Noble Sandwich Co. quietly opened their central Austin location last week, and already the message boards around town are blowing up with first takes. John Bates and Brandon Martinez's North Austin sandwich shop developed a cult following, and their second location in central Austin has been in the works since last spring. The new location features an expanded menu, especially in terms of breakfast, and there are plans to continue expanding retail offerings. Check out fellow Austinites' first takes on this hotly anticipated restaurant below.
THE PACKED NEWS — Chowhounder amysuehere had a first look on opening day: "Went today. Neat space, great back patio (when they stop the construction noise next door), plenty of parking in back. Just as good as the original. Place was P-A-C-K-E-D by the time I left." [Chowhound]
THE CRONUT KNOCK-OFF NEWS — Yelper Lindsey W is really, really into their 'dossaint': "Jesu Christe on a segway, the pastries here are amazing. I ordered two tarts, a cookie and a strawberry basil dossant. Color me in heaven driving down Mopac back to Round Rock sipping my Topo Chico and devouring my dossant whilst singing Requiem for Evita." [Yelp]
THE BACON BUMMER NEWS — Urban Spoon user kookoocachoo was seriously let down by the bacon. "The room temp sandwich on untoasted bread just seemed like a bit of a let down compared to the description. It was a rather small pile of heavily flavored roast meat, on a rigid raft of bacon. Eventually I had to remove all the bacon from the sandwich because I just got tired of dealing with the bacon brick hidden in every bite. For 9.00, I expected crispy edible bacon. Inexplicably there was also roast carrot in there was well?" [Urban Spoon]
THE GREAT SERVICE NEWS Hannah W. appreciated the extra nice service. "On a side note- my order was taking a bit too long and the owner or manager came by to personally apologize for the hold up and offered me dessert: 5 Spice Chocolate pudding. He said, "Once you have some of this, I promise, we're going to be good friends!" And boy he was not kidding! It was such a fabulous end to a casual lunch and a great example of customer service at it finest. " [Yelp]
THE BREAKFAST NEWS — Chowhound's optimista checked out the extended breakfast offerings. "We had breakfast there yesterday. I got a really large bowl of amazing, buttery grits with a generous chunk of ham hock and a fried egg on top. Delicious. My husband got biscuits and gravy, which comes with a chunk of sausage and an egg cooked to order (default is scrambled). Was very impressed with both. Oh, and we also tried their version of a cronut, a lemon-curd filled "dossant," which was TO DIE FOR." [Chowhound]
THE (LACK OF) CONDIMENT NEWS — Yelper Christine H. was disturbed by the lack of condiment options. "I personally LOVE condiments, so I like to have them. Since my sandwich was pretty boring, it could have used some ketchup. It could pass as ok if it didn't have it, but they serve potato wedges during breakfast and I really think that needs some ketchup. Or hot sauce? Even mustard or ranch? All they had to offer was Sriracha, which I love when I'm eating asian food, but I just thought it was weird with this. Seems like ketchup would be a pretty easy request at a restaurant." [Yelp]
THE SMALL PORTIONS NEWS — Chowhounder rptrane enjoys Noble Sandwiches but is often left hungry. "I had breakfast at the old location a few times. Very good stuff but the portions were outrageously small. Not being greedy but two breakfasts equal like one at a normal, even a European, restaurant. I do have to say though that they had the decency to make it cheap." [Chowhound]
THE LOVE TAP NEWS — Yelper Dan K. is a big Noble Sandwich fan, and the new location lives up to his previous expectations. "I got the Knuckle Sandwich which is roast beef, cheddar cheese and horseradish on grilled bread. Pretty pedestrian right? Well the roast beef was super tender and tasty, the bread was sweet but not too sweet, had a good body. Cheese held it all together and then there was a love-tap of horseradish that reminded you why you came. " [Yelp]
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· All Noble Sandwich Co Coverage [EATX]