Is it just me?

Or has food gone downhill in quality lately. But really? How hard is it to make a good sandwich? And where can you find this horrible sandwich I had the joy of tasting?

Why at East Coast Subs in Downtown Salt Lake City! I spent a gorgeous afternoon strolling the streets of Downtown taking photos. When I was hungry, I found myself faced with East Coast Subs or crossing the street and going to Esther's. I had never been to either so I chose convenience and went inside East Coast.

I should have been warned by the sole table of two at one in the afternoon. A sandwich shop on a weekday with two customers just shortly after regular lunch time is not a good sign. But, I put my faith in the woman behind the counter and the easy to read menu.

Between greeting the woman at the counter (I assume she is the owner) and placing my order, the owner passed me off to an employee. She was friendly and waited patiently as I read the menu.

I ordered a small BLT sandwich, a small fountain drink and a small side of onion rings. The easy-to-read menu lead me to believe the meal would cost about $7 plus tax, it was closer to $10. Apparently, the addition of a combo for $2.79 only applies if you get medium size, but the girl behind the counter failed to mention it, as does the menu, when she asked what I wanted with my sandwich.

$10 is more than I ever want to pay for lunch, especially a sandwich. But I figure if you make it good enough you can charge a little more and I won't mind. So my expectations were raised with the price tag.

My order was ready to go in about 5 minutes. I decided to eat over at Gallivan Plaza next to the fountains. The setting was great. My first bite was the exact opposite. It went something like this: bite, chew, chew, umm, is that stale bread?, eww!

Yes, people. Not only was the sandwich constructed in such a way that the first mouthful was entirely bread it was also stale bread. The contents of the sandwich didn't fare much better in freshness.

The lettuce was browned and the tomato looked extra smooshed, like it had sat at the bottom of a container of tomatoes for a few too many hours. No condiments were given, so I had no mayonnaise. The bacon was the best part of the sandwich. It had been taken off the grill just seconds before topping my stale bread. So while, it may have been a lower quality meat it was a least edible.

I turned to the onion rings, hoping to recover some of my faith in sandwich shops. What I found were freshly baked onion rings straight from your grocer's freezer. You know, the Ore-Ida kind you grab when you have kids and want to make dinner in a hurry.

If that's what they really serve on the East Coast, I'm moving farther west. Sorry East Coast Subs, next time I'm crossing the street to Esther's.