Latest visit: Apr 2023 (Colorado Springs - N. Academy)
First tried: May 2022 (Boulder)
On this fine Friday afternoon, I decided a sandwich was in order, after eating at home all week (like every week Mon-Thu). I thought it was a good time to revisit Snarf's. I tried to convince Mrs. RJG to come with me, but she's anti-sandwich/hamburger these days, convinced that none of them know how to properly toast the bread or cook the meats. I pleaded that Snarf's was different, more like the Quizno's of old. Nope. Well... thank goodness I didn't win the debate! I decided to try their chicken cordon-bleu sandwich. The bottom of the bread was mushy. Ugh. And the chicken and ham were cool to the mouth. Oh mannnn you have to do better than that! I will say their 7 inch is very filling and tasty. But at $14 (+ unearned tip and no chips or drink), I dunno guys. My enthusiasm is waning. We'll see you next year and hope things get better again.
Latest chain news: There are 25 locations in Colorado (with 5 coming soon); 4 in St. Louis (with one on the way); and 2 in Austin. Pretty much the same as last November. Only the one location here in the Springs.
---original 11/20/22 review
My first encounter with Snarf's was at (one of) my Official Niece's graduation from the University of Colorado earlier this year. The sandwiches were brought into the house she shared with many other young ladies as part of their post graduation celebration. That's not typically a conducive setting for reviewing a restaurant, but I have to say I was very impressed despite this. I inquired about where the food came from, and one of the girls told me it was from a local shop called Snarf's. Not sure exactly which location. In doing some research later that day, I learned it was a chain that started in Boulder in 1996 but had expanded beyond that. And one future location was to be here in Colorado Springs later in the year. Perfect. I'll wait until then to make my evaluation. And that day just happened.
The location is very nice - anchoring one of many strip malls in this northern section of Academy near Chapel Hills Mall. Walk in - pretty decent crowd even though it was near open time after 11 - order up at the counter. I went with my usual Italian (medium - 7 inch) and took all their topping goodies except the mayo and tomato. A few minutes later out came my perfectly wrapped sandwich. Yes - nice and toasty! Mrs. RJG would approve. And the ingredients blended well especially the hot peppers and pickles. Probably could have gone for more mustard but not a problem. The French bread is the key here, perfectly textured. Not too soft, not too hard. And plenty of bread crumbs to pick up afterwards. My first thought here was the glory days of Quiznos, though Snarf's is in a higher tier than that might imply. Definitely a satisfying sandwich, and I'll be sure to go back next year. And I'm sure other times in-between, especially considering it sits right across from one of my favorite thrift stores.
As of this writing Snarf's has 32 locations, with 25 in Colorado (just the one here in the Springs, most are in the Denver-Boulder area). They also have 5 in St. Louis and 2 in Austin, Texas, so they most certainly have an odd growth strategy. Looks like land and expand In-N-Out style I would suspect.
5/6/22; 11/20/22 (new entry)
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