Today’s review is of Walt’s Sandwich Place. I heard of this restaurant courtesy of a food Facebook page my love, Margie, belongs to. Walt’s is located on 106th and Blue Mound. I decided to make a day of this excursion. So, I brought my mother and Margie along, as it is always easier to try more dishes with more people. We started our day, and to rev up our appetites by walking around the Milwaukee County Zoo, which is directly across the street and happens to be one of my favorite places in the city to go.
Hungry and ready to try someplace new, we crossed the street to go to Walt’s. Located in a strip mall next to a gaming store underneath a red awning, it is as unassuming as a place can get. In fact, if we were not looking for this place it would be quite easy to drive right by. We pulled into the parking lot to start our culinary adventure. One of my favorite things about quite a few of the places I have had the pleasure to review is noticing the initial greeting you receive. As soon as we had made it inside the door the voice of a pleasant young lady we came to learn was named Alice, greeted us warmly. She asked if this was our first time and we replied it indeed was. Offering not only instructions, but helpful suggestions as well, Alice made our daunting task of choosing our meal a lot easier.
I say daunting task not because the menu was difficult to find. Quite to the contrary. Walt’s Sandwich Place features a large menu above the counter that is easily legible. Alice handed us some of the paper menus that were also available on the counter. She explained not only would we not have to strain our necks, but the menus on the counter contained a great description of each item. What made choosing our lunch so arduous was the fact that there were so many great options to choose from. To call Walt’s a sandwich place is only scratching the surface. They not only have great tasting sandwiches, which I will get more into momentarily, but the menu is filled with many other options as well. They also feature soup, salad, hot and cold subs, burgers, wraps and many other items to tempt your taste buds.
After much contemplation, we all had our orders. Sadly, by this time Alice was occupied with helping a customer on the phone. We were then assisted by a very jovial bearded young man whose name I did not catch. He too seemed quite invested in our experience being the best it could be. Also offering suggestions and letting us know we could alter any sandwich to our liking. He took our order and repeated it back to us, a step I always find helpful.
We chose a place to sit in what was a clean and welcoming interior. The dining area included several wooden tables and a few wooden booths. The walls were painted fun shades of yellow and blue. This is one of my favorite color combinations so that certainly didn’t hurt. The walls were covered with all things Wisconsin or Milwaukee. There were pictures of the Brewers and the Packers. There was also a map of Milwaukee from 1868 that was pretty cool. The chairs were comfortable, and the tables were all very clean. It what seemed like very little time, the friendly bearded fellow brought us out our food.
My mother ordered the chicken bacon ranch wrap. All wraps are given the option of either a wheat or flour wrap. This wrap also contained grilled chicken, bacon, cheddar jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and ranch. For her side my mother chose a bag of Kettle chips. The wrap was light and had a nice mix of flavor. The wheat wrap did not take over the flavor as it does in some wraps I have had elsewhere. There also seemed to be the perfect amount of everything. Great balance. At the end your hands were not dripping with ranch, nor were you left searching for the one spot of sauce located in the farthest end of the sandwich. Again, both things I have also experienced elsewhere. At Walt’s they seem to take as much care crafting your sandwich as they do helping you order it. My mother obviously enjoyed this sandwich a great deal as it took a fair amount of cajoling to allow us to try some.
Margie ordered the chicken salad wrap. Much like my mother, she chose the whole wheat wrap. Inside this dish contained their chicken salad with almonds, cheddar jack cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion. I must confess chicken salad is one of those things I am only now coming to appreciate. Having Margie make it for me at home is one delightful experience. Ordering chicken salad in a restaurant is still hit or miss to me. Walt’s chicken salad wrap did not disappoint. The chicken salad tasted fresh and not to full of mayo. The almonds supplied a very nice crunch to the texture. Overall the wrap itself can only be described as fresh and enjoyable. As a side Margie chose the spiral pasta salad. Personally, I enjoyed this salad as the sauce was not overwhelming to me. Margie said it had a slightly funky flavor, but it was still good. This was the least exciting portion of the meal for all of us.
I ordered the Khaleesi fire & sweet chicken hot sub. When it was set in front of me my first thought was, “How am I ever going to fit this in my mouth?” It looked mouth-watering and I could not wait to take my first bite. This sub has grilled chicken breast, bacon, pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, lettuce, tomato, onion and a spicy sweet sriracha-honey Dijon sauce. You might be thinking this sounds like a lot of flavor to be had all at once and you would be right. My first bite gave me the sweet taste initially. That was followed by the smoky flavor of the bacon. Which I might add was some of the best bacon I have tasted on a sandwich. I would be interested to know what bacon they use. As I finished chewing that first bite another sensation came to my attention. At the end of the first bite and with each successive bite the heat of this sandwich became more intense. I enjoy spicy flavor and I certainly enjoyed this sandwich, but I would leave a word of caution for the fait of heart. My only suggestion is that they use a slightly less chewy bread for this sub. Although I must say this bread held up wonderfully and did not get soggy or break apart despite having to contain a multitude of ingredients. If that is the trade off I will gladly take it. My side was Jalapeno cilantro coleslaw. I am not sure if it was the heat of the sandwich, but I did not really taste the jalapeno in this coleslaw. That is not to say I did not enjoy this side. The coleslaw was perfect for me. There is always a debate whether creamy or oily coleslaw is better. I personally enjoy both depending on the weather and what mood I happen to be in that day. This would fit directly in the middle of creamy and oily. I thought the taste and texture was perfect. Just like everything we had at Walt’s the word I would use to describe it would be fresh.
Although we were too full to try anything else, Walt’s offers several desserts that sound fun. They have Rice Krispy treats, a Scotcheroo, which is a chocolate, peanut butter and butterscotch coated Rice Krispy treat. They also have chocolate chip cookies. The dessert that I will come back to try is the Break Up Cake. It is German chocolate cake, caramel, butterscotch topping, cool whip and Heath bar bites. It sounds mouth-watering.
Upon leaving we were asked how we enjoyed our meal. This is always a nice touch, but even nicer when you can tell the employees really would like to know. Everyone at Walt’s seems to care a great deal about making sure your experience there is a good one. If there is anything they can do to improve that experience they seem like they would take that into consideration. I only say seem like because on this visit we left with no suggestions to offer. It was both a pleasant and delicious experience.
I would suggest a visit to Walt’s Sandwich Place for anyone who enjoys food that tastes fresh and is made by people who genuinely care about your dining experience. That pretty much should be everyone I would think. With an extensive menu, Walt’s has something for every taste and fancy. If your planning a trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo, I can’t think of a better place to stop after you are done talking with the animals than Walt’s Sandwich Shop.
By: Neil Panosian