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Taylor Gourmet Deli, Local Sub Chain in Numerous Area Locations - All Stores Are Closing


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This is one of those posts that bugs me, but I give it a few hours before I comment in case I'll regret it.  It's been a few hours...

This wasn't a campaign rally, it was an opportunity to meet with the President in his capacity to set policy, where it sounds like the gentleman advocated for the very positions that most of the people now boycotting him would have supported.  The unfortunate part is that any blow back will hurt those 300 'family members' just as much as the owner.  As a person who opposes Trump as much as the next guy, this seemed more policy than politics.  

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7 hours ago, Josh Radigan said:

Leave it alone. The guy was there as a member of small business association. Again I agree with the above, its not like Casey walked in with a Trump shirt on, but yet was trying to bring to light the regulations that often drag the little guy down.

I completely agree - I would have gone in his position, regardless of who was President.

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29 minutes ago, DPop said:

People really like making something out of nothing these days

This. When the opposition does something as silly as protest someone accepting an invitation to meet with the President (the President!) to help small businesses and stimulate the economy, it de-legitimizes the opposition's position on immigration etc.  Pick and choose your battles. Ok, back to food...

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21 hours ago, genericeric said:

This is one of those posts that bugs me, but I give it a few hours before I comment in case I'll regret it.  It's been a few hours...

This wasn't a campaign rally, it was an opportunity to meet with the President in his capacity to set policy, where it sounds like the gentleman advocated for the very positions that most of the people now boycotting him would have supported.  The unfortunate part is that any blow back will hurt those 300 'family members' just as much as the owner.  As a person who opposes Trump as much as the next guy, this seemed more policy than politics.  

You will note, I didn't say anyone should or should not be doing anything.  I just thought it was worth noting as there was likely going to be uproar on the issue and as Mr. Wells predicted it would trigger a statement, and I thought it was relevant news for the restaurant.  I am surprised as they seem to be very media savvy that they didn't issue a statement before the picture came out.  It seems a bit silly, unless they were trying to get some free media, not to assume what was going to happen and think you would not need to issue a statement.

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Just to add some additional perspective.  I've seen restaurants being caught up in politics and specifically great rashes of either positive or negative reviews from political supporters or those opposed for some years.  The first one I saw and which gathered some publicity occurred in 2011.  If you search on Max's Deli Birmingham in google and go to the google reviews, you'll find a huge number of both positive and negative reviews that are solely political and/or they'll reference mice and vermin etc.  In 2011 the owner of this place spoke to local media about the difficulties he and other restaurateurs would face from then new immigration laws in the state.   Its not just limited to restaurants and the battles between the two political parties.  This Minneapolis Dentist took a review beating when the news covered that he had "poached lions on a safari"  or something like that (I forget the details).  If you scroll through the results it appears at least yelp scraped political reviews, while google obviously didn't.

On a different level there was a situation some years ago wherein a West Coast Dentist received reviews that were beyond devastating.  He was accused of being sexually inappropriate with female clients.  The dentist claimed and sued to get the reviews removed with his claim being these reviews came from a VERY UNHAPPY ex girl friend.  Its one of those situations with he said/she said but evidently he proved his case in court.  

Reviews can be deadly.  Political reviews can be deadly.

And some different perspective.   I've been on the web a long time in different forums, usually for a technical and learning reason but ultimately migrated to some purely political forums.  They are brutal.  Beyond brutal.  In one case I happened to engage in one with someone with whom we had developed a mutual professional level of respect and direct interaction on some professional topics.  It so happened we both got on twitter and followed one another.  For several years most of my twitter commentary was about a narrow professional topic.   After several years I primarily dropped out of twitter.  This guy stayed on.  His commentary seems to be virtually entirely political and on one "extreme" side.

After the election I got back on twitter and have been venting political.  An eye opening experience.  I've been introduced to "fake news" etc.  It turns out that people I followed from a technical perspective have become extremely political...from all perspectives.  In any case this one fellow and I had interacted shared some learning experiences and had a good relationship.  The nature of his tweets and mine are at completely opposite perspectives.  I dm'd him asking if he still followed me and if so why he didn't attack me like he did others.   He responded that he didn't attack those he knew, only the folks he didn't know.   Then we both passed on comments to the effect "that if people said in person what they wrote on the web...there would be many more physical  fights and much worse!!!!   (we're both old btw and predate web interactions)

I personally think that because the web filters people from direct confrontation it facilitates worse language and more vicious attacks.   Its a dangerous place.

