Taylor Gourmet

Stopped in here for lunch since I was in the area and it reminded me how much I love Taylor. Used to go to the one on H Street regularly. Ordered off the winter menu and really enjoyed the Cedar sandwich and the butternut squash salad. Will be coming back soon.

Terrible service. This is my first one star review. Hector in particular was extremely rude. Never will eat here again.

So, after having stopped here for their seasonal cheesesteak in October, the incorrectly named ‘Mandu’ cheesesteak which had bulgogi and kimchi and cheddar cheese. The combo sounded a little suspect but I decided to give it a shot because well, I hadn’t had kimchi in a while. The mandu was surprisingly good, juicy with the cheese not overpowering the meat of the kimchi or the bulgogi.
I’ve been back since for their regular hoagies with a Philly native and he thought they were pretty good but honestly it doesn’t match up to the Mandu from October.
Bring it back!

For the most part, I like their sandwiches and I like the fact that they have a seasonal menu. I seldom buy sandwiches for myself, rather, I order for office meetings. I’m a block away so it’s convenient but you can’t rely on their online system. I’ll get an online confirmation and when I go to pick up the food, there is usually something missing or not ready. Calling on the phone is better but sometimes that doesn’t work either. One time I tried calling and the phone just rang and rang. I had to just walk over and put the order in. I do like that they have good vegetarian and vegan sandwiches (I’m not vegetarian – not even a little bit but I every now and again, I like the occasional break from meat). Even though this is a sandwich place, their salads are so good. My manager will ask, can we order from that place with the really good salad? My favorite salads are the Logan and the Love.
As for catering, the catering coordinator is a bit prickly and totally not flexible. One time I asked for assorted bread after I placed the order (it was less than two hours) and she said that she’ll do it this time. Excuse me?! I emailed back asking if she already made my order (I placed the order on a Thursday and the meeting was Tuesday of the next week). She replied stating that she didn’t make them but that she already added the order to the system – basically, she didn’t want to change it. That’s not my problem and I didn’t bother replying because she clearly couldn’t tell that I was being sarcastic.
While this place isn’t my absolute favorite, they get cool points for their salads (I could drink the dressings) and their veggie sandwiches.

The food is sooo good but it takes sooo long. I had to wait 40mins for a salad, even after calling it in ahead of time. I’m so sad. I really hope they can fix this because I love the food.

I find this place to be inconsistent. When it 1^st opened, it was good all the time. Now, the meat can be dry or too salty at times. However, it’s still definitely 1 of the better sandwich places out there. They got for $ 7.49 for 6 inches and $ 11 for a foot long.
Vine St. — Breaded Chicken Cutlet or Grilled Chicken Breast, Prosciutto, Basil Pesto, Sharp Provolone. This is usually my go-​to. The breaded chicken might not be all that healthy, but it’s def better than grilled lol.
Risotto Balls — Mozzarella served with Marinara Sauce. They’re just ok honestly, nothing special. I’d stick with their sandwiches.

Bulgogi and kimchi cheesesteak seasonal special. So, I’m not a huge fan of fusion. I’m less of a fan of franchises doing fusion. I got an email from Taylor Gourmet advertising their new Korean cheese steak. I order a good amount of Taylor Gourmet for meetings at work so I’m updated frequently on their seasonal menu changes. A group of us from work went to lunch. I wasn’t convinced that I’d order the bulgogi. I was really feeling the veggie sandwich with goat cheese. I succumbed to strong peer pressure and group think and ordered the Sammie. Holy crap it was delish! It’s only Tuesday but I think it may be the best decision I will make this week. The meat was very well seasoned and the grilled kimchi had the right amount of kick with out be overwhelming. I think I would put on a more subtle cheese. The Taylor bread soaked up the juices very nicely. Taylor has good sandwiches and I will mourn the end of the season of bulgogi cheese steak.

So, I ordered a Christian sandwich without cheese and they put approximately two small mushrooms in the sandwich. I basically paid for bread, arugula and one red pepper. Won’t be back to this location.

