of gristle. I had to remove most of the ham--and this sandwich did not stint on the ham--to be sure to be rid of the gristle. And then, even with my club all but de-hammed, I was still cautious about taking a bite. What if I got another mouthful of that foul, chewy cartilage or connective tissue or whatever it is gristle is made of?

Did you know, prior to being the Ace of Clubs, I was a vegetarian for many years? I was. I've been back to meat-eating habits for a long time now, but I spent most of my teens as a veggie. And you know why? Gristle. (Yeah, also animal rights and nutrition and wanting to fit in with the cool neo-pseudo-hippie veggie kids, but mostly gristle avoidance.)

Even though the non-gristly portion of the club at What's Cookin' at Casey's was perfectly satisfactory, the feeling of gristle between my teeth and the sight of my eviscerated sandwich on my plate was almost enough to make me run screaming back into The Enchanted Broccoli Forest.

Liberty Avenue Deli and Smoothies

Not a club.


The "Turkey club" at Liberty Avenue Deli and Smoothies is a yummy turkey sandwich with bacon. It is tasty; it is filling, but it is not a club.

It's a nice lunch, though. It comes on a ciabatta roll (not three pieces of toast, alas!) The roll would have been good, but it was mushily soaked through with mayonnaise. I detest a dry sandwich as much as the next guy, but there's really no need for that much mayo.


Especially because the turkey wasn't dry. It was great! There is lots of turkey on this sandwich, and it is fresh and flavorful. The bacon was good, too. Actually, I seldom meet a bacon I don't like, but this bacon was especially likable. It was smoky and salty, and even though there wasn't a ton of it on the sandwich, it was not overwhelmed by the generous portion of turkey.



Lettuce, check. Tomato, check. Onions, check.


Onions? No onions, please, not on a club. And especially not this club because I asked for them to be left off. But I got onions anyway. Oh well. Also a nice piece of Swiss cheese. Pickle included. Chips sold separately.