Restaurants
Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company
Sky Blue Sky is the name of Wilco's sixth album. It's also the name of a cozy sandwich shop on Bloor Street West, right in the heart of Koreatown. When owner Chad Comfort decided to open up shop last fall, he settled on the Wilco-theme by chance. And now all of the sandwich names on the legal-paper-sized menu are affectionately named after Wilco songs, from "We're Just Friends" to "Hoodoo Voodoo."
The counter is lined with loaves of fresh bread and plates of cookies. Chad bakes all of his bread and cookies ($1.25 each) fresh every day and also makes all of his soups from scratch. On the day I visit, there are four listed on the chalkboard, and I opt for the Boston seafood chowder while my chum orders the "Chicken and Rice Flu Chaser" ($3.79 for each 10 ounce bowl). After some time contemplating the menu, we order "Side With The Seeds" ($4.29) and "How To Fight the Loneliness" ($4.99).
At a small wood table by the window, I tuck into my hearty chowder, generously flecked with morsels of salmon, salty bacon and vegetables. The creamy broth is flavoured with white wine and herbs. The chicken and rice soup almost resembles the texture of congee, and true to its "Flu Buster" name, it's spiced with ginger, cumin, cinnamon and garlic.
Our sandwiches arrive promptly to the table, the bread toasty and hot. "Side With The Seeds" contains slices of thick cheddar and caramelized onions, slathered in saucy roasted tomatoes between two slices of cheese bread. The simple white loaf is dense and swirled with cheese and the crust is sweet and flavourful.
"How To Fight Loneliness" contains slices of chicken, apple and bacon. The crispy green apple counters the saltiness of the meat and the toasty naan-like bread is floury and sweet. Both sandwiches are served with dill pickles on the side.
But what makes the Sky Blue Sky experience a good one isn't just the crust on the breads, it's Chad himself. Kind and jovial, this entrepreneur delights in accommodating his customer's tastes and requests. The menu also allows you to create your own sandwich ($4.99), choosing from one of the nine freshly-baked breads that include cranberry cream cheese, plain bagels, and a vegan-friendly loaf as well. Fillings include another list of nine, including five kinds of meat and three kinds of cheese -- you can pick up to four of the nine filling options.
Garnishes include everything from sweet pickles and roasted red pepper spread to barbecue sauce. Vegetables include cucumber, lettuce, mushrooms and more. Customers can preorder online via email, noting choice and pickup time. Online orders also benefit from a 5% discount.
At this bright and homey spot on Bloor West, it's blue skies for your wallet even if you don't order online. Sandwiches are all under five dollars, and the addition of the soup brings it to just $6. In a city where it's hard to come by a decent meal under $10, Sky Blue Sky is a breath of fresh air.
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A online pre-order feature? Neato! I live in the neighbourhood; definitely will drop in soon.
Even though I have a love them/bored of them relationship with Wilco, I look forward to trying one of these sammys...
The Google streetview shot is from before they opened - a fro rent sign's in the window...
I've been in a couple of times now. The sandwiches are great and Chad is definitely super friendly. Huge recommend.
Sigh, I haven't wanted gluten for a while but this kind of makes me sad I can't have it!
I will eat here one day.
THEY HAVE THE BET PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES!!!!!
i meant BESTTT!!
Sweet. I saw Wilco in Hamilton last night. While a sandwich could never be as good as the band itself, this looks like a must-visit.
www.be-log-blog.blogspot.com
so quirky and cool. Will definitely check it out!
damn fine spot! damn fine.
great folks and crazy delicious food. the soups are party in your mouth good.
double yum.
just saw the Wilco show tonight in London, Ontario. wish they were serving some of these sweet sounding sandwhiches there.
check out my many of my wilco show reviews over at
http://backin15mins.blogspot.com A discussion of all things music.
Ditto!
haha nice link building Neil and Lucas
Link building? Pshaw. There's no such thing as a self-interested blogger ;) I'm just excited to try out a sandwich shop themed around the band I love.
PS - yet another Wilco post on my blog today ;)
fantastic sandwiches, soups, prices and people... highly recommended!
It's nice to see, and nice to support, someone who opens up a shop because they really have a passion (and talent) for what they are doing.
Stopped by today for a late lunch and was happily surprised. Very friendly service and excellent value. The Pumpkin soup and Carrot soups were very tasty.
The cookies were indeed amazing! I had a Peanut Butter Cookie and a Pumpkin cookie. The Pumpkin Cookie was phenomenal, balance flavour and amazing texture.
