Coconut Grove's lunchtime crowd has a new place to get a well-made sandwich with the opening of Sack It! Fine Sandwich Company in CocoWalk.
The shop, located below the shopping center's Cinépolis multiplex, serves sandwiches with names based on comic book sounds -- like Zoinks, Kerplunk, and Kaboom -- but the making of the meal is anything but cartoonish. Sack It! partner and Beer & Burger Joint founder Ron Garcia explains that the idea behind the concept was to provide a well-priced lunch made with quality ingredients.
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The restaurateur, who sold his interest in Beer & Burger Joint a few years ago, says his idea is to use fine-dining techniques in a simple concept, like a sandwich. "Why can't we use sashimi-grade tuna and slow roast our pork?" He even goes so far as to make his own berry preserves for his kiddie PB&J sandwiches. "I'm concerned about feeding children good food. And Coconut Grove moms are well educated about what they give their kids."
Garcia insists on using local ingredients and partners with local businesses whenever possible. "I fill up my car with produce from the farmers' market and bring it back here." He also offers local breweries like Biscayne Bay and J. Wakefield and sells Fireman Derek's desserts.
The shop gets its cartoon-style decor and theme from Garcia and his partners' love of comics. "When we came up with the name, I said there has to be an exclamation point at the end of it. And then I just envisioned the logo like in Batman and Superman comics. Everything just fell into place after that."
Sandwiches include the Whammy, composed of roasted miso chicken with spicy carrots, cilantro, pickles, and mint aioli on ciabatta ($8); the Zoinks, made with Boar's Head Parmesan pesto ham and prosciutto with melted Brie, house olive spread, baby arugula, mustard aioli, tomato, pickles, and citrus vinaigrette on ciabatta ($9); the Kerplunk, a tuna (or fish of the day) with house olive spread, baby arugula, mustard aioli, pickles, and citrus vinaigrette on a hearth baguette ($9); the Rata-Tat-Tat, a grilled-cheese sandwich with Brie, baby Swiss, sharp cheddar, apples, Parmesan-truffle aioli on challah Texas toast ($8); the Kaboom, a veggie sandwich made with slow-roasted golden beets, truffled goat cheese, tomato, baby arugula, Parmesan-truffle aioli, candied pecans, and citrus vinaigrette on ciabatta ($7); and the Pa-Pow, featuring slow-roasted pork, sautéed kale, baby Swiss, pork pan au jus, and mustard aioli on a hearth baguette.
All cold-cut meats and cheeses are Boar's Head brand, which Garcia calls the "Ferrari of cold cuts," and every sandwich comes with chips and fruit in a colorful bag. "I want people to open the sack and remember when they were back in school and when everyone opened their lunch sack and were surprised by what was in it."
Wines and craft beers available include Biscayne Bay Brewery's 1513 MDXIII Golden Ale ($5) and J. Wakefield's Hop for Teacher IPA ($5).
Sack It! also offers drinks made with freshly squeezed sugarcane juice. If you want a pick-me-up, try the fresh sugarcane juice and espresso shot, served over ice and topped with vanilla bean foam ($6), or sugarcane juice and local fruit over ice, topped with sour citrus foam ($6).
For dessert, there's Fireman Derek's sea salt caramel cheesecake cookie sandwich ($4) and his white chocolate Rice Krispies treat ($3).
Sack It! is open Sunday through Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
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