You can celebrate Thanksgiving every day of the week at Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop, just as long as you ask for Bobbie.
Actually, it’s more like celebrating the day after Thanksgiving, as this chain restaurant, which recently opened its second Tulsa-area location in the Tulsa Hills shopping complex, has as one of its signature offerings the sort of sandwich one might construct out of Thanksgiving leftovers.
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Called “The Bobbie,” it consists of roasted turkey — a mix of light and dark meats — a chunky cranberry relish and a layer of sage-forward stuffing that, truth to be told, reminds one of something that might have started out on a “stove top,” but gussied up with some extra ingredients. A spread of mayonnaise adds a touch of creaminess.
It’s one of the best-selling items on the menu of the Las Vegas-based Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop, and the company likes to tout that it was named the “Greatest Sandwich in America” in a 2009 poll conducted by aol.com.
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As for the sandwich’s name, Stan Swyden, who with business partner Glen Bawcum owns the franchise for Capriotti’s in the Tulsa area, said it goes back to the family that founded the business in 1976.
“The brother and sister who started Capriotti’s had an Aunt Bobbie who would make them sandwiches out of Thanksgiving leftovers,” Swyden said. “It’s also one of the sandwiches that we serve either hot or cold.”
As for “The Greatest Sandwich” title, we’ll just say that, like most of the other items we sampled, it’s a few steps above what most sandwich shops serve, as far as quality of ingredients goes.
Swyden and Bawcum opened their first Capriotti’s in Broken Arrow last year; their second location, in the Walk at Tulsa Hills shopping complex, opened for business a couple of weeks ago.
The two men are both Oklahoma natives — Swyden is from Henryetta, while Bawcum grew up in Idabel — who met while attending East Central University in Ada, where both were on the college’s tennis team. The men went on to different careers (Bawcum’s family owns car dealerships in Texas, while Swyden worked for Moore and Stanley Funeral Services) before deciding to go into the restaurant business.
“We looked into a couple of things and decided that the corporate structure and support of Capriotti’s was really impressive,” Swyden said. “We then went out to Las Vegas to the headquarters and sampled the food and were just blown away by how good it was.”
“We liked the fact that just about everything is made fresh in house,” Bawcum added. “And the quality of the ingredients is what truly sets our sandwiches apart.”
For example, Swyden said, each shop roasts whole Butterball-brand turkeys daily; the meat is hand-pulled from the bone, and the white and dark meat is mixed for use in a variety of turkey-based sandwiches and salads.
Capriotti’s also touts that it uses American wagyu beef for its roast beef sandwiches, which includes a limited-time item, the American Wagyu French Dip ($7.99-$24.34, depending on size).
In addition to the meat, the sandwich is adorned with slices of Swiss cheese, black pepper and mayonnaise, with a cup of au jus on the side. The meat is chopped rather than served in slices, which gives it the texture of a classic cheesesteak, and the cheese is melted enough to keep everything together, even after multiple dips into the well-seasoned, but not overly salty, au jus. The roll is sturdy enough to hold all the ingredients, yet tender enough that one can bite through it easily (which is not always the case with mass-produced sandwiches).
All in all, it was an impressively tasty version of this American classic and something we will likely be returning to enjoy as long as it’s offered.
We also sampled the Bobbie, the cold version ($6.34-$18.74), and it certainly brought the after-Thanksgiving vibe, with the tart cranberry sauce enlivening the straightforward turkey; a little more mayo would have helped with the dryness of the meat.
We also tried the Capristrami ($6.79-$19.74), Capriotti’s cross between a Reuben and a Rachel, with hot pastrami, Swiss cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing. Ours was a messily overstuffed sandwich, but the combination of surprisingly lean pastrami, slaw and dressing was quite tasty.
Capriotti’s also offers a variety of cheesesteak options, deli classics such as the meatball sub and a grilled chicken Parmesan, a quartet of vegetarian sandwiches including some made with Impossible meat substitutes, salads and soups.
Sandwiches are available in four sizes: 5-inch, 8-inch, 10-inch and 18-inch. Options include a half sandwich and choice of soup, salad or cole slaw. Fountain drinks are self-serve.
Swyden and Bawcum hope to open at least two more Capriotti’s Sandwich Shops in the Tulsa area.
“We have been very pleased at the way people in Broken Arrow have responded to our shop there, and we’re hoping we can repeat that success here,” Bawcum said. “We actually considered this location before we opened in Broken Arrow, but it was too much space for us. Fortunately, the owner decided to divide the space so we could still have the end cap to this center.”
It’s also very likely that one or the other franchise owner will be the person taking your order or making your sandwich.
“We want to lead by example,” Swyden said. “We’re both willing to do everything we ask our employees to do. When I’m here working, I’m wearing the same uniform as every other member of the team, and I’m going to be doing anything I can to help the team. Unless there’s a problem that needs to be solved, I’m just another member of the team here.”
