I rated two Buc-ee’s sandwiches a “B” and one a Fail

Now that Buc-ee’s Travel Center has been open in Benton Arkansas for nearly two months, my goal was to try a few sandwiches there and find my favorite for when I’m passing through the area. After you get done reading my opinion here, I am wondering, what have you tried and how would you rate it??

I tried the Carolina Pulled Pork sandwich a few weeks ago, and I’ll give it a “B-” on a good day. It was tasty but I was raised on Sim’s Barbecue and I haven’t found anything better. Maybe that’s just my taste. But also, the Carolina had less sauce and spice than I’d hoped. Still, I’d give an audible gasp if a cat pushed it off the table.

I went by Buc-ee’s again on Wednesday morning after a meeting, on my way back to the office. I headed straight to the burrito/sandwich counter at the back.

I’d tried two sandwiches at this point – the Carolina the Texas Cheesesteak Burrito. My grown son recently got that one and gave me couple bites. I have to say, it was honorable. I prefer red bell peppers over green, but it was good stuff. I’ll B+ and keep that one on my list as a good choice.

Today I wanted to try something different. The Cuban. Look. I realize that a Cuban sandwich at a Texas gas station in Arkansas is going to stray a bit from a Cuban sandwich in Miami.

What’s on it? For starters, instead of the usual pickle and mustard, they had a pickle aioli. 🤔 There’s also pulled pork and sliced ham, like a standard Cuban, but sometimes the pork is sliced. It came on a hoagie, and that’s similar enough to Cuban bread, but it should be flattened in a hot press, like a panini. This wasn’t.

I put all those differences aside and went ahead with the purchase. After all, proper research is key. Sandwich in hand, I was pretty hungry so I opened it in the car. I’m thinking “hey this looks good.” See the first picture and you’ll probably agree.

Kind of messy though in the wrapper. The aioli slipped off the side and the sliced ham slid with it. On the first bite, I wondered if I had put the sandwich back together in the wrong order. No sauce.

Second bite, I decided the pickle aioli wasn’t pickly enough. I stopped at Dollar General and picked up a jar of kosher dills, then proceeded on my path.

Back in the laboratory (AKA kitchen counter) I opened the burrito once more. I opened the pickles, and opened my heart. The sandwich also opened its heart. The bread was too soggy to hold the double meat innards and it spread out like an armadillo after kissing J.R. Ewing’s Lincoln Continental.

I warmed the meat in a hot skillet and added sliced pickles, mozzarella, and spelled my name on it in yellow mustard. Swiss eluded me on this day.

The sandwich bread was unsalvageable, so it went where armadillos go – into the trash bin. There on the counter was a loaf of sliced sourdough, so that was my final contribution to the major emergency sandwich surgery.

AFTER reconstructing the sandwich, I’d still give it a “B” but otherwise, it was a failure. I am crossing this one off the list of good choices.

A Cuban is supposed to be tangy, pressed, have mustard, pickles, swiss, and not hurt your feelings. Also for my money, the ham should be grilled and the pork smoked. None of this existed in the wrapper.

At almost $10 after tax, I can maybe justify half that price because of the meat. Still, I won’t order that one again. Also I’m switching my research goal to fudge.

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