Pockets

I was at Pockets once a long time ago.  It was a brisk spring day in 2001, not long before I graduated 8th grade.  I had been to the district-wide spelling bee representing my school and had lost spectacularly (the word was "Himalayan".  No one told me there would be proper nouns, dammit!)  Before bringing me back to school, my parents took me to Pockets to cheer me up since it was nearby and purportedly healthy.

It was awful, easily the worst cheering up ever.  It's the worst kind of "health" food where the bread is gritty and everything is low-fat and completely flavorless.  Most parents would have sprung for a sundae or something.  Not mine!  I never went back.

Until now.

Boyfriend and I were out running errands and wanted something quick that wasn't deep fried or in a bun.  Stopped at Pockets thinking, that was a long time ago!  I'm sure my tastes have matured.

My tastes may have, but Pockets has not.  This location was empty except for one guy sitting by the window nursing a Pepsi.  We ordered from a nice but very unenthusiastic lady at the counter, then sat with our food as another employee mopped around us.

At 2:30 in the afternoon.

With a solution that smelled like ammonia.

While we ate.

Despite the cleaning, this place is filthy.  And it's a bad sign when your business is buying its straws, napkins, and TP from Jewel (Essential Everyday, wassup).  Are you just not doing enough business to order from restaurant supply, or did you run out and have to run out to Jewel?

The food is as bad as I remember, except the bread, since now I like gritty hearty breads with a lot of protein.  But it's very dry and needs butter, so I guess there goes your low-cal meal.  The chicken is the pre-cooked pre-chopped kind that comes in a sealed plastic bag.  And the minestrone soup I had was on par with the icky Campbell's Selects minestrone soup.

All in all it was very expensive for an experience that was pretty unpleasant.  This location is obviously not long for this world.  Goodbye, Pockets!

Please note that this review is based on service and overall offerings... We never had a chance to actually taste the food!

We needed to stop somewhere quick for food before heading over to the Lincoln Tap Room for a friend's event.  We wanted something hot and would've stopped at any fast food place if we had seen one... Unfortunately, we didn't pass one decent fast food joint once we got off the interstate!

We review the menu... I decide on a calzone.  The woman at the counter says, "15-20 minuites." and precedes to stare at me.  I ask her if that's how long it will take to make my meal and she simply nods...

My bff asks if all of the pockets are served cold.  The woman says no.  She asks if they can be toasted and the woman nods blankly.  The guy next to the woman realizes what my bff is asking and says, "No, all of our pockets are served cold.  The meat and the veggies are cold.  There is no toaster."  

I then try to order some Dip Sticks.  Bread sticks can't be hard can they?  The woman says, "10-15 minutes."  *sigh*  I gave up, grabbed a bag of chips, and decided to eat later.

The bff asked if there were any baked potatoes ready or if they had to be cooked too... Nobody answered her!  

Nowhere on the menu does it state that it will take a certain amount of time for them to prepare these menu items for you.  This place present itself to be like Subway or Quinoz, not a sit down dining experience!

Honestly, I don't think I'll ever try Pockets after this experience!  Why on earth would you be open at 7:30 pm on a Friday night if you don't have anything available to serve?!

the bbc calzone, no bacon, if you choose to lead a meatless lifestyle like moi, YUM. only unfortunate thing is that the calzones take about 20 minutes to prepare so always call in advance to get it started. recently i was at work and decided to get my calzone delivered. i got on pockets website to get the phone number and they actually have online ordering! i got to simply enter my exact order and then wait for it to be delivered, no hassle. i was very pleased with the experience and i'm sure i will be ordering even more frequently now.