apparently, starbucks has intro’d products that aren’t successful. i know i know: hard to comprehend (i can barely fathom it myself). but on a scale of great, greater, or greatest, this new holiday-edition Starbucks Grandma’s Turkey Sandwich merits a mere “great”. while nifty in concept - whole grain bread, “homestyle” turkey, stuffing, cran sauce - the um execution, not so much. there’s just a ton of stuffing. and said stuffing is very-very moist; you hardly notice the turkey at all. and it’s sloppy. it’s a sandwich whose filling basically = wet bread. a bread sandwich, if you will. but let’s put on a happy face (this IS starbucks we’re talking about, after all). overall, its sandwich program is xlnt, and don’t forget sbux’ proclivity for intro’ing new prods thus keeping blogs like this afloat

Having not actually tried the food at Back Yard Burgers it’d be unfair to pre-judge this burger chain which just opened its first local branch. But conclusions can be drawn from the raw data, yes? Thus: Anything that seems like a + will be hilited in blue; negatives will be red. The chain was formed in Mississippi in 1987. the standard is a 1/3-lb made w/ black angus beef. they offer a smaller 1/8-lb option. they have a handful of themed burgers such as the Hawaiian “dipped in Hawaiian sauce” and topped w/, among other things, grilled pineapple. plus a choice of fries: incl waffle, seasoned, or chili. Also chick-breast sandwiches, hot dogs, baked potatoes, salads, & cobbler. There’s 175 Back Yard Burgers in 20 states. Some people like them; some don’t.

10930 N Central Expwy (@ Royal). 214-361-8544

Oh here’s an interesting “new product“: 7-Eleven ciabatta sandwiches. Which, fine, rah rah for offering sumthin they didn’t have before and ciabatta yes def more interesting than white bread. But to listen to the spiel, you’d think 7-11 pioneered the idea. “Developing the ciabatta took longer than a year” sez the 7-11 product dev guy. And the mktg lady, when asked why ciabatta is hot, attributed it to the evolution of food trends. Helloo can anyone say jack in the box?? who DID pioneer ciabatta sams in may ‘05? THANK YOU. 7-11’s 1st 2 ciabatta flavors are “brown sugar turkey” & “ital cold cuts”. Subway, btw, is also doing ciabatta sandwiches. guess mickey d will get around to it in 2007.

*photo is of a JACK IN THE BOX sandwich. get the point

Wrap sandwiches originated in Calif in the 80s and seemed for-sure to go big nationally. Some chains formed, and yes WF & Subway do wraps but jeez (insert cricket sounds here)… 20 yrs later, 2 wrap chains are hitting DFW as we type: Mega Wraps, birthed in Canada (uh-oh! ha), and Great Wraps, an Atlanta co. steered by 2 Coke execs (double uh-oh). Both try to counteract typecasting by also-serving soupsaladsmoothies even samwiches on ohso-trendy ciabatta. The sales pitch on wraps = healthy and yet these wrapsters are all ++ on “philly cheezsteaks” too which doesn’t seem very wrappy…

Mega Wraps: legacy park, plano 972-473-3514, advancial tower, 1845 woodall rogers 214-661-7835, and coming soon to 3100 independence pkwy, plano
Great Wraps: coming soon to an undisclosed location in garland (helloo, can you say “unhelpful corp communications”?)

You have ice cream shops and you have cookie stores. Somewhere in there is a high concept. Put em together! and you get an ice cream sandwich store: Pokey O’s, where you build yr own w/ 12 kinds of cookie + 10 flavors of ice cream. Go crazy - use 2 kindsa cookies. The concept isn’t totally new: There’s an ice cream sandwichery in L.A. called Diddy Riese which pioneered the idea in the ‘80s. But those folks are content 2B a single store (and charge $1 vs. $2 here); Pokey O’s is the seed of a chain, w/ more branches TK in the DFW area.

3034 Mockingbird Lane, near Horchow Finale, 214-987-1200 opening Jan 06

Hnh. Tell me if this new item from Sonic gives you a familiar feeling. “For a unique taste w/ a little Italian flair, try the new Tuscan grilled chicken sandwich. Tender chicken breast w/ asiago cheese, lettuce&tomato, and pesto mayo served on our new toasted ciabatta bread. ONLY at Sonic.” OK, Sonic is a half-decent fast-food place. And ciabatta is def a major step up from gross-out “regional specialties” such as Texas toast. So, all good there. But hmm, haven’t we seen this ciabatta thing somewhere else already?

Sad to see that the Gallery Café in the West Village closed. Gotta move on. So a new entity takes its place: Village Burger Bar from Mike & Susan Matta, who own Magnolia Café & Bakery (ex-branch of the n.s.g. Celebrity Bakery) in Lewisville. VBB will have burgers w/ upscale toppings, sorta Who’s Who-ish but a nicer hang, w/ salads, paninis, milkshakes, & root beer on tap, as well as microbrewed beers and a highly civilized wine policy in which every bottle stocked will be available by the glass.

Village Burger Bar, West Village, 214-443-9998, opening mid-Oct.

Why looky here: new samwiches from a (semi) fast-food chain, served on ciabatta bread. OH, must be Jack in the Box, since they’re the ones who originated the idea of using this oddly-named bread many people had never heard of. But no, it ain’t JITB; it’s copycatter Boston Market, who just introduced a line of carvers (how friggin pretentious - ya suppose they mean SANDWICH?) being served on CIABATTA rolls. Wow, what a clever idea. The meats include such JITB favorites as turkey and ham. BM (snicker) bites anyway, in many ways, including its use of thick to-go packaging that’s really bad for the environment.

*call it petty if you like but i can’t even be bothered to put a link to the company’s website

make mine a tuna on wheat

Big Goldfish, little Goldfish, flavored Goldfish, even colored Goldfish; at some point, Goldfish crackers became their own food category. New: Goldfish sandwiches – two crackers w/ filling, in three flavors: original w/cheese, original w/peanut butter, and cheddar w/peanut butter. Sortof like those square orange things they’ve been selling in vending machines forever. And boy, if you wanna see who Pepperidge Farm thinks the Goldfish audience is, just visit the frigging website (click on the title of this posting); it’s all bizzy graphics and video games and contests.

Yay, another new restaurant chain. Were it not for its compelling backstory, Firehouse Subs might be just another Subway or Quizno’s. But Firehouse, which is HQ’d in Jacksonville, Fla. was started by two brothers who used to be firefighters. Even 4 yrs after 9-11, firefighters are still v.v. hot. The chain has 180+ branches and counting, mostly in the southeast, decorated with fire memorabilia: hoses, helmets, coats, photos of fires, etc. This branch in Plano is the first in the area, but not to worry, the owners have a contract to develop 99 more.

Firehouse Subs, opening Monday May 16, at 2304 Coit Rd. (at Park), Plano. 972-673-0077.