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2 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

I didn't really think it was, just wanted to clarify my position.  But thank you, nonetheless!

Nobody here was busting on you, Katelin - that was pretty clear to me, or I wouldn't have chimed in (I understand how you might have been sensitive about it, since you were the potential target, but none of this was about you or anyone else here).

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If I had a staff member talking politics to the patients, they would get a talking to, and then if they continued, they'd be terminated, regardless of progressive or conservative. It's not appropriate. I have a feeling this waitress/rep was probably a little too vocal about her beliefs... Here is the story. 

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14 minutes ago, Simul Parikh said:

If I had a staff member talking politics to the patients, they would get a talking to, and then if they continued, they'd be terminated, regardless of progressive or conservative. It's not appropriate. I have a feeling this waitress/rep was probably a little too vocal about her beliefs... Here is the story. 

I'm sure she was loud, but it's all about the optics. Providence is pretty deep blue.

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14 hours ago, alexandria1 said:

When did the Pattison disappear from the menu? I always thought of that as their signature sandwich.

Wow. That's such a big change I'm going to email them about it.

Update: I heard back from Taylor. Their response: It's on hiatus...it will return!"

Question: why put your best-known menu item "on hiatus"?

Edited by Bob Wells
got more info
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1 hour ago, Bob Wells said:

Wow. That's such a big change I'm going to email them about it.

Update: I heard back from Taylor. Their response: It's on hiatus...it will return!"

Question: why put your best-known menu item "on hiatus"?

Maybe part of Jacob Hunter's menu refresh?

Dirty South Deli Chef Is Now Behind the Hoagies at Taylor Gourmet
By Jessica Sidman on March 15, 2017
Washingtonian

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11 hours ago, DonRocks said:

I heard (again, from a very reliable source) that David Mazza is no longer with Taylor Gourmet.

Now, in all honesty, I had to look up David Mazza to see who it was, but apparently he was part-owner. 

Regardless, I trust my source.

This article, from Eater a bit over a year ago, says that Mazza has been out since sometime in 2015.

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I'm hoping to try this tonight, but wanted to let everyone here know that evidently this is a *really* good burger:

Supposedly the only location this isn't going to be sold this Winter is the one at DCA.

So the Post's review is pretty spot-on.  The burger *does* taste more like a cheesesteak.  It's pretty damned good, even if I found the patties a bit over-seasoned (and honestly, what *isn't* at Taylor).  I can't see myself going out of my way to have more of them, but since it's a Winter menu item and not super-limited like it evidently was last time, it's nice knowing that I could get it again sometime in the next few weeks if the urge struck.

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I'm definitely interested to try this burger at some point soon.  For my taste I'm not a huge fan of Taylor's subs overall though.  I have one within immediate walking distance of my apartment in Mosaic Fairfax so I still go every now and then but have a couple issues.  1) As mentioned above their subs tend to be massively over--seasoned : oftentimes subs will be topped with a creamy cheese (Ricotta for example) and then a sauce and then smothered in oil.  As one would imagine this tends to taste like too much is going on.  2) This may be specific to my location but my order tends to come out wrong about one in every say 7/8 times, which is far too often especially considering I almost never modify my subs. 

The ingredients are good but given that I normally go when looking for a quick easy lunch lot's of the options come out too heavy without being tasty enough to justify it.  Definitely missing Chase the Submarine in Vienna...

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*I'm happy to report the seasonal subs at Taylor I've had have been really good!  *Despite my somewhat negative feelings towards the chain I end up going back fairly often because it's within < 1 minute walking from my apartment.  The Penn's Landing chicken salad sub is one of the better versions of this I've had (not typically a chicken salad guy), and the Arch 2.0 is a nice riff on a bahn mi.