I had read about this place on Unilocal and in food articles and thought I love sandwiches especially gourmet ones so why not give this place a try when I was super close?!
Let me first start off my saying options! So many options. For people of all ages, shapes, and sizes. Seriously though, you want a chicken sandwich they got it, beef… Got it. Cheesesteak… Got it. Veggie sandwich… Got it. Sandwich on a salad (no bread obviously) they got it! They even offer a kids menu. Taylor gourmet does it right. I went ahead and ordered the #2 cheesesteak while my boyfriend got the Italian sausage sandwich. It took a little longer than I thought (not too long) to make our sandwiches given that the place wasn’t busy but it was totally worth the wait! The meat was cooked just right. The toppings were busting out of the sandwich and the bread was so tasty. They definitely didn’t make any shortcuts with their sandwiches. Full of flavor and huge in size. I definitely plan to come back here and try some other sandwiches that looked amazing on the menu. I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a good quality sandwich. I’d also like to make a comment on their chip selection… Amazing! Can anyone say, Texas Pete potato chips? Yes, please.
The service was nothing special but you can’t really comment too much on that at a place like this unless they were horrible which they weren’t. Overall great spot that you need to check out today!

After 45 mins waiting and $ 12 later rather than a cheesesteak sandwich I got somekind of a breaded chicken sandwich…:

Pretty good. A grade above your typical bodega deli with fresher ingredients and bougie décor.

It figures. It took a Philly-​raised, North Carolina-​living, DC-​for-​business-​visiting guy nearly 30 years to find «gourmet» Philadelphia-​inspired hoagies.
Though the sandwiches on the menu are named after major Philadelphia thoroughfares, their ingredients and prices have nothing in common with their namesakes. The Cumberland, for example, a delicious blend of chickpea fritters, cukes, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pepperoncini, and lemon mint tahini dressing, stands in stark contrast to the impoverished and drug-​addled strip from which it draws inspiration. What’s more, at 8 bucks a pop for a regular and nearly 11 dollars for a large, the denizen of Cumberland Street would be hard-​pressed to buy such a sandwich.
Names, prices, and zombie shredded lettuce aside, The Cumberland was fantastic.

Do not use the online delivery service! Last Thursday I placed an order for delivery for a lunch meeting at noon the next day. When the order did not arrive by 12:15 I called and spoke to someone who seemed very confused. I gave her my name and she asked me if I paid, and if I wanted delivery. I told her yes to both, but that seems like information she should have had based on my order. After about 5 minutes on the phone, she finally said that the online ordering system is new and it’s confusing for the people who work there. They had my order, but they thought I was picking it up, even though I paid the delivery charge and provided an address. She told me someone would deliver it right then.
My office is only a block and a half from the shop, so when the order still hadn’t arrived 20 minutes later, I called again. I was placed on hold for 3 minutes, then hung up on. I called back again, and was told that the food was on the way. I told the guy that I had been told the same thing 20 minutes earlier, and he told me that the delivery person just left.
All in all, the food was 45 minutes late for a meeting that started at noon. And the only reason I got it at all was that I kept calling to ask about it. I sent an email to the shop complaining about this, but never got a response. So, they clearly don’t care about fixing the problem or about basic customer service. Obviously I will not be ordering food for meetings from them again.

I am a big fan of Philadelphia-​style sandwiches (no, not just cheesesteaks), so I had Taylor Gourmet on my must-​try list for a while. The stars aligned this past weekend (the European embassy lines were really ridiculous, so having lunch instead seemed like the perfect plan) and I was able to check it out. I’m loyal to DiNic’s for roast pork, provolone, and broccoli rabe, so I opted for one of their chicken cutlet sandwiches instead. There are quite a few options and when you give me too many, anxiety happens. I chose the Memphis Raines because it was highlighted as their new Spring addition. It’s essentially a chicken cutlet, gorgonzola, Crystal hot sauce, black pepper parmesan dressing, red onion, and kale slaw. The description seemed promising. I opted for sharp provolone instead of gorgonzola and also added arugula and tomato since I love raw vegetables. I also chose the standard seeded Italian bread, which was nice and crusty with a soft interior — just how I like it. The cutlet was nice and crispy, but a tad salty. The kale slaw had red cabbage, but no kale? Moreover, the Crystal hot sauce overpowered everything, so I would not order this sandwich again. In the future, I would opt for the Vine with more raw veggie add-​ins or the Pattison for comparison purposes.
The soda selection at Taylor Gourmet is similar to &pizza’s — made with cane sugar and very refreshing. Flavors include root beer, diet root beer, cherry cola, lemonade, ginger ale, and cream soda. I tried both the cherry cola and root beer (free refills) and had no complaints.
I didn’t have a chance to try the sides, like arancini balls, because I chose the $ 2.79 drink and kettle chips combination. A regular-​sized sandwich is plenty filling, so I could probably forego the chips in the future.
Prices are reasonable. I would say any combination would run you only $ 12 – 15. The cashier was a joy to talk to and also allowed several changes to my order without getting irritated with me. The only downside is the orders took forever. Be prepared to wait at least 15 minutes for your sandwich.

