On a recent trip into the Chicago area, I had an appointment in Evanston one morning, so I spent the night in the downtown area. After the appointment, I went back to the hotel to return e-mails and pack up to go down the road. It was getting near lunch time and I was getting hungry. I decided to walk to a place that I'd had on my list to try for sometime - Bat 17 - for some lunch.
The distinctively named Bat 17 is a full service deli and pub that opened in 2007. Partners Jim Pomerantz and Jim Hurley opened their deli in early 2007 after getting advice from one of the co-founders/co-owners of the iconic Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, MI, Paul Saginaw. Pomerantz and Hurley wanted their deli to be more than just a good deli that serves sandwiches. They do breakfast and dinners at Bat 17, and they also have a wide selection of eclectic micro-brewed beers on tap and in bottles.
The meats they use at Bat 17 comes from Kelly Eisenberg, a Chicago meat purveyor who has been in business since 1929. The breads and buns are baked at Evanston's iconic Bennison's Bakery each day by award winning Certified Master Baker Jory Downer. Bennison's uses organic and whole grain flours in many of their breads, and they bake the breads and buns for Bat 17 using unbleached, unbromated flour.
Bat 17 is located on Benson Ave. in downtown Evanston (see map). It was a five minute walk on a cold day from the hotel to the deli. Bat 17 gets its name from an acronym - Benson Avenue Tap - and the fact that it's in the 1700 block of the street. Hence, Bat 17. The main entrance opens to a vestibule that has two doors. The deli/restaurant is on the left, and a new addition that Bat 17 took over for night time and weekend overflow is to the right. That room features pool tables and another bar area.
The deli part of the place is not large. It features a handful of tables and a small step-up bar area. The deli menus are on a blackboard on the wall, but they also featured printed full menus, as well. Along one wall of the deli dining area is a large open cupboard filled with a variety of hot sauces that people can use with their meals.
I was able to get a seat at the bar and not long after I saw down I was greeted by a lady who was the bartender. As I said, Bat 17 has an extensive beer menu with a number of interesting beers on tap and in bottles. I took a quick look before I came up with a Lagunitas India Pale Ale to have while I looked over the menu.
As I was looking over the menu after getting my beer, I looked over to my right and saw what appeared to be these tube containers on a shelf with the Bat 17 logo on them. These are Bat 17's 105-ounce "beer towers" that can be filled with any one of the draft beers the place has and put on tables for easy - and quick - access to beer. I understand they're a popular thing to order at Bat 17.
Interestingly, Bat 17 is known for their burgers. The burgers are 10 ounce 100% certified Angus beef and Bat 17 has about a half dozen signature burgers including the K-2 Bat 17 burger with applewood smoked bacon, onion strings and American cheese on a brioche bun, as well as the Sunny Side Up burger that features a burger topped with a sunny side up egg, Vermont cheddar cheese, along with applewood-smoked bacon on a brioche bun. And for those guys who want to impress their friends, Bat 17 has "The Terminator" - two 10-ounce burger patties, four slices of American cheese, 4 slices of applewood-smoked bacon and onion strings on a triple decked brioche bun. For the health conscious, Bat 17 also has a bison burger, as well as ground chicken, ground salmon or ground turkey burgers, along with a veggie burger.
Bat 17's deli menu features your typical deli meat fare - corned beef, pastrami, roast beef, ham and turkey sandwiches. They also feature pulled pork sandwiches, a classic B.L.T., grilled chicken sandwiches, and a number of vegetarian sandwiches. Interestingly, they also have a number of breakfast items they sell nearly all day long. The Door County French toast with warm cherry compote sounded pretty damn good.
I saw one of the deli sandwiches and they're huge. They have two sizes - the regular and the full. A guy next to me got a sandwich that was the regular size and I was afraid to see how big the full was. For me, it was down to either getting the Buzz - warm pastrami topped with Swiss cheese and a housemade Russian dressing on an olive-oil drizzled/grilled pumpernickel bread; or getting the Pretzel Boy burger - a 10 oz. patty topped with smoked Gouda cheese, roasted red peppers, and onion strings on a pretzel bun and served with a side of a horseradish sauce.
I hemmed and hawed on both until the bartender came over to take my order. I thought I was getting kind of burned out on burgers, but I really wanted to try the Pretzel Boy. So - of course - I ordered the Buzz hot pastrami sandwich with the dressing on the side. I got a side with the sandwich and I had my choice of American-style fried potatoes, potato salad, a gorganzola cole slaw, a corn and bean salad or fresh fruit. I asked her what she liked and she said, "I really like the potato salad. We make it a little spicy with bits of bacon." She had me at "spicy".
The sandwich featured thick slices of pumpernickel and a generous portion of the warm pastrami. The pastrami was slightly salty, but had the great peppery taste to it. The Swiss cheese was very fresh and went great on the sandwich. I tried a couple dips of the Russian dressing - it was more of a 1000 Island dressing - and I'm glad I got it on the side. It would have overpowered the taste of the great pastrami meat and the Swiss cheese. The bread - although it was thick - was moist and far from dried out. It was a superb sandwich.
But as good as the sandwich was, the highlight of the meal was the spicy potato salad. At first, there really isn't much of a spicy taste to the potatoes - it sneaks up to you on the back side. And the chunks of bacon were just a bonus taste sensation. The potato salad was just out of sight. It was a very good lunch.
But - whoa! It wasn't cheap. My Buzz sandwich was $14.50 on its own. I can get a similar sandwich (without the artisan bread and the high quality pastrami - but still good) back home in the Quad Cities for half the price. The one thing that Bat 17 doesn't apologize for is its prices. That may be the only thing that I can think would be a detriment to going to Bat 17. But everything else I liked tremendously. Bat 17 has a little bit of everything for everyone. You want breakfast at 3 p.m.? They got it! A great deli - no problem. And you've got to try the potato salad. I do want to go back at some point this summer and try a Pretzel Boy burger. And I'll be getting a side of the potato salad with it.
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