Hannah’s Bretzel, The Loop

Hannah’s Bretzel
180 W Washington St
Chicago

Date of Last Visit: 3 January 2011

The Victims: Many

The Damage: Two cents shy of ten dollars. Just  for the sandwich. And it’s not a very large sandwich for $10. But keep reading.

The Background: I am not the sort to wax poetic over a sandwich. Give me soup or salad any day. But after listening to my colleague Renee sing the praises of Hannah’s Bretzel since my return to Chicago in August, I figured I’d give it a shot.

The Entrance: Hannah’s Bretzel is small. (There’s really nowhere to sit except for a small counter at the window.) It’s also very clean. AND IT’S FULL OF CHOCOLATE. Seriously. AN ENTIRE WALL OF CHOCOLATE. (I will have to go back for a photo of that alone.)

I ordered the sirloin sandwich. The Hannah’s Bretzel Web site describes it like so:

We make it with certified organic grass fed sirloin that is free of antibiotics, growth hormones, nitrates or sulfates on our organic bretzel baguette. Then we add tasty Swiss Gruyére cheese, organic vine tomatoes, organic spring mix, organic onions and finish it with our own horseradish aioli.

Well let me tell you–that pretzel baguette is AWESOME. Firm and chewy but still managing to maintain a bit of a crunch to bread. And the sirloin was so deliciously tender. And the horseradish alioli? I wanted to bathe in it. FOREVER. Über Sandwich indeed!

The Verdict: It’s not cheap, but the line moves quick and the sirloin sandwich, in particular, is really excellent.  With your sandwich, you get a choice of chips or nuts or veggies. I went with chips and they were great. Are they homemade? Not sure. But whoever is producing them sure knows what they’re doing.  So in short, you should go here. Multiple times. Bring your friends.