Soon after Ike’s Love and Sandwiches opened its first store in San Francisco in 2007 (formerly known as Ike’s Place), the then-nascent sandwich shop, founded by eponymous owner-founder Ike Shehadeh, had long lines stretching from its storefront daily. So much so that the regular queue of devotees and persistent smell of fried bacon stoked the ire of neighbors. Their loss. Since then, Shehadeh’s shop has grown to nearly 100 locations nationwide.
Ike’s latest spot, which will officially open in Huntington Beach in early November, has softly opened for business this week.
Shehadeh’s menu honors his hometown of San Francisco with sandwiches like the Robin Williams (which comes with halal chicken, Italian dressing, mushrooms and pepper jack). He even pays tribute to — avert your eyes, Dodgers fans — the San Francisco Giants with such meaty concoctions as the Barry Bonds (turkey, bacon, Swiss), Matt Cain (roast beef, salami, turkey and provolone) or the Hunter Pence (turkey, bacon, avocado, barbecue sauce, honey mustard, Swiss, cheddar, and pepper jack).
Ike’s has revealed two new sandwiches exclusive to the Huntington Beach shop: the Safari Surfin’, which comes with chicken-fried steak, Ike’s Double H Sauce, honey, and gouda cheese, and the Pacific City, featuring breaded eggplant, Ike’s Double H Sauce, avocado and pepper jack. All sandwiches are served hot with hot dirty sauce, a garlic aioli with a blend of hush-hush seasonings and spices (vegan sauce is also available).
Customers are also allowed to build their own sandwich if the vast menu isn’t to their liking. Sandwich buns come in Dutch crunch (another tip of the hat to San Francisco), sourdough, white, gluten-free or whole wheat varieties.
For the official grand opening, Ike’s will host an event on Friday, Nov. 10 where the first 50 people in line will get a free T-shirt, a free sandwich, and a chance to win free sandwiches for a year. Ike’s will also have special $7.97 sandwiches available all day, as well as a special appearance by Shehadeh.
Ike’s Love and Sandwiches has six other Orange County shops in Lake Forest, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Tustin, Fountain Valley and Westminster. CEO Michael Goldberg said in a written statement, “Southern California loves Ike’s. We’re almost to 100 locations and we’ll be adding even more very soon.”
Find it: 18685-2 Main St. (at Delaware Street), Five Points Plaza, Huntington Beach
