I think I was 16 or 17 years old the first time I went to Philippe and fell in love with the French dip sandwich. I've been there probably close to a dozen times and it ranks as one of my favorite eateries in downtown Los Angeles.
A while ago, I read that there was another restaurant in downtown that makes awesome French dip sandwiches -- Cole's. In fact, both restaurants claim to be the originators of the sandwich. Ever the skeptic, I didn't want to even try Cole's - how could it possibly be better than Philippe's? How could someplace else even claim to invent the same sandwich?
After eating there a few weekends ago, I think my mind has been changed and I am now a supporter of Cole's. Let's break it down.
Line/Seating -- Philippe's typically has long lines at all hours of the day. You basically wait in line, order your food at the counter and they make it right there for you. Then you get a tray full of food and have to navigate past the sea of other people in line (don't believe that photo -- that line typically stretches back another 15 people deep), and you have to find your own seat somewhere. Contrast that with Cole's - we got there at 12:30 on a Saturday and were seated a table and waited on. We got to enjoy a nice cold soda and wait for our food to be brought to us. I think the wait time of standing in line or sitting at the table was shorter at Cole's by a good amount, plus you get to sit, relax and unwind instead of shifting around in a mess of people. Advantage: Cole's.
Food -- The sandwiches are pretty equal, although it may be a little hard to tell. The sandwich at Cole's tasted fresher. At Philippe's, they dip the sandwich for you while at Cole's, you get your own cup of au jus, so you can dunk it to your tastes. I think the bread was better at Cole's. The real sides you can get with your sandwich at Philippe's are potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw, a bag of chips and/or a can of soda. At Cole's, you can get those, or mac and cheese, French fries, sweet potato fries or the super awesome spicy garlic fries. Oh yeah, and free refills. Advantage: Cole's.
Location -- Well - technically both locations suck. I think Philippe's actually has a slight advantage in this one because they have their own free parking lot, but they do go around and mark your tires to make sure you're not staying there all day long. We actually parked at the Los Angeles Public Library and took a 10-minute walk over to Cole's. FYI - parking at the library is only $1.00 all day on Saturdays with validation (showing your library card). Advantage: Philppe's but not by much.
What say you, other Angelenos?
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
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2 comments:
I need to try Cole's again because I didn't try their beef sandwich, I tried their lamb, and I did NOT like it. I also think Philippe's has a definite advantage on the bread topic. And I went to Cole's on a Friday night, so while we were seated pretty quickly, our food took its sweet ass time in getting to us.
I do like the seating better at Cole's, but I feel like they're trying to be different things - Philippe's is trying to be a quick, "stand" sort of thing, and Cole's is more a "restaurant."
Also, the spiciness of the pickles we had at Cole's was unacceptable. :-)
I'll definitely give Cole's another shot, but Philippe's will always be my go-to for french dips.
Never been to Cole's, but it sounds like I should try it out!
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