Eatery Review: Adamson's French Dip

Adamson's French Dip - visited August 10, 2013

I've labeled one of my coworkers The Queen of Cheap Eats because she knows all the good, cheap places to eat in the neighborhood.  And even beyond, in some cases.  She was the one who recommended Stan's Donuts, told me about Orenchi Ramen (I haven't written about that one yet), knew about Paris Baguette and Jang Su Jang (although this place isn't cheap), and she's the one who recommended I try Adamson's French Dip.  I've driven by Adamson's many times and hadn't yet tried them but based on her recommendation, I decided to test them out. What spurred me is we discovered neither one of us likes condiments in our burgers or sandwiches.  Ha, a kindred spirit.  So if she was recommending it, I knew I wouldn't have that condiment problem at Adamson's.

Actually, one of the reasons I like French dip sandwiches is because they're plain.  Usually, they're slices of beef piled high on a roll which you dip in au jus.  No worrying that someone's going to slather ketchup or mustard on it and if it normally comes with grilled onions, you can have them leave it out.  Easy.  Adamson's also meets my preferred criteria of being small, local and family-owned.  They started in 2009 so they haven't been around for very long but in the restaurant world with its high failure rate, being in business for over 4 years is a great accomplishment.

After having tried their prime rib French dip sandwich, I hope they remain in business for many more years to come. The beef was very tender and roasted to perfection.  You didn't even need to dip in the au jus because the meat was already moist.  But part of the fun of a French dip is DIPping into the au jus so don't skip it. The bread roll, sliced in half and lightly toasted, was also really good, not too soft or too hard or too "bread-y".  At $8.95 for the prime rib French dip sandwich plus $3.50 for fries and a soft drink, it's not as cheap as other places but I'd rather pay a few dollars more to get a good sandwich and support a small business at the same time. I also appreciate the fact that they're closed on Sundays.  Regardless of which day they pick, I applaud small businesses who take 1 day off for their employees and (hopefully) the owner.  In our 24/7 world, I think it's important that people get at least 1 day to themselves.

Prime Rib French Dip

Au Jus

The restaurant itself is rather small so you may not want to go with a large group but you can call ahead or order online for takeout or large orders.

French Fries