The special edition ChiKo collaboration sub however... definitely falls into the Taylor trying to do way too much at once category.  Heavily sauced + Kimchee + American Cheese :unsure:

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28 minutes ago, FranklinDubya said:

*I'm happy to report the seasonal subs at Taylor I've had have been really good!  *Despite my somewhat negative feelings towards the chain I end up going back fairly often because it's within < 1 minute walking from my apartment.  The Penn's Landing chicken salad sub is one of the better versions of this I've had (not typically a chicken salad guy), and the Arch 2.0 is a nice riff on a bahn mi.

The special edition ChiKo collaboration sub however... definitely falls into the Taylor trying to do way too much at once category.  Heavily sauced + Kimchee + American Cheese :unsure:

Yeah, I saw that on the sandwich board (no pun intended) outside the TG on Pennsy Ave. Reminded me of some of the weird combinations at the Korean food counters of local Asian markets. Pretty gross, if you ask me.

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I evacuated my apartment Friday night after a day without power, and decamped to the Residence Inn in Arlington. I stepped out to grab a sub from Taylor, since it was nearby and I wanted to get back to my cat who was with me. I ordered the cheesesteak, but thought I'd be "healthy" and get chicken instead of beef. Ugh. Too much bread, too dry. I nibbled on it all night. 

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We stopped at the ballpark location yesterday before the game. My husband was really hungry and got a Cumberland (which is essentially falafel on a roll) to take in to the game. With all of the food options becoming available outside the park, I'm wondering how long it will take before the Lerners stop allowing people to bring outside food through the gates. For $8, this was pretty good, very garlicky. (I snagged a couple of bites). Probably (likely even) not as good as Max's inside the ballpark, but it just happened that my husband wanted the vegan option at Taylor. Most one-on-one matches would probably be won by bringing a freshly-made sub in from outside.

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Taylor Gourmet Owner's Vacant Home Is An Extreme Example Of How Renovations Can Become A 'Nightmare' For Neighbors by Martin Austermuhle for the resurrected DCist.

I've been late on bills maybe twice in my adult life... and now I see some view paying bills and fines as an option?  (see:  multiple liens on properties, non-payment of property tax...) 

This shouldn't affect my views on the food... but it does.

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One of my employer's offices is on the 1700 block of Pennsylvania Ave, where there is a Taylor Gourmet, and across the street, Breadline. There is also a Jimmy Johns on that street, but who cares. I prefer the texture of the rolls at Breadline.

I don't like the cutesy names of the sandwiches at Taylor, like Ritner instead of Roast Beef. I also don't like that I can't get a legitimate Philly cheesesteak or Italian hoagie at either place. Rather, they have their own version of these, but not the originals.

Most of the millennials in our firm head right across the street and grab Jimmy Johns for lunch.

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This is NUTS.  I've had their delicious Logan salad three times this week (blue cheese, apples, craisins, kale---yum). 

I am partially to blame here: two years ago I was given by a cashier a "friends and family" discount card that got me 10% off my whole order EVERY time I went.  So, every time I went, I would get that 10% off, plus $5 back for every $50 I spent via levelup, plus THEY DIDN'T CHARGE EXTRA FOR AVOCADO.  It was too good to be true.  Unfortunately, i'm a mere 10 visits short of a "catered party for 10" on their app :(

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I am actually a little bummed about this. I ran hot or cold with Taylor but could never stay away for too long. The convenient location and a solid sandwich hankering always brought me back. But I do call BS on the "whispers" that the owner's support for Donald Trump was the real reason for the closure is BS. I am a bleeding heart liberal and while I was taken aback by that particular piece of news, it was never a reason why I didn't go to Taylor. 

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25 minutes ago, eatruneat said:

But I do call BS on the "whispers" that the owner's support for Donald Trump was the real reason for the closure is BS.

To put this in perspective, I didn't even know Casey Patten met with Donald Trump until two-minutes ago. I don't believe that's the only reason behind the closure.

Compare and contrast with Isabella Concepts, Cava, etc. - things are just not always as they seem.

I'll tell you what, though: I'm reminded of Lloyd Bentsen - you really *can* give the illusion of prosperity, given enough cash inflow. I'm as surprised by this as if you had told me Sweetgreen was closing.

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