I love this place.
Cool look, pretty fast on the service and everything is really good. Particular fan of their salads, risotto balls and soup.
Everything is really fresh — soda machine looks cool even though I haven’t tried it yet.
They seem to run out of risotto balls often which makes me sad — but hey they must be really good then …
Pretty low key on the weekends and they deliver.
Great music selections …

Great sandwiches. Fresh ingredients. Fast, friendly service.
It is a chain, but a local one and one that knows how to make good food.
Prices are average for downtown lunch.
I’ve never called ahead or had them deliver so I can’t speak to that, but the lines move quickly and if you go early or late enough after the lunch rush you’ll be in and out in minutes. They once ran out of wheat bread but I was there late.

Today was my first visit to Taylor for a sandwich I have been looking forward to trying Taylor gourmet for quite some time and today was the first visit, I had heard good things from others so I was excited to give it a try. Upon arrival I surveyed the menu and ended up placing an order for one regular Vine Street six «sandwhich on a soft roll. My first impression was that the bread was bland and slightly stale. The portion of chicken was tiny, one small sliver of chicken running the length of the sandwich (see pic). The taste of the of sandwich was unremarkable at best. Cost was reasonable $ 8.24, the staff was friendly and helpful however I came away from my snack unsatisfied. I will not come back here until I find out that they are using fresher ingredients with more reasonable portion sizes.

Oh John Montagu, 4^th Earl of Sandwich, I wonder if you knew the craze you were starting. If it weren’t for you we’d all be cramming meat and cheese and veggies into our mouths for lunch with our fingers, but instead we get to use two pieces of bread and keep our hands nice and clean. Sadly, there are establishments that have perverted your glorious invention, offering cheap $ 5 deals for 12″ of stale bread full of bland ingredients or toasting all their sandwiches to disguise their mediocrity.
Taylor stoops to none of these low tricks. Their chewy, crusty sesame seed rolls are the perfect vehicle for their tasty, savory fillings. My personal favorite is the Vine Street Expressway, comprising a juicy chicken cutlet with sharp provolone, pesto, and a little prosciutto for good measure. The risotto balls are possibly the most delicious side dish I’ve ever ordered with a sandwich, and even their soda fountain is superb, Puck’s rather than one of the boring old mass market brands.
Any Italian deli in NYC or Philly would be jealous of Taylor’s offerings, making them king of the sandwich hill in this town, at least in my book.

I live in Woodley Park, just a neighborhood north of Dupont Circle. After calling in and specifically confirming they can deliver to my address, I placed my order for delivery and paid by credit card. 30 minutes later, I received a call informing me that I am not in fact within the delivery zone, so they cannot deliver my meal. Sorry, tough luck. While I can understand them not delivering to my address, I cannot understand them telling me they can, allowing me to order and pay, and then waiting a half hour to change their mind. The sandwiches are good, which makes this more frustrating. Someone there needs to figure it out.
Whatever, I’m ordering a pizza.

Taylor Gourmet is (I hope) only a DC thing that outsiders can be excited to try when they’re here (but preferably not in hordes).
I love Taylor Gourmet and though I’ve only had one sandwich at this location, I’ve had others at other locations and have no reason to believe the sandwiches don’t constantly deserve 5 stars. They’re delicious and inexpensive. I plan to always come back to Taylor Gourmet and bring worthy friends. Plus, the service is pretty quick, even though I came here at lunch rush. The folks who work the counters are friendly too.
The one major downside (but only enough to lose one star) is that nutrition facts are hard to impossible to find. And, from doing some investigating, it’s more than you’d expect. I got the Pearl Street — smallest available — and everything I could find seems to indicate it’s about 700 calories or more. It doesn’t seem it would be that way from the menu. Ugh.
Delicious though. So, so delicious.