Joe’s Famous Deli, Vail, CO USA

Ordered at Joe's Famous Deli in the heart of Vail Village, in Vail, Colorado.

I arrived in Vail tired, hungry, dehydrated, and with a pounding headache. My 4^th travel destination in 5 days… sure, I was excited for a weekend skiing, but truth be told, all I wanted in the moment was some energy and relaxation.

As I walked around Vail Village all I could find were sit down establishments, some with long lines. This is not what I wanted at the moment… I was craving something easy, delicious, and comfortable. The sign for Joes Famous Deli below Loro Piana caught my eye. Their menu plastered at the entrance, the club sandwich was the first thing listed – all of a sudden relief washed over me in an awesome wave.

I walked in, placed my order, and watched crazy skiing videos until my sandwich was up. I was excited to rid myself of hungry, dehydrated, and tired Evan.

I unwrapped the club sandwich, stared at the dish before, shrugged at its lack of beauty, and bit in.

Big sandwich, but it was a lot of bread. Doughy bread. Bread that forced me to tear each bite off as I ate it… which as you might imagine, became annoying.

The main ingredient appeared to be the greenery. Which I assumed would be lettuce… but as I chewed, I realized quickly it was cabbage. I hadn’t read the ingredients before ordering, and was confused why they would include such a rubbery produce in this club. Definitely did not enhance it. As for the other produce? Tomato was barely noticeable. And that’s about it.

The turkey was just ok, nothing special. And sadly there wasn’t much of it. Coupled with the abundance of cabbage and lack of tomato, this club had poor ingredients ratio. The bacon again, was average. For the mid-west, it might actually be below average.

Cheese was nice, slightly sharp, and thank goodness they went light on the mayo. But this didn’t really enhance Joe’s Club Sandwich, it made it edible.

I’m not sure how Joe’s had gotten famous… Maybe solely due to their lack of competition in Vail Village? This club didn’t deliver the comfort I was hoping for. I will never be back to Joe’s and I will never recommend it to anyone for a club sandwich.

So I was off to Starbucks to get my quick fix elsewhere…

Location