I have been wanting to go to Pennybackers for some time now and it took a classmate’s recommendation to actually get me to do it. I mentioned the sandwich restaurant to my food writing classmate and within two weeks she was giving me her four-star review. While I love a good sandwich, once she mentioned soft mini pretzels I knew I had to get to Pennybackers.
The brick building is pretty narrow but walking inside the place I became less focused on the tight squeeze and more so on the welcoming atmosphere. The brick makes it way into the interior of the restaurant as the walls, and wooden floors and booths cover the downstairs and upstairs. While the decorations are welcoming, it took about five minutes for my friend and I to even be greeted by an actual person. This was due to an apparent “credit card fiasco” upstairs.
The antique-feel to the place is fitting given that this building dates back to the 1850’s. A little more history is stated on the menu as well as an explanation as to the penny designs on each table.
Sitting on many of these tables were customer’s beer filled mason jars. Yes, mason jars. I knew I was going to be ordering a lot of food so I had to sadly pass on the jar. Next time Pennybackers, next time.
Immediately I ordered the pretzels ($3.99) served with a spicy mustard. The pretzels are unsalted and crispy on the outside, fresh and hot on the inside. The mustard was delicious but my friend and I opted for the honey mustard for dipping.
Our sandwiches came quickly and after scooping up the last bit of honey mustard with my pretzel, I was moving onto the signature sandwich — the Pennybacker. Described on the menu as roast beef, honey turkey breast, ham, hickory smoked bacon this clearly is not the sandwich of choice for a vegeterian. The sandwich was also topped with lettuce, tomato, swiss cheese and the Pennybackers sauce. The sauce turned out to be pretty hot, but with all the meat and toppings it helped keep my water refills to a minimum.
All the sandwiches at Pennybackers are served with tator tots and a pickle. The meat is thickly cut and they don’t go light on the amount.
My friend ordered the Monetery. The grilled citrus pepper chicken breast covered in avocado, bacon and provolone cheese (side note: my friend went with blue cheese crumbles instead. Pennybacker’s was more than willing to make the change) topped with tomatoes and onions served on ciabatta.
She ended up taking half of hers home and about three hours after leaving Pennybackers she suddenly went “Oh, I’m so excited I still have my sandwich.” While I didn’t have leftovers to look forward to, upon hearing her delight I couldn’t help but look forward to my next visit…with mason jars.
MEALticulous 