Joan's on Third
8350 West Third Street
Beverly Hills
323-655-2285

Painfully trendy spots where you go to see and be seen - it's just not my thing. Why dress up to go to a deli? I need to wear HEELS to a diner? Oh, but it's TRENDY? Heck no. Not the route I like. I'll dress up for a fancy 5 course dinner, that's just respectful. But these places that traditionally have a laid back vibe, I savor dressing down. Joan's on Third is one of those places that is a deli, yet costs as much as a fancy sit down meal.

Not to say that their food isn't edible. It definitely is edible, very good, even. But when I'm dropping 20 dollars ON MYSELF for a simple lunch...then there's something to complain about. Sherrie and I snuck over to Joan's while I was still in Beverly Hills. Parking was horrible and we encountered an old man who refused to stop blocking an alleyway. After threatening to call the police (Sherrie was fake dialing!!) he finally moved...anyways, that has nothing to do with the food does it? Part of the experience of being in Beverly Hills I suppose.

After finally finding a parking space, I elbowed my way through the crowds and placed my order of a turkey meatloaf sandwich with chili aioli, on a baguette. This sandwich was ten dollars. On its' own. Nothing came with it but pickles - overly sweet, like candied pickles, so I avoided eating them. The meatloaf itself was moist and good, I almost couldn't believe it was turkey. The baguette was fresh, the mixed greens were crisp. Tasty.
This square of mac and cheese was a slice of heaven. Cheesy top, gooey insides, I know they definitely used more than 3 cheeses in this. The usual drawbacks here: the price and no crunchy breadcrumbs on top? I guess I can forgive for this level of decadence.
Sherrie got a roast beef sandwich with horseradish creme fraiche - did I mention this was a hefty 11 dollars? At least they didn't seem to disappoint on the taste end of things - the beef was thinly sliced, looked really moist and I especially liked the alfalfa sprouts - nice touch! The roll looked good and fresh, but more of those sicky sweet pickles. Eh.

Sherrie chose some Israeli couscous (the couscous with the big pearls) as an accompaniment to her sandwich. Mushrooms, onions and green strands of stuff flavored the huge wheaty carby deliciousness. I had a taste and thought it was good, but it's hard to mess up couscous - you know exactly what you're getting into.
I also needed some sweets to get me through the day - so I got a chocolate cookie that was very disappointing. I mean, it had the basic needs of a chocolate cookie - chocolate chips, cookie dough - but it was hard as a rock. Overbaked, and not soft in the middle. I like soft cookies...and a hard cookie is even more disappointing when there's no milk. So thumbs down on this.

Sherrie also followed suit and got a peanut butter cookie. Same problem as my chocolate chip - hard as hell, you could break your own teeth on this thing. A shame, because the ingredients seemed good...

If you got a bucket of money and you don't mind spending it on deli food - come here. If you're a little light in the pocketbook, try somewhere else for your sandwich needs.