This place for me will replace the occasional trip to Karine's for a tasty breakfast/lunch.
My only qualm with the trip was that we ate in, but while sitting were served our soup in Styrofoam bowls and our sandwiches arrived to-go wrapped in wax paper. I'm not the classiest person or the biggest environmentalist, but it seems to me that asking if an order is to stay or to go and providing some real China (just some plates from Sears or Ikea or something) would give a better image to the restaurant.
I go there pretty regularly and can vouch for the place and Chad - they're great!
My favourites are the soups. The best: Senegalese peanut soup, eggplant parmesan, and fish chowder.
We need one in Chicago !!
Yum, such a cool idea!
Yum! Such a good idea.
Very fond of this place. I work next door, so it's a pretty frequent stop.
Cool. Sandwiches might go down well with a porter called "Pot Kettle Black" from my brewery!!!
Party in the mouth indeed. The mango chutney sammy is absolutely amazing, not to mention Chad is just such a cool dude. Gives the place a real personal touch. Nice one, Mel!
Went in on Saturday and was so disappointed. We waited well over an hour and a half and still didn't get our sandwiches, despite our reassurances that they were coming. How long does it make a sandwich?!!!!! It was wasn't busy, there was maybe 2 other tables along with ours.
what a waste of two hours. Wasn't hungry when we went in, but sure was starving when we finally left with no sandwiches.
I like Wilco, but this is idiotic. Only white people would do this.
I like Wilco, but this is idiotic. Only overeducated white people would do or like this.
You waited an hour and a half for sandwiches? Right...sure ya did.
Nice one jeffrey. Ya we did wait an hour and a half for three sandwiches. Mine came after an hour but I waited for my friends which never came. We were given a small pickle to tide us over. I really wanted to try their sandwiches, but for now I recommend Victory Cafe around the corner if anyone needs some good quick food.
I didn't see a reuben sandwich named "Impossible Germany" Chad, you will have to get on that. :)
Where is the reuben sandwich named Impossible Germany?
i take it this place doesn't have "Reservations"
ha. ha ha. ha ha ha.
What's on an I Must Be High?
Is it just two pieces of pizza squished together with the crusts on the outside? I'd eat it.
What kind of music do they play? Son Volt?
....you havent had gluten in awhile but your tempted...are you even a celiac.....if not you just an idiot.
Looks great Chad. I did a 1 off Wilco print that would look great in your shop.
You can see it on my blog.
This is maybe the best thing that's ever happened. And right in my neighbourhood! I'm afraid it looks like a lot of my life will be spent in this here shop.
how could they not have an "ELT" sandwich? did they leave it out because it's so obvious?
I really wanted to like this place. Although I didn't have a sandwich and opted for a snack of hot chocolate and an oatmeal raisin muffin, I was absolutely disappointed. The overall atmosphere and aesthetic of the space was almost depressing, the painted-brown table tops unpleasant to the eye and arrangement of furniture from the front counter to booths awkward. My muffin was stale and dense while the hot chocolate could have easily been from Tim Horton's. I'm really sorry!
super tasty sammiches. super nice dude. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone.
Get your liquor license so you can serve Wilco brew! http://www.unnecessaryumlaut.com/?p=3238 (Sorry Stu)
@mttmcgrgr "ELT is gonna tear you apart."
A diet coca-cola and unlit cigarettes for only 3.63? What a deal!
Can I get a side order of American flag ashes with that?
It's a simple sandwich shop with cheap prices. Were you expecting the tables to be made of gold?
coughsnobcough
what I wanna know is if they serve Candyfloss! and when I leave I'll yell "I wanna thank you all for NOTHING! I wanna thank you all for NOTHING AT ALL" and hope that I'm so misunderstood!
Been there dozens of times since I found the place - slowly working my way through the entire menu (or discography I guess).
Always treated well and kindly. Always floored by the incredible sandwiches. The bread alone is worth the price. So easy to support two good people doing something they love. Especially when they're very good at what they do.
Would be great to include their website and twitter with the review. They have live menu updates, discounts and contests:
http://www.sbssandwiches.com/
http://twitter.com/SBSSandwiches
Dude, you went to a sandwich shop for a muffin and hot chocolate and you were disappointed.
Go to a nunnery looking for a date and you'll probably be disappointed too.
An hour and half? Sorry, Heather, going to have to call total utter bulls*&t on that one... Unless you were hiding under a table or something. The shop's like 10 feet by 10 feet.
Look, I've gone in several times when they were SLAMMED on a busy day and the longest wait I've had to endure was 10 minutes. Not long at all - but still they were all apologies and made it up to me on the spot.
