Rare Form, Delicatessan and Sandwich Shop

Today I decided to try a recommendation from a friend, Rare Form.  A little sandwich shop downtown, where I got much more than I expected.  It was basically in the park at the park right next to Petco, on a walkway/side street that was a bit hard to find.  I walked in and loved the decor white and black hexagon tiles on the floor with kind of a Gothic church setting as well.  You could tell much thought had been put into the lighting fixtures, the chairs and even the paintings on the wall.  They had green desk lamps like you would find at an old library and the chairs looked like they were taken from the 16th century medieval times.

They label themselves as a sandwich shop and delicatessen.  To me all deli sandwiches are more or less the same, however, here they really went above and beyond, I might even say it's the best sandwich I ever tasted.  You order at the counter when you first walk in, I asked the guy what he recommended and he gave me a few choices, I decided on a 'El Cubano' a rip off of the classic Cuban sandwich: Smoked Ham, Pulled Pork, Bread, Butter, Pickles, Swiss, Whole grain Mustard, Aioli on a Bolillo Roll.  

All of their sandwiches come a  la carte, so I decided on fresh-cut french fries as my side.  There weren't too many people in there so I received my food in probably less than 10 minutes.  It looked fantastic as it arrived,  I took my first bite and literally said out loud 'wow', it was really that good.  The pork was tender, juicy and flavorful.   The ham and Swiss added some nice saltiness and the whole-grain mustard and house made aioli (fancy word for mayo) blended together perfectly, making the sandwich about as good as I've ever had. The fries were fantastic and this is where my one negative came. I looked around and didn't see any ketchup, not on the tables, not on the self-serve station and not in the kitchen, and that's when I knew it. I've seen this before at restaurants or bars where they want to dictate what it is you eat or drink, they leave off something obvious that's too cliche.  In this case it was ketchup, they make everything in-house and don't want to serve you Heinz ketchup. I get it but I got up and asked for some ketchup as a formality, though I already knew what the response would be . Then it became official, I got the answer 'we don't have ketchup'. I appreciate what they're trying to do, BUT you just cannot have french fries without ketchup, its like having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with no jelly or a quesadilla with no cheese or…you get what I'm saying.  I didn't let it ruin my meal but I'm not gonna lie, I was a little irritated but let's be honest it's just ketchup.  The bread was on a nice Bolillo roll(typically used for a Mexican Torta) probably one of the most underutilized sandwich rolls in history, but that's just my humble opinion.  I cannot overstate how good this sandwich was; you can tell it was well thought out and there was care put into every homemade ingredient.  They didn't squish it like your typical Cuban, it was just a really effing good meal. On a side note I had a good artisanal soda to go along with it, 'Ski', naturally citrus flavored.  Overall, I'd give this place 4.9 stars (ketchup counts as .1).  I would not recommend going on a day when there is a stadium event like a baseball game, I'm sure it'll be packed  This place hit a home run, with the decor, the food and the overall theme.  It's unique and something I haven't tasted before which is definitely something I look for in a  restaurant.