Gus's Grocery

I just arrived in San Luis Obispo, CA early this afternoon and, of course, that meant it was time to eat. Or sleep. But I was hungry. And hungry for a sandwich. Now, you're in SLO and you want a sandwich. Where do you go?? High Street Deli? Nope. Lincoln Street Deli? No. Subway? Oh hell no. My sandwich spot of choice is Gus's Grocery (usually shortened to Gus's). And, before I go on about how yummy this place is, I must mention, I also enjoyed Muzio's Italian Deli, but they closed their doors some months ago and that was a very sad day. So, I just have the memories...
Gus's is this fairly small sandwich making place that has been owned and operated by the same owner since 1989 and has made the Best of SLO List for the past 21 years running. There are the sandwich makers behind the long counter, a small-ish salad bar with a couple of homemade soups daily, a bunch of chips everywhere, and a giant wall of refrigerators full of drinks (both alcoholic & non-alcohlic). There is also an outdoor patio of about 20 tables or so, which is perfect for SLO because the weather is always right.
One of the appealing things about Gus's is the sandwich "menu". You walk in, you grab one of their wierd red "crayons" and start checking off what you want on your sandwich. A whole bunch of bread choices, cheese choices, meat choices, and a slew of veggies & condiments. Not to mention, everything is very fresh and local. The sourdough bread items are from SLO Sourdough and are pretty much amazing. To be honest, I have no idea what the rest of the breads taste like because I only do the sourdough. I'm assuming the others are pretty darn good, though. Check out this delicious list of items...

Here was Mom's sandwich: The Gus's Veggie with nom nom veggies, herb cream cheese and Italian dressing all on your choice of bread (Mom went with a French baguette).

This was my creation today. A turkey, cucumber, red onion, pickle, mustard & Italian dressing on a SLO sourdough roll.

I almost forgot!! They have these really very good mojo potatoes that we normally get (instead of chips). Now, you noticed I said very good, not ah-ma-zing. My first Gus's exerience was my first year at Cal Poly and they had these crazy good mojo potatoes like none I have ever had. I don't know what happened to those mojos, but they were rad. Oh well. I'll settle for the new ones, I suppose. :)

So, that was my lunch today. And really, as much as I think these sandwiches are good (and they are), I think some of why this place rocks for me, is the unforgettable memories I have of going here as a college student. Let me just say this: if you were a Brother of Alpha Rho Chi from the years of 1997 to 2000, then your memories probably are very similar to mine: Saturday night. A party has just rocked the night away at a certain house on Foothill Blvd... Sunday morning: You wake up on said house's floor (let's say around the wee hour of noon) wondering why the Pledges have not shown up yet to clean the mess that you stayed the night in. Some of you have clothes on from the night before & some of you thought ahead and brought your pajamas. But, really, it doesn't matter what you're wearing because you are hungry as hell. And the insane amounts of liquid you consumed last night are not sitting well. Everyone decides it's lunch time, but no one asks where we are going. We know where we are going. Everyone enjoys their sandwiches on the patio (donning sunglasses, of course). Some of us are having water, some of us are consuming a little Hair of the Dog. Once we are all done, we head back to the house to clean up (aka take a nap). Speaking of cleaning up, where the hell are those Pledges anyway??...
Yep. Gus's. The food and the memories rock.