All American Sports Cafe – Restaurant Review

I was browsing around online looking for good eats in Colorado Springs when I ran across a thread on the Colorado Springs city-data forums where people were offering their suggestions for the best meatball or pastrami sandwich in town. Meatball and pastrami are two of my favorite food groups, so I was immediately intrigued. In that thread, “Mike from back east” swore that the Philly cheesesteak at All American Sports Cafe was the best one he’s ever had. With that kind of recommendation in addition to my love of cheesesteak, I just had to see for myself.

My first reaction upon seeing the menu was surprise. It was expensive! The appetizers alone go from 7 to 14 dollars! The hot sandwiches we came for run about 10 bucks each. Ouch!

I was in a bit of a dilemma. Mark and I have been on a quest to find the best Pastrami sandwich in town (so far, Broadway Deli holds that crown), but I came here for the cheesesteak. Ultimately we decided that I would order the cheesesteak, Mark would order the pastrami, and we’d each get half of each sandwich.

Of immediate note to me was the fact that it was not served on an Amoroso roll – I’m ok with that, but it screams “not authentic!” Mark and I cut our sandwiches and shared ‘em. 

The pastrami looked great. Not a spec of fat or gristle – the only problem was that there wasn’t enough pastrami on my half!

The cheesesteak was good, but not great. The peppers and meat were tasty. I’m pretty sure it had American cheese on it, instead of provolone. I’m not sure what Mike’s experience entails, but this sandwich was nowhere close to the best cheesesteak I’ve ever had – that honor is held by John’s Rost Pork in south Philadelphia. There are even better cheesesteaks to be found in town (Taste of Phily or Trivelli’s). Like I said – it was a good sandwich, but I’ve had better.

The pastrami with swiss was very good. I thought the quality of the meat was outstanding, but it was too thin. Not sliced to thin – layered too thin. There wasn’t enough pastrami, so the bread overpowered it. Maybe I just picked the wrong half, and Mark had tons of meat on his side, but for me, the biggest problem was the meat to bread ratio.

The friest that came with the meal were awesome. Fresh and crispy and all around delicious. I’ve probably had better fries before, but I don’t remember it. No complaints there.

The service was average, the prices were steep, and the food was good. In all, not a bad place to go for lunch. Judging by the food alone, I would definately come back here for lunch, but the prices will always make me think twice about it.