Whatever happened to Club Sandwiches?

[VillageLite]

When I was a teenager, my friends and I used to go to this American style diner in town for birthdays. We thought we were so sophisticated ordering steak and ribs, and all you can eat salads.
I always used to have a club sandwich and fries.
I thought I would try and book somewhere with a similar vibe for an old friends get together as we all have big birthdays this year - sadly the place we used to go is long gone.

I’m imagining dark wood, light up Route 66 signs, Coke in glass bottles, burgers, ribs, steak (extra points for T bone steak), Caesar salad, ranch dressing - and of course, club sandwiches cut into 4 triangles and each pronged with a cocktail stick.

Burgers are easy enough to find, but club sandwiches and all you can eat salad bars in particular seem to have vanished off the face of the earth.

Does anyone live near the sort of restaurant I mean? Is it an impossible dream (in the UK at least)? Will I never taste a club sandwich ever again?

Hickorys is the same ambience, but they're not everywhere. No club sandwich either I don't think.

Not a common sight. There is an excellent cafe in Dumfries called “ the usual place” which does a good club sandwich. https://www.theusualplace.org/menu it’s a brilliant place, social enterprise providing work and training for people with additional support needs.

Not seen a salad bar in the UK other than Harvester in years.

I know it was never busy but I really miss Frankie and Benny's. It had a similar vibe and me and the kids thought the food was great 🤷🏻‍♀️

I make them at home regularly! they make me think of being at an airport and all the excitement!

I ordered one the other week and it was on a crusty baguette. Just wasn't the same.

Do they not exist any more? I thought there was one in our nearest town but I might not have noticed if it closed!

Sacrilege.

M&S have them in their sandwich section. I know not quite the same! I bought one recently in a petrol station and it was £5!

A couple of the cafés near us do club sandwiches (complete with cocktail sticks), but they don't have the atmosphere you're looking for – they're just regular little cafés.

I had a club sandwich last week. It was at a golf club though.

There's one on the menu of a place I go to sometimes

Is that vibe not basically the Hard Rock Cafe? No idea if they do club sandwiches though!

Quite common in hotel restaurants if there are any of those near you
Not the vibe though!
Where roughly in the country are you?

Every hotel seems to have them on room service still

Our local Frankie and bennys is usually fairly busy. They definitely still exist. I walked by my local one around 15 minutes ago and people were going in

I’ve never been to the Hard Rock Cafe, but I can imagine that might be the vibe.
No club sandwich though.

We are spread around the country so would probably meet in a hotel somewhere in the middle anyway. Maybe I need to find an American diner for one night for the atmosphere and then dine in the hotel or a little cafe (that one in Dumfries looks like a great initiative) the next day for my club sandwich fix .

Hickory’s mentioned above looks the right sort of thing, or Hard Rock Cafe.

I am speechless at the crusty baguette .

I love a club sandwich - it’s my go to on holiday as most European hotels seem to do them around the pool!

A couple local cafes do them, but not really the vibe you’re after.

TGI Fridays?

I think bite or pub for a club sandwich. Love a proper club sandwich.

The on in our town closed a couple of years ago. I think they are phasing out but am happy to hear there are still some restaurants open

Ah yes a club sandwich by the pool - now you're talking

I bloody love a club sandwich but I agree, only seem to find them on room service/poolside menus these days 😭 I remember going to a place in Tenerife as a kid and the club sandwich had a hole cut out of the centre of the top layer of toast to let the fried egg yolk peek out so you could dip the fries in 😋 I remember nothing else about that holiday!

I remember the Pizza Hut salad bar. That was amazing. We’d line the sides of the bowl with cucumber slices so you could fit more in.

Ok Diner might fit the bill. They do a club sandwich.
https://okdiners.com/