You might find that your wait time is dramatically cut if you're nice and maybe do something kooky like remind people about your order.
There is no way Chad or his wife don't care about every customer that walks in their door. Good on them for being busy for making a quality, unique product available to people at a fantastic price.
Browsed blogto.com last night looking for a restaurant to take my mother to on her visit and found Sky Blue Sky Sandwiches. Turns out the restaurant has a lovely atmosphere for a place with such inexpensive fare. It has two or three cozy booths, a couple of tables by a large picture window overlooking the street, an unlit fireplace against the wall (not wood-burning). Very kind service, and quick :) Not busy at 12:30 on a drizzly Tuesday afternoon -- five people in the restaurant including us, with three or four more entering as we left.
The sandwiches we had were great. I had their monte cristo on panini (4.99). Delicious, though I should have taken it on their fresh baked bread and not the panini. The portions were large, and I had to overeat to finish my order (I'm an athletic 165 lb man). Can't remember what Mom had, except that it was on triple-cheese bread, that she enjoyed it, and that it was similarly priced. The coffee doesn't suck. Bought a couple of chocolate chip scones on the way out, which I've never had before -- very tasty and not too sweet.
When I asked about their baked bread, the proprietor (I guess it was Chad) recommended that I order bread a day ahead of time by email, because they prefer to sell it as fresh as possible. I tried a complimentary slice of their whole wheat bread, and it's as good as any I've ever had from the very good Harbord Bakery. A loaf is $4.25. They bake fancier breads too, but that's not my thing. He also said their white bread is especially popular, but that's also not my thing.
People I recommend you ignore in this thread: marketers Neil and lucas samuels, who have never even been there; trolls Heather, Scott, and doritos, whose descriptions of the place, its food, and its service comport not at all with our experience today.
John, you realized that you ruined a perfectly good, informative review of this place by unneccesarily calling people out at the end of it?
First off, I can't speak for Lucas Samuels, but I'm certainly not a 'marketer'. I'm a Wilco fan who happened to find out about this place via Blog TO after seeing said band live, and who chose to leave a comment indicating that I love Wilco and want to check this place out. The only reason I haven't been in yet is because I live on the opposite end of the city, and usually don't travel 45 minutes for a sandwich.
Secondly, you chose to call out "marketers," yet for some reason didn't mention the comment from Stu McKinlay promoting a Wilco-themed beer from the brewery he owns. And then there was the comment from Bill, suggesting the owner of SBS consider buying a Wilco print from him for the resto.
Third, you call Heather, Scott and doritos "trolls" because theirs are the only negative reviews left here so far. Just because their experiences differed from yours doesn't automatically make them trolls (Granted, Scott's review does include a plug for Victory Cafe).
It is possible to write an informative review without starting a needless flame war. Something to keep in mind next time.
seriously.
Amazing sandwiches! The turkey dinner sandwich is the best!
I stopped by for a sandwich the other day with my partner. Both sandwiches were AMAZING. As vegetarians we usually get shafted and stuck with mushy (roasted) vegetables on bread. Not here. The Via Chicago and Red Eyed and Blue were both like nothing I've ever had. The home made bread was great, and the starter soups were YUMMY.
We really enjoyed the atmosphere too. It was completely laid back and friendly. And the owner was so happy to talk about his food, and get our feedback on the meal. He clearly put love into all his sandwiches. We will be back.
Finally made the trek from the east end to the west end today and went for lunch to SBS. Had the Casino Queen - a couple slices of smoked turkey topped with a balsamic onion marmalade, bacon, and avocado, on their brown bread.
A great sandwich overall. The flavours went really well together, and the bread was amazing (and I don't even like brown bread generally). I especially enjoyed how the onions in the marmalade were soft, as they should be, but still managed to retain some crispness. Unfortunately, my one major quibble is that the bacon did not have the same crispness. Nothing ruins bacon more than undercooking, IMO. One other small note - I got a sandwich and a glass of tap water, and ate in. The tap water came in a paper coffee cup, and the sandwich wrapped in paper. It seems like it'd be less costly, and more enviro-friendly, to serve both the water and sandwich in reusable plates/cups.
I'll be back to try their other items...
This place is AMAZING. The sandwiches are delicious, and nothing is over $5. The owner is the nicest man ever, and the place is super chill. LOVE IT!
now, to make it about race at all is just so silly. i guess to respond to your comment may be the only thing sillier.
my response was to the lkj comment from march 3.